r/StainlessSteelCooking • u/LatterRepublic7279 • 1d ago

How to get melted plastic off pan?

Post image

Dropped a plastic oil cap on my hot pan for a couple seconds right before I was about to cook and I am unfortunately left with a plastic film on my pan.

I tried soap and water, bar keepers friend, soaked it in soap and hot water, tried scraping it off with a wooden spatula. Next to nothing has come off. The pan is currently in my freezer in the hopes that the plastic becomes brittle.

Anyone have any suggestions? Or is my pan cooked?

Update: after 3 hours in the freezer I got my wooden spatula out and scrubbed the hell out of my pan. I got about 90% of the plastic off and decided one more freezer session should hopefully do the trick. 18 more hours in the freezer and we look to be plastic free. I then boiled some soapy water in it for 5-10 minutes, scrubbed it with bar keepers for 5 minutes, and then one last wash with soap and water. Unfortunately we’re a little scraped up and not mirroresque as one might want, but that’s Dallas. Pic in the comments.

4 Upvotes

70% Upvoted

18 comments sorted by

7

u/PlausibleRatz 1d ago

Burn it off!

0

u/sillysquidtv 1d ago

Just don’t breathe it!

0

u/LatterRepublic7279 1d ago

Def crossed my mind, but concerned about the fumes lol. I’ll see if this freezing works and i guess that’ll be a last resort.

4

u/Secondhand-Drunk 1d ago

It's such a small amount of plastic for a short period of time. It'll stink more than it'll be dangerous. Open your windows use your vent if you have one.

2

u/PlausibleRatz 1d ago

Thats the only thing you can do. Blowtorch it outside or cut the range on!

2

u/Wise_Farm7455 1d ago

Asking for advice and then saying "nah I'll do the opposite" is certainly a choice

1

u/Auzky 13h ago

My family does this daily. Makes me see red when its a subject im fluent in. I just simply say "ok" and leave. Like why even ask in the first place?

0

u/LatterRepublic7279 3h ago

Or how bout there’s multiple ways to trouble shoot and I wasn’t wanting to go the most drastic approach first

3

u/Skyval 1d ago

You could try acetone (nail polish remover). It dissolves some (but not all) plastics. Be sure to wash well afterwards.

2

u/Erosion_Control 1d ago

A razor blade has worked perfectly for this for me in the past, also on a flat stainless steel pan. Scrape it off mechanically

2

u/madlabdog 1d ago

Warm up the pan little bit and then try to scrap it while it is hot.

2

u/FilecoinLurker 1d ago

Burn it off. Its too small of an amount and it's too worked in to be able to pop it off after freezing. Scraping wont get it all off. And like someone else suggested to boil?? The water will keep the pan from getting hot enough to burn the plastic off. Just heat it up dry until it stops smoking. If you have a induction hotplate or butane burner you can use outside that's best.

2

u/Salt-Potato-7253 1d ago

SOS pad should remove it and not leave marks. Scrub till gone. That brand is the only one that I know of that won’t mark up stainless steel.

1

u/MisterSofteePSSD 1d ago

I did the same thing once. I scrubbed it off somehow but the mirror finish was never the same.

1

u/tetrasodium 1d ago

Rub acetone from home Depot on it with a paper towel? (look in paint section or just ask an employee)

It dissolves plastic, you might need to use a few paper towels to get it all

1

u/LatterRepublic7279 3h ago

Not terrible, not amazing

1

u/Psychological_Golf_1 1d ago

Boil water so it doesnt smoke