How do I get a burnt coating out of a glass pot?

Question

I was playing a Yahoo game, and smelled something burning. True addict that I am, I ignored it. I finished the game and went into the kitchen where I realized that I had forgotten some tea I left on to boil! This is the worst ever burnt food on a pot I've ever had. I've scrubbed and scrubbed and it's not coming out. It's a pot that my late mother gave to me, and I really want to save it. Help! Please!

I'm trying all of these out. Whatever works best gets picked. :) baking soda, bleach, boiling, scrubbing, anything more?

The first thing I'm trying, right now, is tomatoes. I have some ketchup and I put that in and diluted it with some water to make it liquid.

Soaking the pot in tomato liqued overnight did soften the crust enough to get some out. The I put a baking soda paste and boiled that for a few minutes and let that soak overnight, and that did dissolve some more of the crust. But there is still the stubbornist black burned on remainder.
Next comes the oven cleaner? Any other ideas?

ok. I'm going to try Coca Cola, or Pepsi next.

Well, I tried boiling the Coke in the pan. Now I have to try to get burnt Coke off with the burnt tea. So back to the baking soda.

I do agree that if an acidic thing is used to soak it first, then adding the baking soda after might lift it off in the chemical reaction.

I have burnt things on this glass pan before and scrubbed it off. This leaves the smooth shiny finish scratched. I'm trying to do something that won't kill the finish any more than it is. Steel wool is okay for steel pots, but not for glass. I'm thinking that this is beyond the ice and salt thing, which is good for coffee build up.

I'm thinking about Oxyclean next. That is okay for food containers?

Answer 1

I hope you get down to this point, because some of those suggestions were terrible. Don't use regular scouring powder because it will scratch. Use Bon Ami, it has the newly hatched chick and the motto, "Hasn't scratched yet." That's because it's made from talc, which is softer than glass. You can either rub with a wet paste of this, or mix with water and "paint" over it, rubbing it off with a dry paper towel after it's dried. You could also try coffee grounds. They're good to shake in a bottle with a little water to clean it out. Mildly abrasive, but I think your stain's too hard for this one. Last resort, check with an auto parts store and ask them if they have a fine compound used to polish windshields. This is a superfine abrasive that will grind glass away, so it HAS to remove the stain. It doesn't remove more glass than just to polish the surface. Be gentle until you know how it works. Rubbing by hand shouldn't be too risky, but you can ruin a windshield with a power buffer. Another place to get fine abrasive is telescope/astronomy supply houses. They carry a wide variety of abrasives for grinding telescope mirrors. The finest powder, of course, must leave a shiny surface with no scratches ready to be silvered.

But I think that when something like this happens, you have to mechanically grind it off. If you use the right powder, it's good as new. Skip the acids that were suggested, this is carbon fused to the glass. The only thing that might dissolve it is carbon disulfide, carbon is inert so most every other chemical will be useless. The abrasives you have around the house are either too soft or they scratch.

Answer 2

Put some water in it bring it to a boil, then let it sit over night. Rinse it out, and scrub with a dish towel. If that doesn't work repeat. Also diet coke is a great cleaning agent. Unlike coke it's not sticky when it dries.

PS- Honestly you may be a bit screwed. Glass is a liquid. (A very slow very viscus liquid. If you look closely at a pane of glass in a 50-100 year old house it's thicker at the bottom than the top from the glass slough) When heated it gets less viscus and materials will infiltrate the surface of the glass. Normally this isn't an issue as liquids boil off and cool things down. Once everything has boiled off temps rise, and the glass starts to get less viscus.

Answer 3

I have left tea bags on to steep in a non-stick pot before. Since I never turned off the burner, by the time I made it back to the kitchen there was NO liquid left and everything was burnt to my pot. That wasn't the only time I did this either. Once it was six lemon halves! I have also had incidents in my glass and metal bake-ware. This always works: Fill the pot at least 2/3 full with water, add some dish washing detergent (one large spoon full for small pots, two for medium, and 3 for large). This works great since it is made to dissolve food! Cover and put the pot on the stove at low heat. Now, let the pot sit all day or all night. Depending on when you are home most (and awake) Check your pot from time to time. Add water to maintain an almost full pot. Stir with a sturdy spoon or spatula occasionally to scrape at the food residue. If the water becomes murky, empty the pot, scrub with a plastic brush or a green scouring pad, and start from step one. Don't worry, it shouldn't scratch. With time (an hour to 2 days) your glass pot will look like new!

Answer 4

Try putting about a cup of vinegar in it, and bring to a boil. Let it soak for a while, then scrub with a scratch pad. Be careful what you're scratching it with, though. Sometimes cracks can cause the pot to break when heating. Once the vinegar removes as much as it can, scrub with baking soda on the scratch pad. No need to be shy with the baking soda! I've used both the vinegar and the baking soda successfully in removing baked on grease. Also, vinegar is superb for removing coffee stains--and just about anything else for that matter--so it should work well with the burnt tea. Seems like no matter what ends up working for you, it sure is a stubborn mess that is going to take lots and lots of old fashioned "elbow grease" to completely get it out. Best of luck!

Answer 5

Not sure if this has been used yet as an answer. Put salt in the bottom of the container, add some ice, water and vinegar. If you do not have vinegar use lemon or anything with acidity. not sure why you use ice in this equation but i worked at a restaraunt for 10 years and no one seemed to know how to turn off a pot of coffee when it got to the bottom. I have seen the burner left on over the weekend and this still seemd to get the chared remains out. You let it sit for about an hour then swirl. Add more ice and vinegar if needed but it will do the trick on glass everytime. However if you do it to tin it eats through it. To get rid of the vinegar smell, just add some dish detergent and lots of hot water.

Answer 6

Burnt Glass

Answer 7

Tried salt? Salt is a natural abrasive and won't do much damage. Another option would be to try alka selzer. Put some water in the pan and add a couple of those tablets. Leave overnight and in the morning scrub it with saltwater (using a nylon scrubber as a metal one may scratch your pan).
Biological washing powder may be an alternative too. Make a paste with WARM water. This will get the enzymes working and hopefully remove the burnt food :)

Answer 8

Whenever I have a badly burned pot, (not often thank goodness...but it can happen to the best of us!!) I put it to boil again with 2 cups of vinegar and a tablespoon of salt... Usually with a brisk 30 min. boil most of it scrapes off with a soft scouring pad and a little baking soda after that. If it's really nasty and crusty....you may have to repeat again...
One extra thing...Your burnt crust is of tea leaves...Once you have managed to remove the burnt crust you will still have a dark stain as tea stains things even whithout burning. Pour some plain bleach in the pot and leave it soak for a little while, say 15 to 20 minutes, that will remove the tea stain after you've gotten rid of the burnt part......
:-)

Answer 9

This will work. It's worked for me alot. Put a couple of tablespoons of electric dishwashing crystals in about 1/3 cup of water into the burnt pot and bring it to a boil (keep an eye on it this time) . When the water is just about boiled up, the char will ooze and flake up. Then let it cool enough not to crack the pot, scrape out what you can and put it in the dishwasher. It works on glass and most other cookware. Sometimes you have to do the first step twice before you wash it. It works!

Answer 10

I have used cream of tartar that is found in the baking section of your supermarket. It is used as a thick paste and left on for 15 minutes and then use a nylon scrubber like Scotch Brite Sponges to scrub lightly. Add hot water and more Cream of Tartar paste and soak again for 15 minutes if the burnt part is really stubborn Make sure you use a scrubber for glass or ceramic surfaces so the pot isn't scratched Also Calgon Water Conditioner that you can find in the laundry soap section of your supermarket will clean it by either soaking in hot water and a half cup of water softener and the scrubber sponge or make a paste with a little bit of water and the water softener and using the nylon sponge scrubbers for glass or ceramic . (Not the calgon that is used for the bath)