plastic melted on dish water heating element

[Jud McCranie]

A plastic spatula fell out of the rack and melted on dish water heating element. Now when it dries the dishes it makes a terrible smell that lasts for many hours. Is there a way to get this off?

[BobK207]

run the heat cycle only or let the machine cycle through to the drying segment

let the heat only run for long enough to heat the plastic & gently scrap of the residue with the side of a small putty knife.

BTDT ...if the stuff cools, reheat by closing the machine. When most / all is gone....let the element cool & use acetone or Goof-Off to clean up the trace. Followup with with scrubber sponge & some Softscrub.

smell should be greatly reduced

cheers Bob

[Jud McCranie]

That seems to have worked, thanks. The fumes from the burning plastic were terrible. It gave me a bad headache and burned my eyes. My wife said it burned her eyes and bothered her throat.