A piece of plastic spoon melted on heating element. Is there a way to clean it off.

Warm Method Both Good Housekeeping and the website Hunker describe this method for self-cleaning ovens. Hunker warns to NOT use the "cold method" which is reserved for other types of ovens. And the Good Housekeeping site says if the method proves unsatisfactory, that the floor or bottom plate of the oven might have to be replaced.

(That said, I suspect if you pull out oven racks and apply some ice to any plastic on it, the plastic might become brittle enough that tapping it with a spoon and prying at it with something wooden or finger nails might remove a lot of it. No scraping with the spoon!)

Here is the primary process for the oven.

Self-cleaning ovens require heat to remove the melted plastic. This method also works on heating elements with plastic on them. Step 1 Turn the oven on to the lowest heat setting. Only leave the oven on long enough to make the plastic soft and pliable.
Step 2 Scrape the melted plastic with a wooden utensil such as a spatula or spoon. The wood protects the surface inside the self-cleaning oven. When you get all off that you can, the self cleaning feature may burn off the rest. That WILL be smokey and exude an unpleasant smell while it does it. Open windows and keep pets out of the area (and yourself) while it goes through the clean cycle. Do NOT use a screw driver to try and remove the plastic.

Hello, Thank You for using FixYa. I will be helping you today. Yes i would remove as much as you can you wont damage the heating element. Then run a cycle with heated dry and check after the cycle if you can remove the fest.
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The way to remove it is you need to raise the temprature of the element to the level when the spoon melted, not so easy of a task, but nothing else will do it.

I would fire the element, and be ready with a damp terry cloth towel, and wipe the spoon free. Another way would be to use a propane torch, but you MUST protect everything around the element or you will cause more damage.

The key is that you have to acheive the same temprature that melted the spoon, and it will release and leave little, if any residue..

Break as much of the plastic off as you can and just let the rest melt off or melt it with a solder gun . won't hurt anything. If you want is easy to replace just hall machine from hole and tilt back remove the wires and the nuts holding it on .

Cleaning off the element and the liner will not cause a problem. Turning on the element will cause smoke till all residue is gone but will cause no problem. Turn it on to self clean after getting off the large pieces will get rid of everything left. Again no problem.

id scrap it with a knife and a fine sand paper

There are many ways to approach this. I assume it has melted and wrapped around the heating element.

One thought is to use a pair of wire-cutters ( called "diagonals"), and cut it off piece by piece.

Another thought is to run the dishwasher with heat option on, let the dish get soft again and pull it off (wear gloves).

Gently scrape with a razor blade or paint scraper to remove the large pieces, then use some emery paper or very fine sand paper to remove the rest. Use care when applying any pressure on the element, and try not to leave any gouges in the element surface. I have also had good luck with a nail file. Hope this helps you.