Life Hack: How to deep clean your toaster — inside and out
Crumbs in your toaster can cause fires and make your toast taste burnt.
If you notice a smell of burnt toast every time you use your toaster, you probably need to clear out some old crumbs. Any left in the crumb tray emits a burning smell when the toaster gets hot, makes toast taste burnt, and it is a fire hazard.
Firstly, you should plug out the toaster and ensure it is not hot, so wait a while after using it for it to cool before you clean it. You can easily empty the crumb tray of anything it has gathered. A pastry brush is an excellent way to reach any remaining crumbs still inside the toaster. Use a soft-bristled pastry brush — never a silicone brush — to dislodge crumbs stuck to the heating element inside the toaster. For hard-to-reach parts inside, a long, thin brush like a clean paintbrush can help brush away crumbs in tricky corners. Never insert cutlery into your toaster to clean it as it can damage the heating elements.
Next, add some washing-up liquid to warm water and place the removable tray into the mixture, washing it with a sponge or cloth before rinsing and drying the tray. Make sure it is completely dry before returning it to the toaster. You can also wipe down the exterior of the toaster with a cloth dipped into the soap and water mix. Wiping it with a cloth dipped in distilled white vinegar can also remove dirt and add shine to the exterior, this will dissolve fingerprints or grease on stainless steel surfaces very well. A paste of water mixed with baking soda/bicarbonate of soda can be applied to any burned-on food on the surface of your toaster. Scrub with a soft brush to remove the build-up without damaging your toaster's surface.
If you only use bread in your toaster, you should empty the crumb tray weekly. However, if you heat up other foods in it — for example, waffles or entire toasties — it should be cleaned after each use. Accumulating crumbs can be a fire hazard in a toaster and they can impact the taste of any toast you are making too, so a clean toaster is both safer and more palatable in the long run.
Don’t be tempted to turn your toaster upside-down over the bin and shake it to remove any lodged crumbs. Research from The Ohio State University found this can break the solder joints inside and cause an electronic component to fail. Additionally, don’t submerge your toaster in water to wash it as you can cause extensive damage to the interior.
