Melted Aluminum on Bottom of Oven

Jan 19, 2010
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Your solution!
by: Anonymous

I've got the solution to this! But it takes some extreme patience, a lot of respect for what you're working with and some good ventilation.
I went back to my high school chemistry class to get the answer. It's Lye, aka Caustic Soda aka, Sodium Hydroxide.

I used Drano Kitchen Crystals off the shelf of the grocery store..it's about 70% lye with some added salts to aid the chemical reaction.

You'll need some plasticene, the drano, water, GLOVES!!, a lot of paper towels and wood skewers and GOOD VENTILATION.

Start the ventilation and open a window or door.
Put on your gloves.
Use the plasticene to create a dam about .25"-.5" high around the area in the oven you're looking to remove the aluminum from... the area's you're working in should be about 2.5" in diameter.
Pour in some kitchen crystals to the dam and add enough water to touch all the sides of the dam......if the chemical reaction hasn't started yet keep adding the drano bit by bit until it does... the dam contents will start to boil and ammonia fumes will form... hence the need for some good ventilation!!
Once the reaction is done, poke around with the wood skewer to see the oven bottom is clear... if you're satisfied with the results, add some pour some vinegar in to help neutralize the solution a bit.... then use the wood skewer to remove the plasticene dam to a dish to be rinsed off ASAP.
Use paper towels to wipe up the mess on the bottom of the oven.... See your results! the area of the oven botton you treated should be free of aluminum and just be discoloured....

To get a 'feel' for the chemical reaction to expect, experiment first!... take some aluminum foil, go to the backyard with some aluminum foil in a dish or pan, add some drano to it and add water... step back and try not to breath the fumes!

It took me about 6 hr to clean the bottom of my oven when this happened to me..

Hopefully this helps some other poor unfortunate soul who finds themself in this situation!

Melted Aluminum on Bottom of Oven

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Melted Aluminum on Bottom of Oven