How to Clean Every Appliance in Your Kitchen

By the Monster Cleaning team·Last updated 29 May 2026·20 min read

The air fryer is the most-used small appliance in a lot of UK kitchens now, and it is also the one people clean the least. We see it on jobs constantly: a daily-use machine, wiped maybe once a fortnight, food starting to taste of last week.

This is the routine our cleaners actually run, written down. To keep a kitchen working you clean each appliance on its own schedule, hot-and-greasy parts often and water-and-current parts carefully, and you almost never need a harsh chemical. That sentence is the whole article. The rest is the detail and the bits people get wrong.

We run a London cleaning company and have done since 2014, so most of this comes from doing it on other people’s appliances week in, week out, not from reading a manual once. One rule sits above everything else. Unplug anything electrical before you clean it, let it cool fully, and keep water off the parts that carry current.

The two rules that cover everything

Most appliance cleaning comes down to two ideas, and once they click you can work out the rest yourself.

Rule one is heat and grease. Anywhere hot air moves over fat, the fat bakes on fast and turns to carbon, so those parts need doing little and often, not in one annual battle. The air fryer basket, the hob, the cooker hood filters and the inside of the oven all live here. Leave them and you are no longer cleaning grease, you are chiselling off a varnish.

Rule two is water and current. Heating elements, motors, control boards and the spark electrodes on a gas hob do not mix with water, so the body of nearly every appliance gets a damp cloth and nothing more, while only the genuinely detachable parts go near a tap or a dishwasher. Get those two straight and you will not wreck anything.

There is a money angle too, the bit people ignore until a bill arrives. A neglected appliance works harder. The Energy Saving Trust puts cold appliances at around 13% of the average household’s energy bill, and a fridge or freezer choked with ice burns more of that than a clean one. Cleaning is maintenance, not decoration.

Leave them and you are no longer cleaning grease, you are chiselling off a varnish.

How often to clean each one

People always ask for the schedule before the method, so here it is in one place. Treat it as a floor, not a ceiling. If you cook every night, move everything up a notch; if your kitchen is barely used, you can ease off.

Air fryer: the one to do most often

Grease bakes onto an air fryer basket faster than almost anything else in the kitchen because the air inside is both very hot and moving. Leave it a fortnight and you are scrubbing carbon off the mesh, not wiping fat.

Clean the basket and the drawer after every use. Ninja, whose machines are in a lot of UK homes, are blunt about the method in their own guidance: let it cool completely, then hand-wash the basket and crisper plate in warm soapy water with a non-abrasive sponge. Soak the stubborn bits for 15 to 20 minutes first. Some baskets are labelled dishwasher-safe, but hand washing protects the non-stick coating, and that coating is the whole point of the machine.

For baked-on grease, make a paste with about 3 tablespoons of bicarbonate of soda and 1 tablespoon of water. Spread it on the dried-on patches, leave it 15 minutes, then work it gently with a soft brush and rinse. Wipe the heating element above the basket with a barely damp cloth, never a wet one, and never let water run near it.

• No wire wool, metal scourers, metal utensils or oven cleaner on the non-stick. It scratches, and scratched coating grips grease worse than bare metal.
• The main body does not go under the tap. Damp cloth only, because the motor and element live in there.
• Pull the drawer right out and check the gap underneath. Crumbs and fat collect in that recess and start to smell within days.

Do this one after every use. It is sixty seconds warm; it is a chore cold.

Oven: monthly, and know your lining

This is the appliance that defeats people, so it gets the most space, and the first thing to sort out is which kind of oven you actually own. It changes everything you do next.

Manual (enamel) ovens

A plain enamel oven needs a proper clean about once a month, more if you roast a lot. Take the racks out. Make a paste from roughly half a cup of bicarbonate of soda and a few tablespoons of water, spread it over the inside while carefully avoiding the heating elements and the fan, and leave it overnight. Next day, spritz any white residue with white vinegar, let it foam for a minute, then wipe everything off with a damp cloth. Stubborn corners get a second pass.

Soak the racks in the hottest soapy water you can run, in the bath if they will not fit a sink, for six hours or overnight, then scrub and rinse. A monthly hand clean is gentler on the oven than a furnace cycle every few weeks, and it costs nothing in electricity.

Pyrolytic and catalytic ovens

These clean themselves, but by completely different mechanisms, and people muddle them constantly. A pyrolytic oven runs a locked cycle at roughly 400 to 500C that turns everything inside to fine ash you then wipe out cold; for most households running that every three to six months is plenty. A catalytic oven has special liners in the cavity that oxidise grease at normal cooking temperatures above about 200C, so it never gets a paste at all. If you rarely cook hot, run a catalytic oven empty at around 220C for half an hour once a month to keep the liners working.

If the door glass or the cavity has years of carbonised grease on it, that is a job worth handing over rather than scraping at on a Sunday. Our professional oven cleaning service dip-tanks the racks and gets right into the door cavity, which a home paste cannot reach because you cannot dismantle the door.

These clean themselves, but by completely different mechanisms, and people muddle them constantly.

Hob: gas, ceramic and induction

The hob is three different cleaning jobs wearing one name, and the worst mistakes happen when people treat them the same.

Ceramic and induction

Wipe a ceramic or induction hob once it has cooled to warm, using a soft damp cloth and a little hob cream cleaner. For burnt-on marks, hold a proper hob scraper almost flat, around 30 degrees, and shave the residue off, then buff dry with a microfibre cloth so you do not leave streaks. No wire wool, no scouring pads, no bleach, and no citric-acid cleaner on the glass; they all leave fine permanent scratches you only notice when low light catches them.

Gas

Gas hobs are a different job. Lift off the burner caps and pan supports and soak them in warm soapy water, then get into the burner heads with an old toothbrush. Dry every part fully before it goes back. Take real care not to knock the ignition electrode, the small spark point next to each burner, because a wet or bent electrode will not light and you will think the hob has failed when you have only soaked it.

One sentence covers all three: clean it cool, never abrasive.

Cooker hood: the fire-risk one

Nobody thinks about the cooker hood until it stops pulling smoke away, and this is the appliance where neglect is genuinely dangerous. The London Fire Brigade is direct: around 60% of fires in the home start in the kitchen, and they name a dirty cooker hood and extractor among the things to clean because accumulated fat and grease can ignite. A grease-soaked filter directly above a hob is a fuel source, sitting in the worst possible place.

There are two kinds of filter and they are not cleaned the same way. The metal mesh grease filters are washable. Bosch, in their own support guidance, say to clean the grease filters roughly every 2 months, either by soaking them in hot soapy water or in the dishwasher at no more than 70C, and not to bend or squeeze them. Soak yours in very hot water with washing-up liquid and a couple of tablespoons of soda crystals for at least ten minutes, scrub along the grain of the metal rather than in circles, rinse and dry fully before refitting. Light discolouration after a dishwasher cycle is normal and does not affect performance.

Carbon filters are the opposite. They are the charcoal cartridge on a recirculating hood with no outside duct, they cannot be washed, and Bosch are clear you replace them, typically every three months depending on how hard the hood works. Trying to clean one just ruins it.

Kettle, coffee machine and dishwasher

If you live across most of the south and east of England, limescale is the enemy in this section, not grease. Around 60% of the UK has hard or very hard water, and the Drinking Water Inspectorate classes anything from 200 to 300 mg/l calcium carbonate as hard, and over 300 as very hard. London water sits firmly in that band, often 250 to 350 mg/l depending on the supply zone, which is why kettles here fur up in weeks.

The kettle

Furry element, slow boil, white bits floating in the tea. That is limescale, and white vinegar shifts it for pennies. Which? recommend equal parts white vinegar and water, filled to about three-quarters, boiled, then left to stand until completely cold before rinsing several times. For a thick crust use one part vinegar to three parts water overnight instead. Citric acid does the same job without the smell: one to two tablespoons in a half-full kettle of just-boiled water, left 15 to 20 minutes, then rinsed. In a hard-water area do this monthly. After either, boil a full kettle of fresh water and tip it away so your next cuppa does not taste of a chip shop.

The coffee machine

Wash the removable parts, the carafe, the basket, the drip tray, after every use in warm soapy water. Descaling is the part people skip and it is the part that kills the machine. Here is the honest bit, and it contradicts the kettle advice on purpose: on pod and bean-to-cup machines, do not use vinegar. Nespresso and De’Longhi both warn that vinegar’s acetic acid can damage the internal seals and aluminium parts and the smell never fully rinses out. Use the brand’s own descaler or a food-grade citric-acid solution every three months, or sooner in hard water, then run two full cycles of plain water through. Bean-to-cup machines usually prompt you on screen and run the cycle themselves, so just follow that.

The dishwasher

The machine that washes everything else needs cleaning too, and the filter is where it goes wrong. Twist out the filter at the bottom under the spray arm, rinse it under a warm tap, and pick trapped food out with an old toothbrush. If you scrape plates into the bin first, monthly is fine; if you do not scrape at all, that filter needs doing weekly. Once a month, run an empty hot cycle with two cups of white vinegar in the base to clear soap scum and limescale from the pipework, and wipe the rubber door seal and the bottom edge by hand while you are there, because that fold is exactly where black mould starts. In a hard-water area keep the salt reservoir topped up; it is what stops scale forming inside the machine in the first place. If you would rather buy a dedicated product than mix vinegar, we have tested the options in our guide to the best dishwasher cleaners in the UK.

Fridge and freezer

A smelly fridge is almost always one of three things: a spill you have not found, food past its date, or a blocked drain hole. It is rarely the fridge itself.

Wipe the inside with warm water and a little mild washing-up liquid. Not bleach, not anything harsh, because strong cleaners degrade the rubber door gasket, and a leaky gasket means a warm fridge and a bigger bill. Do the shelves, the salad drawers and the seal, working an old toothbrush into the folds of the gasket, then drying it properly because trapped moisture grows mould there. Find the small drain hole at the back of the fridge floor and check it is clear; food debris blocks it, water pools, the smell follows. For lingering odours, leave an open bowl of bicarbonate of soda on a shelf.

While the fridge is open, check the setting. The Food Standards Agency says a fridge should be between 0 and 5C, and a freezer around -18C, with the bacterial danger zone running from 8C up to 63C. A clean fridge holds temperature better, which is the hygiene point and the energy point at the same time: the Energy Saving Trust recommend keeping it at 5C or below, leaving a 10cm gap behind it for heat to escape, and defrosting it before it ices up, because an iced freezer is measurably less efficient.

Defrost the freezer once the ice is more than about half a centimetre thick. Switch it off, empty it, and stand bowls of hot water inside with old towels round the base to catch the melt; it usually takes 30 to 60 minutes. Never chip at the ice with a knife or any sharp tool. Beko spell out why in their guidance: do not use pointed or sharp objects to remove the ice, because puncturing the refrigerant circuit is, in plain terms, a write-off. Defrosting food is the same caution in reverse: do it in the fridge, not on the worktop, and use it within 24 hours.

Washing machine

It is in the kitchen in most UK flats, and people assume it cleans itself because soap goes through it. It does not. A washing machine that only ever runs 30 and 40C washes never gets hot enough to clear the grease and detergent sludge inside it, and that sludge is what makes towels come out smelling stale.

Run an empty maintenance wash once a month: the machine’s own drum-clean programme, or a 90C cottons cycle with no detergent and no load, with about 500ml of white vinegar or a few tablespoons of citric acid in the drum to cut grease and limescale together. Some machines flag this themselves after roughly 60 cycles.

The two parts that actually go wrong are the door seal and the detergent drawer. Wipe inside the rubber seal after washes and pull back the folds, because that is where black mould and trapped coins live. Pull the detergent drawer right out every couple of months and scrub it and its housing, because old softener sets like glue in there. Then leave the door and the drawer slightly open between washes so the inside dries. A machine left shut and damp will smell within a fortnight.

Microwave, toaster, blender, slow cooker

These take five minutes between them and people skip them anyway.

• Microwave. Put a halved lemon and a cup of water in a bowl, run it on full for five minutes, then leave the door shut and the power off for another ten while the steam works. Wipe it out with a cloth; softened grease comes away without scrubbing. Once or twice a month.
• Toaster. Unplug it first, every time. Empty the crumb tray every few days, wash it and dry it fully before it goes back. No tray? Turn the toaster upside down over the bin and brush the inside with a soft pastry brush. This is the one here that is a genuine fire risk, because dry crumbs on hot elements ignite, so it matters more than it looks.
• Blender and food processor. Half-fill the jug with warm water and a drop of washing-up liquid, run it 20 seconds, tip out and rinse. For anything stuck, unplug it, take the blade unit out and wash it separately, well away from your fingers, because those blades are far sharper than they look and they hide under suds.
• Slow cooker. For stuck-on food, fill the pot with warm water, washing-up liquid and a tablespoon of bicarbonate of soda, and soak it for an hour before wiping. Keep the base unit dry, damp cloth only.

One more on the floor under all of it. Crumbs do not stay under the toaster; they end up across the worktop and down the side of the units, and a quick pass with a handheld is faster than a dustpan. If you are choosing one, our pick of the best handheld vacuums covers the models that actually hold charge.

A few terms, plainly

Limescale

The chalky white deposit left by hard water as it heats. It is calcium and magnesium carbonate, it furs up kettles and heating elements, and in hard-water areas it is the main reason small appliances die early. See the Drinking Water Inspectorate hardness scale.

Descaling

Dissolving limescale off with a mild acid: white vinegar or citric acid for kettles and dishwashers, a dedicated descaler for coffee machines. Not the same as washing, and not optional in hard water.

Pyrolytic lining

An oven that self-cleans by heating its empty cavity to roughly 400 to 500C until residue turns to ash. Shelves come out first.

Catalytic lining

An oven with chemically treated cavity panels that oxidise grease at normal cooking heat above about 200C. It never gets a paste and the liners eventually need replacing.

Grease filter

The washable metal mesh in a cooker hood that traps airborne fat. Cleaned, not replaced.

Carbon filter

The charcoal cartridge in a recirculating cooker hood that has no outside duct. Replaced, not cleaned.

Door gasket

The rubber seal round a fridge, freezer or washing-machine door. Harsh cleaners perish it; a perished gasket leaks cold and costs money.

Frequently asked questions

How often should I clean my kitchen appliances?

Wipe the air fryer after every use and the hob and microwave roughly weekly with everyday cooking. Do the oven, dishwasher filter, cooker-hood grease filters and a washing-machine maintenance wash monthly. Descale the kettle monthly in hard water and the coffee machine every three months.

Is white vinegar safe for every appliance?

No. It is excellent for kettles, dishwashers, washing machines and enamel oven interiors. Avoid it on pod and bean-to-cup coffee machines, where Nespresso and De’Longhi say it damages seals and aluminium, and keep it off ceramic and induction glass and any stone worktop nearby. Use a dedicated descaler or citric acid for coffee machines.

Can I put air fryer and cooker-hood parts in the dishwasher?

Metal cooker-hood mesh filters, yes, at no more than 70C per Bosch. Air fryer baskets are often labelled dishwasher-safe, but Ninja and most makers recommend hand washing, because dishwasher heat and detergent lift the non-stick coating over time.

Why does my fridge still smell after I have cleaned it?

Usually a hidden spill, food past its date, or a blocked drain hole at the back of the fridge floor. Clear the drain hole with a cotton bud, bin anything questionable, check the fridge is at 5C or below, and leave an open bowl of bicarbonate of soda inside for a few days.

Is a dirty cooker hood really a fire risk?

Yes. The London Fire Brigade names accumulated fat and grease on the hob, cooker hood and extractor as something that can ignite, and around 60% of home fires start in the kitchen. A grease-clogged filter sits directly in the path of any flare-up from the pan below it.

How do I clean a dishwasher that smells?

Twist out the filter under the bottom spray arm and rinse it, picking trapped food out with an old toothbrush. Then run an empty hot cycle with two cups of white vinegar in the base, and wipe the rubber door seal where black mould forms. A dedicated dishwasher cleaner does the same job monthly.

When is it worth paying for a professional?

When grease has carbonised inside an oven door, when a kitchen has been left a year or more, or when you are moving out and the place has to pass an inventory check. A professional has the dip tanks and the time that a Sunday afternoon does not give you.

That is the whole kitchen. None of it is hard; it just needs doing on a schedule instead of in a panic before guests or a landlord arrive. If you would rather not give up a Sunday to it, or you have a move-out deadline, our deep cleaning service handles the lot, our end of tenancy cleaning is built around the standard letting agents actually check against, and our regular domestic cleaning keeps it from ever getting to the chiselling stage. Have a look at the prices, or get in touch and book whenever it suits you.