How to Clean an Air Fryer – The Easy Way!

I use my air fryer all the time which means I also spend a lot of time cleaning my air fryer. Today I’m going to share with you how to clean an air fryer – the best and easiest way to clean an air fryer! This post has been sponsored by my favorite kitchen cleaning wipe, Tub O’ Towels. 

I got my first air fryer 2 years ago. I’d heard great things about air fryers but I honestly didn’t trust that it could make food taste fried without any oil. I. Was. WRONG. Air fryers make food taste amazing! Fried foods that you love taste just as good when prepared correctly in an air fryer without the added fat and calories that frying them traditionally add to your food. 

Preparing food in your air fryer is also far less messy than frying with oil. However, even though you aren’t cooking with oil, air fryers still tend to accumulate grease, oils, and food crumbs that will need to be cleaned. 

At this point, I own 3 air fryers (yes 3 – we have a large family and we use them a lot!). I’m going to show you my cleaning routine with my PowerXL Air Fryer Pro. Instead of a basket, it features wire racks. This is a newer style of air fryer but one that I have found to be easier and better for our family. (It enables me to cook more things at the same time and even more variety). I also have an older-style basket air fryer. The cleaning methods I mention in this post can easily be used and modified for a basket air fryer as well. 

How To Clean an Air Fryer (The Easy Way)

Pro-tip – The easiest way to clean your air fryer (and a lot of other things in your kitchen) is by using Tub O’ Towels heavy-duty cleaning wipes. I’ll be mentioning them in these instructions. You can find these wipes at Target, Walmart, Amazon, and other retailers.

We discovered these wipes a few years ago and I always have a container in our kitchen now. They make cleaning grease SO quick and easy! You should be able to clean your entire air fryer with just one wipe! When they come out of the canister they are actually folded in half, so make sure you open your wipe to maximize the size.

First, make sure your air fryer has completely cooled off before you start to clean it. 

Remove the metal basket or wire shelves. Dump any loose crumbs into the sink and then use a Tub O’ Towels wipe to wipe down the wire shelves or metal basket. Don’t worry if there are big pieces of food stuck to your trays or basket. Tub O’ Towels wipes will remove crumbs and stuck-on food particles easily.

You are likely to pick up crumbs with your Tub O’ Towels wipe while you work. I just shake my crumbs into the sink and then continue to use the same wipe.

Your air fryer likely has either a tray at the bottom to catch crumbs or a metal housing for the basket. Dump loose crumbs and wipe this down well with your Tub O’ Towels cleaning wipe. 

Using the same wipe, clean the inside of your air fryer machine, paying close attention to little corners or lines where grease might accumulate. 

Shake out any extra crumbs then wipe the outside of the air fryer and the counter area around the air fryer. 

Lastly, although Tub O’ Towels contain no harsh chemicals, I like to rinse everything off with some water. I rinse my wire shelves (or basket when I’m using that) under running water. I also take a damp microfiber cloth and wipe down the inside of my air fryer and the outside too. 

You can let your basket/wire racks air dry or, if you’d like to use them quickly, you can also put them back into your air fryer and turn it on for a few minutes to dry everything with warm air. 

That’s it! Your air fryer is now clean and ready to create yummy foods again, like these delicious and easy air fryer donuts or these homemade air fryer onion rings. 

Tub O’ Towels are my cleaning wipes of choice. As a busy mom, I need a strong, quality wipe that breaks down the grease quickly and cleans with ease. Tub O’ Towels use only biodegradable detergents, solvents and emulsifiers that go to work dissolving grease and dirt. The wipes have foaming agents that lift grime off the surface so it can easily be wiped away. I love that these wipes contain aloe, Vitamin E and lanolin to protect your hands and leave them clean and soft.

Tub O’ Towels also makes great wipes for cleaning stainless steel. We use them frequently to clean our refrigerator, oven, dishwasher, and microwave! I love that they are so mild on the hands that I can even let my kids help me with the cleaning. 

I’ve partnered with Tub O’ Towels today to bring a fun giveaway to my readers! One lucky person will win a GoWise air fryer plus a 90 count of my favorite Tub O’ Towels Heavy-Duty Cleaning Wipes and a pouch of their 15 singles for on the go cleaning.

If you’d like a chance to win, enter using the Giveaway Tools entry form below. Good luck!