Removal of water heater plug hard paste

Heat the nylon plug area with a heat gun or hair dryer. Put your socket on the plug and turn. When you have the plug out, chase the threads with a pipe nipple, gently.

If the head of the plug breaks off you can drill a hole in the plug and use a sprinkler head (nipple) removal tool to get it out. Hopefully that won't happen. When I had an attwood I just used teflon tape. Make sure you stay with the nylon plugs.

A set of dental picks can really come in handy.
Lynn

Pipe dope can and will dry up hard as a rock. It will crumble when you take it apart.

Yes the plug might break, especially if its a few years old like mind was. start out with a good socket and slowly work the plug back and forth un-tighten, tighten un-tighten tighten etc it should slowly break free and come out. If the head breaks off then you will need to find something that can be inserted into the nylon treads to back them out. I ended up using a flat file being careful not to get it too deep into the nylon so i did not damage the water heater.
Once its out use a small hard bristle brush to clean up the threads. vacuum out the trash and you should be good to go. Just take your time.

Doesn't look like Teflon but plumbers pipe joint paste. Not soft or flexible. I have Teflon paste made for potable water to use when we remove the old plug and flush the tank.
Maybe heat will soften it?

The paste is probably a Teflon sealant paste and should come apart easily