How to Clean a Polyester Towel Burnt on a Smooth Top Stove

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Use a wet towel to help clean a smooth top stove.
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A melted towel on a cooktop can be a big mess, but it more than likely looks worse than it actually is. Take a deep breath, get out the common household cleaners and pump up your patience. A burnt polyester towel or oven mitt that has adhered to the smooth surface of a cooktop can be quickly removed with the right techniques, tools and detergents.


A damp towel can take down a mound of burnt polyester towel on a glass stove top.

First Things First for Safety

Before you begin to clean the burned microfiber cloth on the glass stove top or whatever plastic-based fabric item that has unfortunately found its way to the hot surface, stop and check for the heat level of the appliance. Make sure the stove top is completely cool before tackling the mound of plastic melted onto the surface. Even if the stove top is cool, the burned plastic fabric towel, mitt or trivet may still be hot and burn skin if touched.

If you are in a hurry to clean up the mess, throw a damp, cold towel over the mound to help it cool down quickly so you can work to remove the unwanted pile of plastic. Use an old cloth that can be thrown out if it becomes discolored from the melted plastic. Use tongs to remove the towel if the plastic mound is steaming.

Clean Melted Plastic off Stove Top

To clean melted plastic off of a stove top, dampen a clean cloth with plain water and pop it in the microwave for 30 seconds. Use tongs to handle the now hot cloth and place it over the plastic mound. Allow the cloth to soften the melted plastic mound for five to 10 minutes.

After removing the warm towel, use a plastic putty knife to scrape the now softened burnt towel from the surface of the glass stove top. Once you've scraped up as much as possible of the bits of burnt plastic fibers, use nail polish remover to further dissolve the sticky mess. The plastic scraper and acetone should pick up the rest of the melted towel from the stove top.

Merry Maids recommends not using any harsh chemical cleaners to wipe up leftover smudges or residue on the glass stove top. This can create a noxious odor the next time that the cleaned stove top is turned on to be used.

Clean a Burnt Stove Top

A burnt oven mitt on the glass top of a stove can add an odor to the room as well as create a hardened mess on the active kitchen workspace. Once the main mound of burnt plastic fibers or microfiber cloth have been thoroughly removed from the stove top, there can still be a bit of burnt residue left behind.

Vinegar will not only clean and disinfect a glass stove top surface, but it will help to remove lingering odors from the burning incident. Use a mix of two parts of warm water and one part vinegar in a spray bottle. The acidity from the vinegar will break down grease and leave a streak-free shine behind, according to Compact Appliance.

A sprinkle of baking soda and lemon will also brighten the cooktop surface and remove odors that have clung to the slick surface of the stove top. Rinse away with a mix of 1 tablespoon of mild dish detergent to 4 cups of water for a completely clean and shiny stove top.



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