Cleaning tools
Soft-bristled cleaning brush
Reaches into perforations and grooves that a sponge cannot, without doing what a scourer would.
AirfryerHQ’s verdict
Genuinely useful
Solves a real problem that comes up often, and does something you cannot easily improvise.
The two hardest parts of an air fryer to clean are the perforations in a crisper plate and the grooves in a grill plate, and a flat sponge cannot get into either. The only alternatives are soaking — which works and takes time — or an abrasive, which every manufacturer in this catalogue prohibits on their coated parts. A soft brush is the tool that is left, and at least one manufacturer supplies one in the box and lists it as dishwasher safe.
What it actually does
Gets bristles into perforations, ridges and corners to lift softened residue, without the abrasion that damages a non-stick coating.
A small brush with soft nylon bristles. Several appliances in this catalogue ship with one, which is the clearest signal available that the manufacturers consider it the right tool.
When it helps and when it does not
When it helps
- Crisper-plate perforations, where residue sets into every hole
- Grill-plate grooves, which a sponge bridges rather than enters
- Around a probe socket or a seam, where liquid cleaner should not go
- After soaking, which softens residue that the brush then lifts
When it gets in the way
- Baked-on carbonised deposit, which needs soaking or a manufacturer's own paste method rather than more scrubbing
- The heating element and chamber interior, which manufacturers direct you to wipe with a damp cloth rather than brush
What to use instead
An old soft toothbrush does the same job, and hot soapy soaking does most of it before any brush is needed. Check the box your appliance came in first — several ship with a brush that people never unwrap.
Using it safely
- Soft bristles only. Every manufacturer in this catalogue prohibits scourers, steel wool and abrasive cleaners on their coated parts.
- The appliance must be unplugged and cooled before any cleaning. Electrical Safety First advises waiting at least thirty minutes.
- Never brush a live or warm heating element, and never let liquid into the chamber's electrical parts.
Looking after it
A greasy brush spreads grease. Wash it with the parts it cleaned, and replace it when the bristles splay — splayed bristles push residue around instead of lifting it.
Evidence and confidence
- Applies to
- Applies generally
- Why this rating
- One manufacturer putting a brush in the box and calling it dishwasher safe is direct evidence of the intended tool. The prohibitions that make it the RIGHT tool — no abrasives, no scourers, no metal — come from three separate companies and are consistent.
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-30
What this does not cover
- AirfryerHQ has not bought, fitted or used any accessory. Every judgement here is reasoned from what the accessory does physically and from what manufacturers publish about it.
Sources (4)
Ninja Foodi MAX Health Grill & Air Fryer AG551UK — Instructions (PDF)
SharkNinja Europe Limited — Manufacturer manual (United Kingdom)
Relied on for: That a cleaning brush is a supplied accessory listed as dishwasher safe alongside the cooking pot and grill plate, that abrasive tools and cleaners must never be used, and that a cotton swab or compressed air rather than liquid is recommended near the probe socket.
States this directly
Passage read and verified
Retrieved 2026-08-13 from argos-support.co.uk
Retrieved from Argos's manual library for Argos product 735/0124. The document identifies itself as revision AG551UKSeries_IB_MP_Mv1_200630_Mv1.
Cosori Dual Blaze TwinFry 10L Air Fryer CAF-TF101S-AES — User Manual (PDF)
Arovast Corporation (Cosori) — Manufacturer manual (United Kingdom)
Relied on for: That a non-abrasive sponge with hot soapy water and soaking is the method, that abrasives are to be avoided on the coating, and the manufacturer's own baking-soda paste method for stubborn grease.
States this directly
Passage read and verified
Retrieved 2026-08-13 from argos-support.co.uk
Retrieved from Argos's manual library for Argos product 818/0764. The document covers several languages in one file; every figure recorded here comes from the English section.
Electrical safety advice for air fryers
Electrical Safety First — Electrical-safety authority or body (United Kingdom)
Relied on for: That the appliance should be left to cool for at least thirty minutes before cleaning.
States this directly
Passage read and verified
Retrieved 2026-08-13 from electricalsafetyfirst.org.uk
AirfryerHQ assessment of airflow, element proximity and material behaviour
AirfryerHQ — Calculated or inferred by AirfryerHQ (Not jurisdictional)
Relied on for: The mechanism this is read against: forced convection, boundary-layer disruption and a small chamber.
AirfryerHQ's interpretation of what it says
Citation checked — the document exists and is described correctly
AirfryerHQ sells nothing and earns nothing here. There are no affiliate links, no sponsored placements and no brand recommendations anywhere in this section. The verdict above is what we think, arrived at before anybody asked whether it would sell anything.
Can it go in? The material questions
- Metal tins, trays and cookware — Explicitly permitted by one manufacturer for baking, and recommended by three others whenever a batter is involved.
If this is why you are here
- The basket coating is flaking or peeling — Usually mechanical damage from cleaning, and it does not repair. A basket shedding coating should be replaced rather than used.
- Everything tastes or smells of the last thing cooked — Fat that is still in the machine, being re-volatilised. Washing the basket does not reach it.
Worth reading
Others in this category
Genuinely useful
Non-scratch sponge
Named directly by manufacturers, and the thing it replaces — a scourer — is prohibited by every manual in this catalogue that mentions the subject.