Air fryers are the countertop appliance of the moment, and for good reason. These little convection ovens help crisp up just about any food, including veggies, meat, frozen foods and more — and they do so quickly and efficiently. There’s very little residue, since they don’t use oil or grease. And at the end of the day, opting for an air fryer instead of an oven can save you money on your energy bill.
But cooking with an air fryer isn’t a completely mess-free ordeal. Spills and drips can still leave stickiness or caked-on dirt, especially with heavy use. There are a lot of nooks and crannies inside these pieces of cookware, especially if you have an air fryer with a detachable basket. Cleaning an air fryer isn’t as intuitive as scrubbing a pot or pan, but it’s still important — letting too much grease and food residue build up could pose a serious safety risk.
We’ll show you how to give your air fryer a proper clean without damaging the hardware. For more, find out which air fryer is the best for you and our favorite models for 2025.
Give it a rubdown
First, you need to soak up any oil that may be congealing in or on your air fryer. Make sure your appliance is unplugged before you get in there to de-gunk it. Then grab some newspapers or paper towels and wad them into a ball. Give the air fryer a good wipedown, inside and out, to remove the bulk of the oily residue that’s building up on your cookware.
Next, go over the outside of the appliance with a disinfectant wipe or a Magic Eraser. This wipe down will remove any residual oil and dust where the towels couldn’t cut it. Don’t worry about wiping out the inside just yet — we’ll take care of that in the next steps.
Wash the pan and fryer basket
Now, remove the pan and basket (some models also have a tray you can clean, so just take out whatever physically place your foods in) and give them a good washing. You usually can put these two items in the dishwasher, but check your manual to be certain.
If they’re dishwasher-safe, always put them on the top rack during a normal cycle.
If you’re hand-washing your pan and basket, let them soak in warm water for a bit first with a few drops of dish soap. Then wipe them down with a sponge or dishcloth and rinse each piece with warm water. Set the pan and basket aside to dry.
Wipe down the inside
While those are drying, use a Magic Eraser or disinfectant wipe to clean the heating element and the areas around where the basket and pan sit.
You can also clean the areas with hot water and a cleaning cloth instead. Since you can’t put your air fryer under running water, make sure you don’t use a cleanser that needs to be rinsed off. (Even wiping everything down with a moist cloth doesn’t remove all of the cleanser residue.)
If there is stuck-on gunk on the fryer’s heating element, scrub it with an old toothbrush or a soft-bristled cleaning brush. Don’t attack it with anything more abrasive or you may leave scratches. You don’t want to damage the most important part of the air fryer, but it’s also incredibly important to make sure there’s no residue that can catch on fire on the cookware’s coils.
Once everything is clean and dry, you can put the pan and basket back in.
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