How to Clean a Burned Plastic Grocery Store Bag From a Cooktop

Melted plastic from a grocery bag can damage your cooktop.

A glass or ceramic cooktop is the hallmark of a modern, 21st-century kitchen. But the ease of cooking without having to clean the pans beneath traditional burners does have a downside at times. Burned-on plastic, such as from a grocery bag, can be difficult to remove from a smooth cooktop. You'll have to work carefully and quickly to prevent permanent damage to your ultramodern stove.

Things You'll Need

• Oven mitts
• Razor scraper
• Paper towels
• Cooktop cleaner

Instructions

1. Turn off the cooktop's heat and remove all pots from the surface.

2. Protect your hands with an oven mitt as you remove as much of the burned grocery bag as possible by hand. Discard the material into a sink or trash container.

3. Push remaining burned-on residue away from the spot in which it melted with a razor scraper. Don't scrub at the plastic, but move it to a cool area of the cooktop surface.

4. Allow the cooktop to cool completely before cleaning further.

5. Hold the razor scraper at a 30-degree angle and scrape away the grocery bag debris. The angle at which you work is important; holding the scraper in a more vertical position could cause you to scratch the cooktop or further damage it.

6. Apply a cooktop cleaning cream to the entire surface, burners and all, only after you have removed all of the melted plastic with the scraper. Rub the cream into the cooktop with paper towels to remove dirt and grease.

Tips & Warnings

• Contact a repair professional if you are unable to remove all of the burned grocery store bag from your cooktop. Melted plastic can potentially cause permanent damage to your stove. Do not use the cooktop again until the problem has been resolved.

References

• GE Appliances: Range — Glass Cooktop Cleaning Instructions
• University of Nebraska-Lincoln; Cleaning Glass and Ceramic Cooking Surfaces; Lorene Bartos