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Deb asked: “I accidentally laid a loaf of bread on one of my glasstop stove burners. I removed most of the burnt plastic but there is still some black residue. I have scrubbed with a stove cleaner. Any ideas??”
There 
are a thousand different renditions of this story. Whether it’s a bread bag, Ziploc, plastic lid or a container, they all end with the plastic and glass cook top quickly becoming one. Before you can blink, you are left with a hard rock of molten plastic that seems to be permanently fused to the burner. Most manufacturers consider this irreversible damage, but there are some methods you can take to remove the melted, burnt plastic. It will take some time and hard work, but in comparison to purchasing a new stove top, it’s well worth it.
You Will Need:
- Spoon or dull knife
- WD-40 (or olive oil)
- Acetone nail polish remover
- Razor blades (or plastic scraper)
- Baking soda
- Soft cloth
- Water
- Mild soap
Steps to Remove the Plastic:
- Start by allowing the burner to cool completely before attempting to remove anything. Trying to clean a hot burner is dangerous and invites further burns and problems. Burning plastic produces a horrendous smell – open all the windows and ventilate the area well.
- When the burner and plastic have cooled completely, peel away as much of the plastic as possible.
- Use the spoon or dull knife, such as a butter knife to gently scrape away the plastic. Use caution not to scratch the glass surface of the stove.
- Spray the remaining plastic with WD-40 and let it set for a few minutes. One site user (Thanks Mira!) used olive oil instead of WD-40 and had success.
- Now there are two choices of what you can do:
- Use a razor blade or plastic scraper like a spatula to carefully scrape the plastic off. Keeping the razor as flat as possible, gently push it into the plastic. Be careful not to scratch the surface!
- If you’re not comfortable using a scraper, one of our site users (Thanks!) suggests sprinkling baking soda over the WD-40, letting it sit for a few minutes, then using a cloth to scrub off the plastic. The baking soda acts as a mild abrasive, allowing you to scrub more efficiently.
- Repeat as necessary until most of the plastic is removed.
- When a majority of the plastic is removed (and there are no longer edges for the razor blade to catch on), you may want to try nail polish remover to get rid of the last layer.
- Use a cotton ball or soft cloth to apply the acetone nail polish remover. This evaporates quickly so you will need to reapply often to keep the area well moistened.
- Scrub with a plastic or other glass safe scrubber in a circular motion to remove the last bits.
- When all of the plastic is removed, clean the area with mild soap and warm water to remove any remaining cleaning fluids from the cook top. This is especially important due to the flammibility of WD-40.
Additional Tips and Ideas
- Always use caution when working with razor blades and WD-40. While the spray helps to loosen the burnt plastic, it can also make a slippery work surface!
- There are special cleaning creams designed for cleaning cooked on messes from glass stovetops. They are available at most department and home improvement stores.
- Don’t have the above materials? Try laundry stain spray, kitchen cleaner, Windex or Mr. Clean Magic Eraser instead. Keep in mind that you should never combine any cleaning chemicals though. To try more than one, rinse the area thoroughly first and wash it with some mild soap.
- One site user (Thanks!) recommends using plastic modeling glue to melt the plastic, such as Revell brand glue. These glues melt plastic so that it can fuse with another piece of plastic to build the model. Once the plastic is melted, wipe it up with a soapy paper towel.
- Another site user (Thanks!) recommends sprinkling a thick layer of baking soda over the plastic, then pouring on some white vinegar. The combinarion will bubble and fizz immediately, and if not careful, can create an extra mess. However, this fizzing will loosen the stuck plastic and is all natural. Scrape off the plastic once the fizzing calms.
- If you’re hesitant to use any chemicals, try placing an ice cube on the plastic to make it brittle and then scrape it off with razor blade. This works well for minor cases.
- If the area smells of the burnt plastic, use the guide How to Remove Burnt Plastic Odors.
Thanks so much for this helpful hint. We had a similar ‘duh’ moment with our toaster oven. We got most of the plastic off, but the ghost of the writing from the bread wrapper is still there, so I will definitely try the acetone/WD-40 idea!
I wonder if regular acetone (like in paint thinner) would work as well?
Regular acetone is basically the same as nail polish that contains acetone. It will work fine. Some nail polish remover doesn’t contain acetone. Some uses Ethyl acetate. If you know the smell of acetone, you will know if it has acetone in it. The other differences could be that some nail polish remover has gel agents in it to slow evaporation and keep it on the surface longer. Some also have scents in them.
I had a plastic plate on the burner and it left huge gouges in the cooktop. I only used my fingernails to peel the hardened plastic off. Is it still Ok to use the burner?
Worked like a charm!! Thank you so much; thought I was never going to get it off! I followed each step exactly! Thanks!!!!
The WD-40 worked great. Looks better than it did before I stupidly cooked my beloved Bialita coffee maker. I was ready to get the acetone out of the garage, but didn’t need it. And yes, acetone from the garage with gloves on would be better than nail polish for this reason: no one has any reason to keep acetone-based nail polish around the house. Why would you paint your nails once a week with something known to be that toxic? It causes liver damage and cancer.
I did this just tonight and it all came off and without a scratch! I used the razor blade for the whole thing and it was wonderful. Thank you so much.
My hubby was cooking breakfast and accidentally put a whipped butter tub on one of the burners. He removed quite a bit of the mess with a plastic spatula, but I could still see the label on the burner. I looked on this site and came up with something even easier: Goo Gone! Let the stove cool off, and put on the air vents. Spread a little on with a paper towel; I let it sit for about 3 minutes and it was peeling off in some places. The rest I used my fingernails to remove, and cleaned it off with cook top cleaner, then buffed it shiny clean. It looks better than when we moved into this apartment!
Thank you so much. I had a huge mess on my hands and your advice helped to completely clean it up. The cooktop looks great.
The WD-40 worked like a charm! Thanks.
The WD-40 and razor blade worked like a charm! Thanks so much! A little Magic Eraser action cleaned off the remaining color film. Very well done!
The WD-40 worked very well!
Thank you so much. It worked perfectly!
WD-40 and a razor blade did the trick. Hold the razor blade flat to the surface…
Thank you… that worked wonders. Didn’t even need the nail polish remover; the WD-40 did the trick all alone.
Divorce avoided; WD-40 and razor blade worked like a charm. Smell gone and plastic gone before my wife got home. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Thanks so much! Garden gnomes or fairies turned on a burner with a plastic bag of cereal siting on top. Fortunately, we found it before the flames started–it was just smoldering–but the plastic had melted in a 5″ x 6″ spot. We substituted olive oil for the WD-40 and were successful with just a dull knife (we didn’t have a razor blade or WD-40 on hand). We cleaned carefully with dish soap afterward to make sure the flammable olive oil was gone. A million thanks again!
Your tips rocked. WD-40, patience and the razor blade, followed by a thorough dish soap wash took care of all of it. I am sincerely grateful for this post and your advice!
I just put ice on the plastic and after it cooled, took a straight razor blade and the plastic came right off.
We just had bread wrappers melt to the top of glass top stove. We did not wait for it to cool completely, just long enough to be cool enough to touch. We took rubbing alcohol and a hard spatula and wipe and scraped, repeating over and over. Every bit is gone. This will save your glass top from possibly getting scraped up with a razor.
Thank you. WD-40 and a single edge razor took off the melted scraper I used to clean the top. Burner wasn’t cooled enough and the scraper melted!
My 13-year-old melted a plastic washing basket on our glass top hob. House full of smoke/fumes, a basket full of ruined clothing, a burnt hand and I honestly thought my cooker was a goner, however this worked perfectly. (Although I’m a little nervous about using the hob). Now I just need to cheer up a blistered and miserable daughter.
I’m usually very skeptical when it comes to cleaning solutions to save things that I’ve found on the internet. But this totally worked!! Thank you…
Thank you! Saved my stove after I inadvertently melted my laptop to it.
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!! Saved my stove!
Thanks so much for the tips. They really worked. The WD-40 really helped the razor blade get most of it off; when I was all done, it was 99% better. I really thought it was a non-salvageable burner and so glad to get it almost new again.
Sure wish I had a GAS stove!
Even after reading all the positive comments, I still didn’t believe anything could save my burner from the empty oven cooking bag that accidentally got set down on the still-hot burner. Instant meltdown! I didn’t have WD-40, so I poured acetone nail polish remover on it, let it work for a minute, and with careful patience, gently scraped the entire mess off in just minutes using a box-cutter razor blade. If I hadn’t seen it myself, I would absolutely never have known the ugly black mess was ever there. Looks brand new! Thanks for the awesome solution!
I used a heavy duty plastic scraper. If you don’t have one in your toolbox, check the car; you may have an ice scraper that will do the job. No razor blades or WD-40 needed. Cleaned up in seconds with the plastic scraper.
Thank you! Life saver!
Hi guys, I set down a plastic hot dog bun bag on hot glass cooktop, and it left a thin layer of plastic melted on. I was about to use a razor blade and olive oil when I saw a comment above and did a variation of a safer method: Wait until glass top is cool enough to touch, but still warm. Get a metal spatula, cut a quarter of a J- cloth, fold to double thickness, and wrap it over the end of the spatula. Gently scrape off all the plastic in minutes, leaving zero scratches to the glass top! You can also use rubbing alcohol with this method (see previous comments), but I did not use any and it came off like it was never there. So try this method before you resort to razor blades and chemicals! Thank You to BRANDIE for this amazing, SAFE method!
Thanks! This worked great. I used WD-40 and acetone method. The trick is really patience. You have to sit there and really scrape away at every piece and it will eventually come off. I only had a small problem, so it didn’t take me long (30 minutes).
Almost all of my burner was covered with a melted plastic bag. I took a bowl with a little water in it, had it boil in the microwave, took it out, and put a lid from a medium skillet on top to catch some steam. After a minute, I put the lid over the burner and left it a few minutes to steam the plastic. Using a Pampered Chef scraper (or a razer blade), all the plastic came up almost immediately. I used a razor blade for the last little bit. No chemicals, no smell. Just a little steam treatment.
The WD-40 worked wonders. Melted a plastic top on a burner; sprayed it with the WD-40, used a cheese spreader, off it came. It’s just like new. Thanks.
Thank you so much!! Using WD-40 and a flat razor blade worked perfect!! While visiting my sister, I forgot and laid a hot dog roll bag on the still hot burner!! I had the top cleaned in less then 10 minutes after it cooled off. WD-40 once again saves the day!!
Thank you so much! The bag of tortillas melted on a warm burner. Darn the glass stovetops!! I only had to use the WD-40 and razor blade. No need for the acetone this time!!
Me and my wife were installing a new over-the-range vent hood and laid a polyester blanket over the glass cooktop to prevent any scratches. Well somehow one of the burners got turned on and we noticed the smell first and thought it was the wiring for the new vent hood, then noticed smoke. But it was the blanket and we quickly realized this and turned the burner off but it had melted all over the burner. We tried wiping it off with a paper towel and that got a good portion of it, but it quickly hardened and crystallized. I thought it was completely ruined until I googled info and this page came up. After soaking a few minutes in olive oil and then reluctantly using a new razor blade, it quickly started showing signs of improvement. Switched to nail polish remover and razor blade and as I type this, nearly all traces of it are gone. I’m sure a little more effort and it will be looking like new again. Thanks for the great information.
We had a black plastic bowl melt on our gas cooktop. No one in my household knew a thing about it. Hmm! Must’ve been a ghost. :-/ None of the solutions above worked (I mean it was big-time MELTED and hardened and bloppy), but another forum suggested going to Home Depot to get a Cerama Bryte kit that came with a scraper. I thought “no way is this going to work…” but I was wrong! Worked like a charm. Happy me!
Olive oil worked! I let it soak a little on the burnt plastic for about 20 minutes, then I scrapped it off with a knife. At first I was wiping off the oil before I scrapped, but it worked faster when I left the oil on while I scrapped .
Plastic cover for microwave was sitting on the wrong burner. Tried the olive oil and scraped. Did well, cleaned it up but a few little chips. Thanks for all the advice.
Thank you so much!!!!!! This was a blessing! I used the olive oil and baking soda and after leaving on for about 5 or 10 minuets, used the scraper that came with my glass stove top and it worked like a charm! I thought for sure I was going to have to replace it, but this worked wonderfully!!! Thank you so much!
Thanks so much! Gonna try it now. Like the idea of no chemicals. Maybe paranoid but the idea of using the burner after using something like acetone makes me leary. Doesn’t sound safe.
I put a Brita water filter carafe on a hot burner and it melted onto the burner. This happened several years ago. I was able to get most of the stuff off the burner. Is it too late to try the WD-40/acetone method?
Kit,
It’s worth a shot! Good luck!
WD-40 was there for me in my roughest moment when I murdered my new air fryer on the stove top. Leaving melted carnage throughout the kitchen. This lead to a broken heart, but cleaning it with WD-40 has put it sowhat back together. Use it soon after; it will save you some heartache.
Thanks so much. Not sure why everyone thinks my glass top stove is a countertop. Boyfriend is the worst. Set his bowl of egg salad on the same burner he cooked his eggs. Thankfully he caught it before it got too bad. I followed the butter knife, olive oil and baking soda method. Only a trace of it left so I used my non-scratch scrubber and glass top cleaner to finish it off.
Now… From previous incidents from same boyfriend, I need to know how to get those white ghost-looking spots off my glass cooktop. Not sure what caused them. Once it looked like he must have set a beer on it because the ring was a matching circle, so not sure if the burner had been hot or not. Other times it was when he was making pancakes??? I’ve used my glass top cleaner to no avail. Can you help with this?
Hi Debbie,
Glad you were able to remove the burnt plastic! This article might help with the white marks:
How to Remove White Burn Marks from a Black Glass Stove Top Good luck!
This works!! I also sprinkled baking soda on top and used a wooden spatula to scrape the burner. Good as new! Thanks for the tips!!!