Taking the Pain Out Of Melted Plastic

Or, How To Get Melted Plastic Out Of Your Oven

Courtesy of Skylar Kang

Your oven is smelling when you turn it on, and you open it to smoke wafting out. You didn’t light something on fire, you just had a piece of plastic get stuck somewhere. It’s a problem we’ve all encountered, and you’re not the only one. Better still, we’ve got all the steps you’ll need to get the plastic out of your oven without damaging it or yourself. 

Different Procedures For Different Ovens!

• The Racks

• Electric Ovens

• Gas Ovens

• Ovens With Self Cleaning

Before we dig in a quick note about safety. Please do not try and remove the plastic from your oven with your hands at any point.  Use the tools we have suggested or something similar so that you don't hurt yourself. It's also advised to look over the entirety of the post before tackling your issue. Now let's get into the actual methods you need to know

How To Remove Melted Plastic From Your Oven Rack 

If the melted plastic is on your oven racks, congrats this is the easiest outcome for you. All you need to do is remove the rack from your oven and put it either in your sink or outside. You can then use a scraper or butter knife to remove the plastic. Since there isn't a coating on your oven racks you don't have to worry about damaging them. If you are already exhausted from a long day or don't have the hand strength to chip off the plastic, there is an alternative. What you can do is take the rack set it in your sink and take a large pot full of boiling water and pour it consistently over the plastic. This will heat the plastic enough that you should be able to remove it using a wooden tool. 

How To Remove Melted Plastic From Your Electric Oven

If you weren't lucky and you have plastic on the interior of your oven slowly put down the tools. We're not ready for those yet. Instead, grab a plastic bag that is enough to cover the piece of plastic you are looking to remove. Fill that 3/4 of the way with ice. Lay it on the plastic for at least 10 minutes. The idea is to allow the plastic time to retract and become hard and brittle. After 10 minutes you can grab a razor scraper or a butter knife and very carefully lift up from the outside edges of the plastic. Ideally you should be able to pop the whole piece off. If not then hopefully you will be able to break it off piece by piece using this levering action. Again be very careful though as this can damage the inside of your oven. 

As with most cleaning chores this might take more than one round to get it completely clean.

How To Remove Melted Plastic From Your Gas Oven

If you have a gas oven we're going to start by taking a look at the bottom plate of your oven. Some gas ovens have it where the bottom plate can be removed for easy cleaning. If that is the case with yours go ahead and do that and see if you can put the entirety of the plate into the freezer if that is where the plastic ended up. You'll then proceed to trip off the plastic after half an hour or so.

If you don't have a bottom plate that can be removed then go ahead and use the same cold method that we used for the electric oven.

How To Remove Melted Plastic From Your Oven That Can Self Clean 

If you have a self-cleaning oven this one is going to require something entirely different. Instead of your butter knife and razor scraper you are going to want to grab some wooden tools like a wooden spoon or spatula. Now go ahead and open up all of the windows and grab a respirator like you might use if you were painting. 

Courtesy of Thirdman

Now that you are prepared, turn your oven on to a low heat maybe 150° tops. Leave the oven open during this process. Make sure that you are also wearing your mask and that the windows are open during this process. It is going to stink. Every 5 minutes or so go and poke at the plastic to see when it starts to become soft and pliable. For anybody that makes candy think of it like the firm ball stage.  This is when you'll grab your wooden tools and start to carefully pry the plastic up and away from whatever it is stuck to. Do not use a metal item to pry it. Metal can easily damage the inside of your oven. Self cleaning ovens have relatively fragile inner coatings and as such take very little to become utterly wrecked. 

Did that work for you? Did you find something else that worked better? Let us know over on our Facebook page! 

If you got the plastic out, but your oven is still smoking, give us a call ((214) 599-0055), or you can reach out to us via our contact page! We’ll work with you to figure out a time and date that works for you so our expert technicians can come out and help. 

Why Is My Oven Smelling So Strange?

4 Common Smells You Need To Know

What do you do when you start encountering weird smells in your kitchen? You would start by taking out the trash; after all, that's one of the most common sources. Maybe it has been a few days since you took it out last... But it keeps smelling. So then you start to look around and go section by section. 

Is it coming from the refrigerator? 

Did a potato roll to the back of a cabinet? 

Did the beer you were experimenting with brewing go off? 

No …it's coming from your oven. So what are you supposed to do? The first step is figuring out what sort of smell it is. Then you figure out whether it's something you can solve on your own or call in a professional of one stripe or another. 

Common Smells To Come From Your Oven

- gas

- urine

- dead things

- smells like burning plastic

Why Does My Oven Smell Like Gas? 

Before you start worrying, having your oven smell like gas when you first turn it on, provided it is a gas oven, is normal. So long as it goes away within the first few minutes, you're fine. This just means that the gas is igniting, and it's during that turning-on phase. If, however, the smell continues after 10 minutes or so or continues for the entire time the oven is on, it can mean that not all of the burners in the oven or igniting. If that's the case, then you'll need to get hold of a technician. This isn't something you can fix on your own. Trying to fix a gas oven solo is extraordinarily dangerous. The flammable gases that run through your oven can very easily asphyxiate you if you're not careful when dealing with them.

Why Does My Oven Smell Like Urine? 

If your oven smells like urine, the most common reason is that you have rodents living near or inside your oven.

Courtesy of DSD

For this situation, we suggest calling an exterminator first to get rid of the rodents, then carefully go in and clean all of the inside of the oven. If you can, your next step is to carefully pull your oven away from the wall to see if you can't find where the rodents came in from and if they got inside the oven itself. Be careful with this step, as you don't want to damage your oven or leave a gas line open accidentally. Finally, we suggest calling in a technician if only for your peace of mind. You can tell them that you had rodents and want to ensure that none of the wires or components were chewed on and that the oven will still function as needed.

Why Does My Oven Smell Like Death?

Courtesy of Juan Vargas

Right off the back of the last one, if your oven smells like death, it is most probable but unfortunate that something died in your oven. The same steps still apply, except you really want to call a technician this time. The difference here is that your oven needs to be gone over to ensure that nothing is left inside of the oven. If something dies inside your oven, you have to worry about other creatures attempting to get inside your oven to devour them. Not only is this damaging your oven, but more importantly, if any of that catches on fire, it will be very dangerous for your food and health. 

Why Does My Oven Smell Like Melted or Burning Plastic? 

If your oven smells like melted plastic, you can have several different issues going on. 

The easiest to fix is that there was some residue left over from the last time you cleaned your oven. With that, all you have to do is wait until your oven cools off and then go back in and wipe everything down with a damp rag. 

Courtesy of Ksenia Chernaya

A second possibility could be that you did melt plastic. Perhaps you left a bit of film on a freezer meal, or there was a piece of plastic residue that you missed when you cleaned again, perfectly normal and easy enough to fix.

The last case, however, is the one you hope, and we hope, is not the case. Sometimes if you're smelling burning plastic, it can be because of damage to electrical components or an electrical short. Milton cables and damaged cables smell terrible. 

In the event that you do smell melting plastic, the first thing you should do is turn off the oven. From there, allow it to cool off, then carefully unplug it and assess the situation. For the first two, you can easily handle those. If you ruled them out, however,, you'll need to call a technician to assess the oven and determine if it is due to electrical components.

Hopefully, we have put many of your fears at ease. If you have found your oven smelling strangely and it's not something we addressed here, please reach out to us over on our Facebook page.

If you found your oven smelling strangely and it is for one of the reasons we listed where a technician is required, we would be more than happy to help. You can reach out to us via our contact page or by giving us a call ((214) 599-0055). If you choose to work with Appliance Rescue Service, know that our goal is to get your home running smoothly again. Will work with you to find a time and date that fits your schedule before sending out one of our experienced technicians to find and address the problem.  

Why Is My Refrigerator Making Weird Noises!?

Four Common Sounds Your Refrigerator Can Make And What They Mean

So your refrigerator is making funny noises; your first question is going to be, why. Whether your fridge is knocking, gurgling, buzzing, or humming, all of them have been encountered before. That's the bad news. The good news is that we can answer why it's happening and tell you if it can be fixed.

If Your Refrigerator is Buzzing

If your refrigerator is buzzing off and on, the most likely cause is the water lines for your ice maker. Pay attention to when the buzzing is happening. If it happens for a short period of time when your fridge is drawing water, that's normal and not something to worry about. If you notice it is being abnormally loud when your fridge is drawing in water, you might have a calcium buildup in the ice maker pump. 

If your refrigerator is buzzing near consistently or all the time, the compressor might be the problem. A quick test you can try is to unplug the fridge and then plug it back in after about 5 minutes. If that doesn't fix the issue, you can do one of two things: call an experienced technician to check the compressor, or if you're comfortable, you can check yourself. What you'll need here is a multimeter. You'll check to see if the compressor shows an open circuit. If it does, the issue is something else, and your compressor works fine. If it doesn't show an open circuit, your compressor will likely need replacing. 

If your compressor is fine, the condenser coils are the next place to look. These can easily become dirty or frosted over. Again we suggest unplugging the fridge; only this time, you're going to vacuum the area around the coils. Once you turn the fridge back on, keep an eye on it for several hours to days for any additional noises. 

Original image courtesy of cottonbro studio

 If these have yet to solve your problem, then the final place to check would be the condenser and evaporator fans. Again it might be debris that is causing an issue. Start by unplugging your fan, finding where the fans are located on your fridge model, and vacuuming away debris. While you have it unplugged, you might also look at turning the fans by hand. If they catch or can't turn the entire way around, they might need to be replaced.

If Your Refrigerator is Humming or Vibrating

There's a distinct sound difference between humming and buzzing, and the causes for this are also distinctly different. The most common cause of vibrating or humming for your refrigerator is that it needs to be leveled or that it's pressed too closely against the wall. If that's the case, it's quite easy to grab a level and check that and then pull the fridge away from the wall that it's closest to. 

Another possibility is that there are debris caught near the fans. If the humming is coming specifically from the back of your fridge, you should vacuum that out. It's not uncommon in many households for this to be the issue. Not because people don't vacuum regularly but because most of us don't think to vacuum behind our refrigerators.

Original Image courtesy of cottonbro studio

An utterly benign reason is that your refrigerator is settling into the best speed in order to keep itself cool. So while you should keep an eye on the frequency or harshness of the humming, it doesn't mean straight away that there's a problem.

If Your Refrigerator is Knocking or Rattling

If your fridge is knocking or rattling as though you're in the area of a fracking operation or an earthquake, your fridge might be off balance. This is the most common problem with this sound.

A close second, however, is making sure that you don't have anything heavy on top of the fridge. If your roof of the fridge is being pressed down by a heavy object or many objects, the water lines can be pressing against it and causing a rattling sound. In general, we advise keeping heavy items away from the top of your refrigerator.

Original Image courtesy of =Max Rahubovskiy

The final point is that if you hear the knocking constant, you should call a technician as soon as possible, as it means the compressor is most likely going out.

If Your Refrigerator Is Gurgling

No, it is not the creature from the Black Lagoon; it's your refrigerator. 

If you only hear a little bit of gurgling or trickling, but you're not finding a puddle under your fridge, it's okay! This is actually a normal sound. What matters more is if you hear the sound and then find a puddle.

The first reason you might hear gurgling is the coolant or oil dripping from inside of your compressor from top to bottom. As long that is not leaking out, you're in good shape. If you notice it leaking, call a technician as soon as possible, as the compressor most likely has a damaged casing or is about to go out. 

Original image courtesy of cottonbro studio

 The second reason that you might hear gurgling is that water can drip on the inside of the refrigerator due to its normal defrost cycle. It won't have any long-term effects on your fridge. However, if you start to notice lots of water pooling, you might have an issue with frost forming, and your refrigerator is kicking into defrost more often than normal to compensate for that. To fix that, we suggest removing items from your fridge or freezer and making sure that you're not blocking any events or temperature sensors before putting anything back in. If the problem is still happening after you've gone through that, that's the time to call a technician.

So the next time your refrigerator starts to make a strange noise, Don't panic right away. Instead, consult our guide to find out what type of noise it is and what are some of the things you can do to possibly solve the problem on your own. This way, in the event that you do have to call a technician, you can say that you did try before having to call in the experts, and you might be able to save yourself a bit of money. 

What is the weirdest noise your refrigerator or another appliance has made? Tell us in the comments over on our Facebook page! 

If your refrigerator is giving you trouble, though, and you aren’t comfortable working on it, not to worry! Appliance Rescue Service will work with you to set a time and date that works with your schedule. If your refrigerator is making weird noises, we want to help. You can reach out to us by giving us a call at ((214) 599-0055) or by setting up an appointment through our contact page. 

6 Things You Need To Know When Planning Your Outdoor Kitchen

Make These Choices Before You Start PUrchasing materials

When planning your outdoor kitchen, there are a variety of factors that need to be kept in mind. A major one, before anything else, is deciding why you're doing this. 

Is your current home meant to be a permanent home for you and your family? 

Are you going to take pieces of your kitchen with you if you move, so everything has to be mobile? 

Are you the type of person who enjoys having the capability to rearrange furniture a few times a year? 

Or are you doing this to improve the market value of your home?

Each of these will have a deeply personal answer tied to how you look at your home.

Courtesy of maria-orlova

 For ones that aren’t as definitive, let's break down your choices from most to least complicated. 

Start by considering how many people do you want to make room for? What do you plan on doing in this space?  If this is an outdoor kitchen, are you doing it just so you can cook outside and have options during the year? Or is it so you can entertain outside? Do you tend to have a lot of people over, or do you prefer smaller, more intimate gatherings? Some options you might consider are a bistro table for two, a small island to hold 4 to 6 people: a large dining table, or an entire outdoor living room. 

 What about plumbing? Plumbing is definitely convenient, but it is costly. If you choose to add plumbing weather for washing up dishes, quickly getting water for recipes, or keeping yourself hydrated, each of these will present different options of what that might look like. However, all of them will require a licensed plumber or contractor. 

Courtesy of matheus-bertelli

You'll also have to winterize the pipes yearly to prevent them from bursting and destroying your yard and appliances. You'll almost certainly want somebody to check on them regularly to ensure everything is functioning properly. (Fortunately, Appliance Rescue Service does offer maintenance checks! It really is necessary, though, given how easy it is for something to get blown into places where it shouldn't be.)

You'll also need to ensure that any materials or appliances you choose are UV-resistant, scratch-resistant, and stain-resistant. 

UV-resistant materials mean that they're not going to degrade over time, thanks to continuous or heavy exposure to the Texas sun. 

Courtesy of enric-cruz-lópez

Scratch-resistant is important not only because of keeping what you purchase looking nice but also because scratches provide areas where food and bacteria can get stuck and thrive.

Stain-resistant is much the same. If you invest in building yourself an outdoor kitchen, you want it to continue looking nice. 

Some examples of materials that would work would be exterior quartz, porcelain, and weatherproof tiling.

No matter which decision you come to about your reasons for building an outdoor kitchen, modular cabinetry is a boon. You can choose exactly what you want in what configuration you want. With a few tips and tricks from a builder, it looks like it's built-in. And if you move or want to redo your backyard, you can easily pick it up and move it around. 

 Finally, you need to decide on what type of appliances do you want?

 Do you want to stop at a grill, or do you just think that you have to?

You can put in a grill.

You could add a smoker and not only use it for cooking but also to cure your own meats.

You can add in a pizza oven and offer homemade stone-fired pizzas.

Or you could put in beer taps and have your favorites always available.

You can easily add an outdoor refrigerator for easy food storage ahead of meals and to expand your storage space inside

Courtesy of Rachel Claire

. You can even put an induction stove outside, which is wonderfully safe when dealing with children. (The burners only heat up when in contact with the pot.)

All of these, of course, will be based on what you want to get out of an outdoor kitchen. Which means taking a look at how you cook.

We love cooking outside at Appliance Rescue Service. Working on a grill adds an entirely different flavor to your food. And although we love and have advocated for indoor grilling options, those don't add the charred smokey flavor. That's us, though. What about you? Tell us which you prefer over on our Facebook page. As always, we love to hear from you. 

 If you're concerned about the outdoor kitchen you already have, maybe the appliances aren't working quite right; we can help. You can set up an appointment with us that fits your schedule by contacting us via phone ((214) 599-0055) or our website. We'll send over our technicians at the time you've chosen to figure out what's going on and how to get everything running smoothly again. Appliance rescue service, our goal is always to work with you.

Places to Avoid: The Paw Version!

Or, Appliances That Your Pets Need to Stay Away From

Appliance Rescue Service has been taken over by the pets! This week we (Murder Mittens the cat and Odie the dog) are talking about our favorite places in the house, the appliances! They offer warm, and cold and food, we can't forget the food! 

Courtesy of Gomez Daniel

Washer

MM: I don't understand why the humans use this one it removes their scent, and then they have ti put it all over things again.  They put their clothes in, the clothes get wet, and then they move them over to another rumbly. 

O: And! They yell at you when you get them wet any other time, even though they also have the rain room that they go into.

MM: That is the bathroom. They put my litterbox in there as well. The wet machine is nice to lay on when it rumbles, but you're right on them griping about getting wet. 

O: I don't like the way everything smells,  but I love watching the clothes tumble round and round.

MM: Of course you do.

Dryer 

O: I hate this one more than the wet machine. It smells and it's hot. 

MM: As usual you have no taste. This one is perfect to curl up inside of when the humans have removed their clothes. You just have to make sure you don't stay in there when they put the clothes back. 

Courtesy of RaGeBe

O: Wait is it that where you go when I want to play?

Oven

O: It's the hot food box!  Humans like to put their food in and then they take it out later and it's a warm and I don't get why they put it in there to make it warm because it's just as good cold but sometimes if you're fast enough you can steal food from it! 

MM: Or if you wait for the right moment you can steal food from it and take a nap inside the warm. It's too hot sometimes, but that is why you are supposed to wait. 

O: And we're not going to talk about how you got your tail singed the one time.

MM: Not if you don't want me telling Ralph where you hid your bone.

Dishwasher 

O: This is my favorite! This one has all of the smells and food, almost every day! 

MM: Yes but the humans always yell at you for standing on it. Whereas I can stand on it and not get caught.

O: And that is just one more reason that I steal your kibble when you're not looking. Anyway, the humans put in the food dishes, and they still have food on them. They don't even lick their dishes clean! And then the machine makes lots of noise and spits steam everywhere - 

MM: Which is the best time to lay on the counter above it.

O: And then when they open it there's no more food! Why do they feed the food to the machine and not to me!

Stove

O: This one is tough Murder Mittens. On one hand, the humans make food up there, lots of food.

MM: On the other hand, even if you can get up to the food, you never know if it's safe.

O: Exactly! It looks like it's the rest of the kitchen but sometimes it's hot and sometimes it's not and sometimes there's fire according to Ralph down the street.

Courtesy of elina-volkova

MM: You trust the Chihuahua? He barks at his own shadow.

O: You have a point. Maybe his has fire but ours doesn't?

Refrigerator

O: The cold box! There is so much food in here and the humans just leave it in there and stare in front of the food as if they expect it to do something. I know the food is dead when they put it in there so why do they stare at it? 

MM: You expect me to be able to explain the humans?

O: No it just doesn't make sense. Anyway this one is also great during the hot months if you're sneaky you can get in there and eat the food and be cold all of the best things in one spot.

Courtesy of luca andrade

MM: As much as I hate it, I have to agree. There's food, there's tight spaces to curl up in, and it is cool when it is unbearably hot outside.

Freezer

O: This one is frustrating. On one hand it's nice and cold when it's hot outside. I love this box. On the other hand it smells like food but everything's frozen and hard definitely not food it's so cruel for the humans to do this. And then they yell at you when you want to stay in there and they put wet things on you. 

MM: The wet things. Perhaps the humans think you don't bathe yourself I certainly don't. As to the cold box, I believe the humans put things here so that they are food for longer like hiding one of your treats so that you can eat it later. 

O: But who would they hide it from? It's not like with my treats and you're going to eat them later. 

A final note from the People of Appliance Rescue Service: Although this has been phrased in a rather light-hearted way these are all places that you want to keep your pets out of for their safety and for the longevity of your appliances. In the event of your pets getting into one of your appliances and you being unable to get them out please make sure to call your vet first and a second. While we love our pets as much as the next person, we are much better at fixing appliances than we are animals. If you want to reach out to us about your appliances, you can reach out to us at ((214) 599-0055) or by heading to our contact page.