Pop bread, bagels, English muffins, or waffles in your toaster every day and your appliance likely gets filled with crumbs and grease fast. Luckily cleaning this kitchen workhorse only takes a few minutes and basic supplies, mainly a sponge and an all-purpose cleaner.
If you use your toaster daily, you'll want to empty the crumb tray and give it a once-over at least once a week, says Carolyn Forte, Director of the Home Appliances & Cleaning Products Lab at the Good Housekeeping Institute.
To avoid a potential fire hazard, get in the habit of unplugging your toaster and other small appliances (like your toaster oven or slow cooker) when you're not using them. Occasionally inspect the cord for any normal wear and tear as well. Toss it if you see frayed or exposed wires, and avoid using any hand-me-down appliances. New devices have better safety features and every used gadget has a history you don’t know — for instance, it might have sat for years in a garage and gotten wet.
How to Clean a Toaster
To keep your toaster cranking, grab a few supplies and follow these simple steps.
What You'll Need
- A sponge or cleaning cloth
- All-purpose cleaner like Mr. Clean Clean Freak Deep Cleaning Mist
- A small pastry brush or spatula
- Stainless steel cleaner like Affresh
Instructions
- Unplug the toaster and hold it over the sink or trash can. (This can get messy.)
- Slide out the crumb tray and dump the contents.
- Give the toaster a shake to dislodge any bits stuck inside. Then turn it upside down and shake again to remove any large pieces that didn’t fall through the bottom.
- Knock off remaining crumbs with a small pastry brush or spatula.
- Clean the crumb tray with a damp sponge or cloth or if it's removable, give it a quick wash in warm, sudsy water. Then rinse, dry, and reinsert it.
- Wipe the exterior with little all-purpose cleaner spritzed on a damp cloth or sponge. Pay close attention to the knobs, lever, and any crevices around the top slots where grease and crumbs accumulate. Wipe again with a damp sponge or cloth and buff dry.
- Polish any stainless steel with an appliance stainless steel cleaner like GH Seal holder Affresh to make it sparkle.
How to Clean a Toaster Oven
From reheating pizza to roasting chicken, a toaster oven can take on just about anything. But with more intensive cooking and additional internal parts, you'll need to take a few extra steps to combat build-up. Here's how to get it gleaming again after a few rounds of heating up lunch:
What You'll Need
- Non-abrasive sponge
- All-purpose cleaner like Mr. Clean Clean Freak Deep Cleaning Mist
- Glass cleaner like Invisible Glass
- Stainless steel cleaner like Affresh
Instructions
- Unplug the toaster oven.
- Shake out crumbs or other food particles into the trash.
- Wash removable parts like the rack, pans, and crumb tray in warm, sudsy water and use a non-abrasive scrubbing sponge to get off gunk. Rinse and let air dry.
- Clean the interior by spraying a sponge with all-purpose cleaner and wiping, but avoid the heating elements inside.
- Wipe the exterior. For stainless steel, we like Affresh. For glass doors, you can use a glass cleaner like Invisible Glass.
- Allow to dry completely (at least five minutes) before plugging it back in.
Caroline is a writer and editor with almost a decade of experience. From 2015 to 2019, she held various editorial positions at Good Housekeeping, including as health editor, covering nutrition, fitness, wellness, and other lifestyle news. She's a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism and dreams of the day Northwestern will go back to the Rose Bowl.
Carolyn Forté brings more than 40 years of experience as a consumer products expert to her role as executive director of the Good Housekeeping Institute's Home Care and Cleaning Lab. Using deep analytical testing and writing expertise in appliances, cleaning, textiles and organizational products, she produces cleaning and home care advice for GH, has authored numerous books and bookazines for the brand and partners with the American Cleaning Institute to co-produce the Discover Cleaning Summits. She holds a bachelor's degree in family and consumer sciences from Queens College, City University of New York.
