Cleaning the inside of a toaster can be a real pain. It’s a tight space. It’s also difficult to know if you’ve got every single crumb out. Some people just buy new toasters instead of cleaning them – incredibly wasteful!
But we know some great toaster cleaning hacks. Do you want to find out about them? With a few simple tools and a little bit of patience, you can clean your toaster easily and quickly. Find your problem below and find out how to get the problem sorted fast.
Find our Life Hacks in each section to make your life that much easier, regardless of which toaster you own. Each life hack will give you a quick shortcut to clean your delicious snack-making machine.
Table of contents
- How To Clean Inside A Toaster
- Easy To Clean Toasters
- Can I Clean The Inside Of A Toaster Oven Like This?
- Conclusion
- FAQs
How to clean inside a toaster
A lot of people get worried when it comes to cleaning a toaster. It doesn’t need to be a big task at all, especially if you bought an easy-to-clean toaster like the Cuisinart Metal Classic Toaster. It has a pull-out tray that makes cleaning out most of the crumbs super simple.
If you didn’t buy an easy-to-clean toaster, it can be a chore. Find our section below on the 3 best, easy-to-clean toasters if you haven’t bought one yet.
However, if you are stuck with the toaster you have now, you can follow these easy steps.
1. Unplug the toaster
Toasters are electric pieces of equipment that can give you nasty shocks or burns if you’re not careful. As we’re going to be cleaning inside the toaster, you need to make sure there’s no power flowing to it. If there is, you could cause the toaster to spark and risk serious injury.
2. Give It A Good Shake
Turn your toaster upside down and shake it over your trash can. This should get most of the crumbs out of the toaster. It won’t get them all out now, but it will get the biggest and loosest pieces free. If you don’t have a pull-out tray, this should be your first move.
If you have a toaster brush, this is the perfect time to stick it into the bread holes and give everything a good shake. This will loosen up all the bigger crumbs that didn’t come out with a simple shake.
Life Hack #1
Don’t have a toaster brush? No worries. You can use a pencil and a piece of tissue paper.
Wrap the paper around one end of the pencil and put your pencil – paper contraption into the bread slot. Give it a waggle around and now the stubborner pieces will be freer. Remove the pencil and now you can shake the toaster again. You should see even more crumbs falling out now!
3. Use Your Toaster Tray
This is the key step if you have one. If it is removable, you can slide it out and throw away the crumbs. If it isn’t, you need to tip the entire toaster over the trash.
If for some reason you can’t use your tray (say, it’s blocked up with wet crumbs), this makes life more difficult.
Life Hack #2
If you can’t open your crumb tray, use an unfolded paper clip or another thin piece of metal to loosen it. This works best with flap trays – you can use your unfolded paper clip to act as a hook and pull the tray forward.
4. Brush The Bread Slots For The Stubborn Crumbs
Using a toaster brush, scrub the carriage and elements for any leftover crumbs. Be careful not to damage the elements. They’re not designed to resist much pressure and rough brushing can break them.
After you have brushed the inside of the toaster, tip it over your trashcan again to get rid of the crumbs.
Life Hack #3
To loosen the crumbs without putting anything in the bread slots, use a hairdryer. This will blow them out of the toaster with barely any effort!
5. Cleaning Out Stubborn Stains
If you have put cheese or other greasy foods in your toaster, there may be leftover mess. Cheese can be especially difficult to move.
Take a soft spatula or wooden spoon. Gently push on any built-up food, such as melted cheese. Using your utensil like a spade, flick it away from the carriage. The build-up will come away easily, leaving a greasy spot.
Life Hack #4
To get rid of the greasy spot, take a toothbrush and dip it in soapy water. Rub the soapy mixture on the stain and the grease will melt away. Use a dry cloth to get rid of any residue.
6. Clean Any Internal Pieces That Can Be Disconnected
Your toaster’s crumb tray will probably disconnect. If you can, take it out and wash it with soapy water. Getting rid of greasy patches on the tray will stop crumbs from sticking. These little steps can stop you from cleaning your toaster often.
7. Replace All The Pieces And Make Sure The Toaster Is Dry
Put your toaster back together and give it time to dry. You can use a microfiber cloth to dry it quicker (if you just need toast now). Plugging a wet toaster into the socket will possibly short the toaster, breaking it or even causing fire.
Now you have a lovely clean toaster. You can start cooking delicious toast again!
Easy To Clean Toasters
If you want to cut down on your cleaning time, an easy to clean toaster is a great buy. These generally come with at least 1 pull out crumb tray and have wide bread slots. This makes cleaning that much easier.
The Cuisinart Metal Classic Toaster has a large slide-out crumb tray and comes in 2 and 4 slice sizes. This is perfect for the toaster owner who doesn’t want to clean often.
If you want something a bit more space aged, the Dash 2-Slice Toaster might be better for you. It has glass sides, meaning you can see exactly what your toast looks like (and if it needs to be cleaned!). This is a great investment for the toast enthusiast who wants modern functionality with a retro look.
However, the best easy-to-clean toaster we found was the Wolf Gourmet 4-Slot Extra-Wide Slot Toaster. Not only is it massive, but it also has a large crumb tray which is fully removable. If you need a piece of equipment which can be cleaned easily, you need this fantastic option. The only thing holding it back is its sale price.
Can I Clean The Inside Of A Toaster Oven Like This?
If you are using a toaster oven, it’s a similar process. You may not have to take a crumb tray out, you can just wipe down the bottom of the toaster oven. See your toaster oven’s instructions to find out more about how to clean it.
One certain difference is the heating element. You will need to wipe it down on its own.
Turn off your toaster oven and let it cool down. Using soapy water, wipe over the element. This will get rid of any light stains. Because toaster ovens have elements which are more exposed, they are more likely to get dirty.
If it is still dirty after using soapy water, use white vinegar. Rub it on the element and scrub. You should see tough stains come off immediately. Then use a dry cloth to wipe off the vinegar.
If it is still still dirty, use baking soda as well. This will make a fizzy mess in your toaster oven, so have a dry cloth on hand to wipe up the mess.
Conclusion
Cleaning the inside of a toaster is easy, but you just need to be careful. Using our simple 7 step method can remove even the stubbornest messes. The key is patience and scrubbing the crumbs so that everything comes loose.
Use our life hacks to cut out some of the headaches when cleaning a toaster. There’s a lot of common problems which are avoidable with our clever tricks. Don’t make the process harder than it needs to be!
The best way to clean your toaster is often! If you clean it at least once a week, you won’t need to make such big cleans. Regular cleaning means that you can leave your vinegar and baking soda in the cupboard and just focus on tipping out breadcrumbs!
FAQ - #How to clean inside of toaster
Do I put water in a toaster when cleaning it?
Only very, very small amounts. You should use a damp cloth to wipe down the insides of the toaster. If you use a very wet cloth, it will mean you have to wait longer for it to dry and potentially damage the electronics.
Never submerge a toaster in the water.
How do I clean the inside of a chrome toaster?
This is exactly the same as our walkthrough above. The only difference between a plastic cover toaster and a chrome toaster is that you will have to use a vinegar / baking soda combination on the outside. This will get the toaster-looking mirror clean!
Do I need a toaster cleaning brush?
No, in fact, I suggest using an old toothbrush or a bottle brush instead. You should have one of these lying around your home, so it saves you from buying new equipment.
Does cheese break a toaster?
No, but it makes a mess if it spills. You should always use a toaster bag (or make your own out of parchment paper) if you want to use cheese. Cleaning cheese out of the bread slot can be difficult, especially because it leaves a greasy spot where it was.
Do I have to clean inside a new toaster?
Yes – even if it hasn’t had bread in it, there’s probably something in there. You can get dust or particles from where the appliance was made. Although these are unlikely to be harmful, they are a bit disgusting. Clean out the toaster properly before using it and avoid eating dust!