Asked on Dec 16, 2014

Removal of melted plastic inside dishwasher bottom?

My husband put a drinking water bottle in our dishwasher and the lid got stuck near the heating element and melted. We got the lid itself removed but some of the melted plastic material remains. It probably isn't "hurting" the dishwasher but my dishwasher was almost new and I like to keep my belongings nice and I don't want to risk this re-melting and smelling like plastic over and over. My husband wanted to use a "chisel" to scrape off the plastic but I was afraid he would put a hole in the plastic bottom surface so I said no, leave it. (He is in IT and not very handy and sometime his fixes are worth than the problem...) Does anyone know a product that will remove melted on plastic from a dishwasher bottom? Thank you!
  5 answers
  • Lori Lori on Dec 16, 2014
    As long as there is no water anywhere, what about heating the plastic with a hair dryer and scraping it of with a plastic scraper of some kind that won't scratch.
  • Priscilla Crigger Priscilla Crigger on Dec 17, 2014
    II would try what lori said ! I have been successful in removing glue and plastic,by getting it real hot going slow and it cools fast , so keep repeating the heat . good luck !!!!
  • Stefeni Engebritson Stefeni Engebritson on Dec 17, 2014
    I accidently melted a tupperware container (large) in my oven...I have the same problem. Any OTHER ideas on how to remove the plastic? My heating element only has a tiny bit of plastic on it in spots...like two or three places but the racks are now plastic coated. Fortuneately I have three ovens so this one of course is out of commission and I am still able to use the other two...but I would love to fix this problem ASAP!
  • Cindy Cindy on Dec 17, 2014
    @Stefeni Engebritson Your situation is much different. Heating elements - I can think of only 2 ways there. Replace, or burn it off. If you have the old style coil element, put tenfoil under it and try the lowest heat to get it off completely. I am going to assume your racks are metal. Easier to deal with than plastic. Heat again will do that trick, but you can take them out of the oven so you don't have to deal with stench of the plastic. Get them warm enough to melt the plastic, with tinfoil something underneath to catch it and problem solved. Hair dryer, small blow torch, just think. They are made to take heat so go for it.
  • Brenda Smith Brenda Smith on Dec 20, 2014
    Pour ice in on it. Might make it shrunk away from the surface and you could just pop it off .. If not, nothing harmed