Toasters are one of those appliances that many people neglect when it comes to cleaning. Over time, accumulated crumbs can not only impact your toaster’s performance but also potentially cause a fire risk. If you use your toaster every day, cleaning it weekly is usually recommended. However, you can probably get away with doing it monthly as well.
However often you choose to clean your toaster, it is just important that it is done frequently and not left to sit with dirt built up. In all honesty, cleaning the appliance is actually very simple—requiring little and a short amount of time. In fact, food website The Kitchn revealed how to clean your toaster in just 10 minutes.
All you need is a rubbish bin, a small pastry brush, warm soapy water, a dry dish towel, a damp dish towel, and vinegar for any stainless steel toasters. Once you have everything you need, the first thing to do is unplug the toaster, ensuring that it is also completely cooled beforehand.
The cleaning process can be very messy, with crumbs spilling everywhere. Therefore, to avoid a chaotic mess, you want to make sure you’re working over the skin, a rubbish bin, or a newspaper-covered table.
The next thing to do is pull out the crumb tray and shake off all the loose crumbs. Most toasters have a removable tray at the bottom. However, if yours doesn’t just tip it upside down and “gently” shake the crumbs out – you can still do this even if you have a crumb tray.
Next, it’s time to give the tray a wash with warm, soapy water and make sure it is completely dry before popping it back in.
The small pastry brush can be used to get into the corners of the toaster that seem impossibe to reach, making sure you get as many crumbs out as possible.
Now, all you want to do is simply give the exterior a wipe down using a soft, damp cloth. You can also use a bit of washing up liquid if necessary. For any stainless steel toasters, going in with a clean cloth that has a bit of vinegar will also give it “some extra shine”.
All that’s left to do is pop back in the dry crumb tray, and voila, your toaster is all nice and clean.
