While the air fryer doesn’t get soiled in the same way a blender or a crock pot does, it does deal with grease, powerful heat, and moisture. Combine those things with hidden nooks and you’ve got a situation where food and oily residue can build up pretty quickly. Cleaning it regularly is a crucial part of keeping the appliance safe and the food coming out of it tasting great. Here’s how I take care of my air fryers. (Yes, I have more than one. Here are my favorite air fryers for 2025.)
Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann
Basic cleaning
There’s basic maintenance and then there’s serious cleaning, but we’ll jump into that in a second. Basic cleaning is the low-effort cleaning routine you should get comfortable with—this will end up making the deep cleaning sessions easier and less frequent.
Clean the removable parts
Whether you have a basket-style or oven-style air fryer, consider the parts of the machine that have come into direct contact with food. That might be the grate and basket, or the grate and tray in an oven air fryer. As long as they’re removable, take them out when they’re cool and give them a wash with a sponge and soapy warm water.
If your grates are grooved or wavy in some way, it’s common for food bits to get caught or for oil to seep down into the pits. A sponge might not do the trick here, so break out the bristle brush. Soap the brush and give the weird parts of the grate some extra scrubbing before rinsing with warm water.
This will be sufficient for most of the removable parts in an air fryer, but in some cases those parts are dishwasher-safe. Check with the manufacturer’s website first, but if you have a dishwasher then your life just got easier. Let those parts air dry afterward or you can towel dry them. Do this after each use, unless you’re using a disposable liner, which will catch a lot of food residue and maybe give you some leeway.
Wipe down the interior
You’ll probably notice that the interior walls of your air fryer are picking up some color. This comes with multiple uses; heat, oils, and moisture can leave some splotchiness over time. While you don’t have to do this after every single use, you should wipe down the interior walls now and then to keep oils from building up.
Make sure the appliance is unplugged. Take out the racks or the air fryer basket (ideally, they’re in the dishwasher or in the sink) to give your arms some room. Using the soft side of a damp soapy sponge, wipe down the walls and gently clean off the heating element. Don’t scrape or scratch the heating element, not even if there’s something crusted onto it. There are ways to deal with that …
Tough stains and crud
Even with frequent maintenance you’ll have to fight with some crud now and then. Here are the simplest and cheapest tools you should keep in your arsenal.
A baking soda scrub. This is one of my favorite methods—the baking soda loosens the grease and it’s slightly abrasive, which is good for scrubbing and lifting food particles.
Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann
Mix a tablespoon of baking soda with a teaspoon or two of water to make a paste. Use a toothbrush, pastry brush, or even your fingertip to apply the paste to stains. Let it sit for 15 to 20 minutes and use a brush or the scrubby side of a sponge to loosen the grime. Wipe off the paste with a damp sponge or paper towel, and let it dry.
A vinegar soak. Depending on what part you’re soaking, make a solution with one cup of water and two tablespoons of vinegar. (You can double or triple this for bigger soaks.) I’ll put the solution in a baking sheet pan and then submerge flat grates for soaking oven-style air fryer grates. For basket-style air fryers, I leave the grate inside the basket and add the vinegar soak to it. Soak for 20 minutes or up to an hour and scrub down the grates. Rinse the parts clean and let them air dry.
Paper towel soak for the heating element. If you got a weird chunk of food stuck directly to the heating element, you have two options: Let it slowly burn off when you use the air fryer again (it will smell briefly, and also could be potentially hazardous) or apply a paper towel soak to remove the gunk.
For the paper towel soak, make sure the machine is unplugged. If the heating element is on the top of the unit or on the side, turn the machine so it’s on the bottom—you’ll need gravity to help, here. Soak and wring out a piece of paper towel. You can add a drop of dish soap if you’d like, but very little. Stick it onto the crud that’s stuck to the heating element (that’s why we turned the machine). The paper towel should be wet but not dripping. Let this soak for 20 minutes or so. Wipe the spot using the paper towel. The crud should come off at least a bit, if not completely. Repeat this again if needed.
If you see built-up grease in the corners of the grate inserts I suggest a two-pronged approach of soaking and then using a baking soda paste scrub. After the cleaned parts are dry, your air fryer should be squeaky clean and ready for another meal.
