Melted plastic on glass stove top

[Taz_Zoee]

How in the world do you remove melted plastic from a glass stove top?
My lovely boyfriend was getting ready to leave for work this morning and called me into the kitchen because he could smell something burning. I went in and immediately smelled burning plastic. After I removed his HUGE briefcase from the burner knobs on the stove top I saw one was on and a tupperware type lid was melting on the burner. Sigh....this is not the first time this has happened. It has been a plastic ziploc bag and a plastic grocery bag before.
We rarely use the stove top and BBQ most of our food. But I'm hoping he learned his lesson. I was just glad he didn't just leave and then I'd have to deal with something worse.

Anyway, any ideas on how to remove this? Or do I just let it eventually burn off like I've had to do in the past? But this is much thicker plastic. Right now we just turned off the burner (obviously) and left the lid where it was. But it's going to be a mess to get it off there.

[Asiel]

Don't reheat the surface to try and soften the plastic or you might pit the glass. I poured alcohol on the plastic and let it sit for a few minutes,then scraped it off with a metal scraper that they sell for this (it's nothing more than a razor blade with a holder) Make sure you hold it at a low angle not to scratch the surface. After you get most of it off you can just keep rubbing the rest off with the ceramic cleaner and pad that comes with the stove. It takes some elbow grease and patience but it eventually comes off clean.
After I got mine cleaned I put a post it note on the micro door to make sure I would see it everytime I used the stove, I had the bad habit of putting lids and stuff on the glass top when using the micro that's just above the stove. Haven't repeated that in a long time, hope I never do.

[Scooter's Mom]

I don't know. My hubby melted a plastic bag on my stove... back left burner. I haven't figured out how to get it off. I haven't tried the "burn it off" method. Maybe I'll try that.

I've tried every method of cleaning it - from commercial cleaners to vinegar to rubbing alcohol. It will NOT come clean. Even scraping it with a cleaning blade didn't make it come up.

I think these glass top stoves are way more trouble than they're worth.

[Taz_Zoee]

Thanks for the suggestion, Asiel.
Before reading this I went into the kitchen and slowly pulled the lid up. It came off completely! Nothing left behind. There is a slight outline on the glass of where the plastic was, but NO plastic is on the glass. Whew!! I guess it didn't melt too much so it hardened up enough to come right off. Thank goodness! I didn't want to have to smell plastic every time we used the stove for the next few months.
At my parents house we had the electric burners and we'd just turn on the exhaust fan, turn the burner on HI and burn them off. That's not the case with the glass tops.
But now I have ideas for future (which there better not be) reference. I'm just so lucky it wasn't worse. There was other things on the stove at the time too....scissors, plastic packaging from a new flashlight and batteries!!!
I guess this is a lesson for both of us..........DO NOT LEAVE THINGS ON THE STOVE!!!!!!!!!!!

[Karen]

Have you tried warming it up by turning the burner back on, then scraping it off with a metal paint scraper? If you do this, make sure you open all the windows, so the fumes don't accumulate before you start!

[Taz_Zoee]

I think these glass top stoves are way more trouble than they're worth.

I agree, but there were already here when I moved in. They are so hard to keep clean, period. I want a kitchen make-over. We watched HGTV for five days while we were in Tahoe and I want to go hang out at the hardware/home improvement stores and see if I can find one of those guys that will come home with me and make over my bathroom or kitchen.

[Taz_Zoee]

Have you tried warming it up by turning the burner back on, then scraping it off with a metal paint scraper? If you do this, make sure you open all the windows, so the fumes don't accumulate before you start!

Thanks Karen! But problem is solved. It came clean up. It wasn't completely cooled off yet and I carefully peeled it up. And we have the exhaust fan above the stove too, so if I had to heat it up again I would have opened windows AND used the fan. Now I must remember this happened because I'm sure it will still smell the next time that burner is used. And of course, that is the burner we always use.

[krazyaboutkatz]

What a mess. I'm glad that you were able to peel off the plastic. I have a very old electric stove but I do keep burner covers on it. In the past many of my previous roommates would just turn on one of the burners without removing the burner covers. I kept telling them to just remove all of the covers before they turned anything on. So many covers were melted and they also smell like burning plastic. Now I live alone so unless one of the cats does something I shouldn't have any more of these problems. I usually only use the oven now and I use the microwave oven for everything else.

On a slightly different note, quite a while ago I noticed a plastic burning smell when I was driving. It turned out that some thick plastic got stuck under my car and it melted. I had to take the car to a gas station near my work and the man had to remove it. At first he said that it might just have to burn off but when he looked at it more closely, he said it would take a long time for it to burn off. Now every time I see a plastic bag floating around while I'm driving, I make sure to avoid driving over it.

[Taz_Zoee]

Tracey, my dad is always burning the burner covers. My mom, at one time, had back up covers for when he'd burn one. She also tried to get him to remove all of the covers when he used the stove. But that never worked. Then again, this is the guy that turned on the deep fryer (knowing my mom had removed the oil to clean it) and wandered why it was beeping. Luckily it has a safety feature and shut itself off.

I have also ran over things and had them burn. I think one time it was a tarp. You know the blue tarps? And that smelled horrible burning as well. When I see something like that on the freeway I always check in my mirrors to make sure I see it flying around after me.

[krazyaboutkatz]

Tracey, my dad is always burning the burner covers. My mom, at one time, had back up covers for when he'd burn one. She also tried to get him to remove all of the covers when he used the stove. But that never worked. Then again, this is the guy that turned on the deep fryer (knowing my mom had removed the oil to clean it) and wandered why it was beeping. Luckily it has a safety feature and shut itself off.

I have also ran over things and had them burn. I think one time it was a tarp. You know the blue tarps? And that smelled horrible burning as well. When I see something like that on the freeway I always check in my mirrors to make sure I see it flying around after me.

Wow! I guess your mom is lucky that your dad never burned the house down. It was a clear tarp that was stuck under my car. Burning plastic smell is the worst. Another one is burnt popcorn because it's also hard to get rid of this smell.

[Taz_Zoee]

Wow! I guess your mom is lucky that your dad never burned the house down. It was a clear tarp that was stuck under my car. Burning plastic smell is the worst. Another one is burnt popcorn because it's also hard to get rid of this smell.

LOL, I just burnt some popcorn today. All they have now are those darn pop bowls and it was the first time I'd popped one. I burnt it, threw it away and made another one.