Cleaning an oven-style air fryer
An oven-style machine is a different cleaning problem from a drawer. There is a cavity with walls, a door with glass, shelf runners and a crumb tray, and grease reaches all of them. The one manual in this catalogue with a full care section gives a different method for each, including a prohibition on the product most people would reach for.
Questions this answers
- How do I clean an air fryer oven?
- How do I clean the glass door?
- Do I need to clean the crumb tray?
The glass door, and the prohibition on it
Warm to hot soapy water on a cloth or sponge, followed by a soap-free damp cloth to take off the residual suds. Specifically NOT a spray glass cleaner — the manufacturer rules it out by name, which is the sort of instruction nobody would arrive at by reasoning and everybody would breach by instinct.
The crumb tray is not optional
The same manual carries two separate instructions about it: remove, empty and clean it regularly, and clean it frequently when the air-fry setting is being used. It also states that the appliance must not be used without it fitted. Air frying drops more fat than toasting does, which is why the second instruction exists at all.
The method, part by part
| Part | What is on it | How often | Dishwasher |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trays and bake pans | Burnt-on residue | After every use | Depends on your model — check the manual |
| Crumb tray | Ordinary residue after cooking | After every use | Depends on your model — check the manual |
| Oven-style cavity | Greasy film | About weekly | Not removable, so the question does not arise |
| Viewing window | Greasy film | About weekly | Not removable, so the question does not arise |
Trays and bake pans — Burnt-on residue
Racks, shelves, trays and bake pans
Oven-style machines come with wire shelves, a bake pan or drip tray and often a mesh air-fry rack. They are not always dishwasher-safe even when the basket of a drawer machine would be, and one manual in this catalogue gives a hand-washing method for all of them and never mentions a dishwasher.
- How often
- After every use
- Dishwasher
- Depends on your model — check the manual
What works
Wash in warm to hot soapy water, rinse and dry thoroughly
Russell Hobbs's published method for the bake pan, drip tray and air-fry mesh rack. Drying thoroughly matters on wire parts, which rust where the coating has worn through.
Published by Spectrum Brands (Russell Hobbs).Soak for one hour before cleaning anything baked on
The published instruction: soak in warm to hot soapy water for an hour, then use a sponge or a soft cleaning brush to remove stains, rinse and dry.
Published by Spectrum Brands (Russell Hobbs).
What not to do, and why
Assuming they are dishwasher safe because the basket of another machine is
One manufacturer in this catalogue publishes a hand-washing method for every removable part and states no dishwasher permission at all. A dishwasher's detergent is far harsher than washing-up liquid and it is the wrong place to find out.
Published by Spectrum Brands (Russell Hobbs).Abrasive pads on a coated rack
Wire racks and mesh trays are usually coated, and once the coating is off the wire underneath corrodes.
- Your own manual is the governing document. Where it differs from anything here, follow it — this is a synthesis of what several manufacturers publish, not an instruction for your specific machine.
Crumb tray — Ordinary residue after cooking
The crumb tray
Oven-style machines have a crumb tray under the element. It is the part that turns dropped food into smoke and it is the part most often forgotten, which is why one manual carries two separate instructions about it.
- How often
- After every use
- Dishwasher
- Depends on your model — check the manual
What works
Remove, empty and clean it regularly
The published instruction, with a second one attached specifically to air frying: clean out the crumb tray frequently when using the air-fry setting. Air frying drops more fat than toasting does.
Published by Spectrum Brands (Russell Hobbs).
What not to do, and why
Running the appliance without the crumb tray fitted
Explicitly prohibited: the manual says do not use the appliance without the crumb tray fitted. Without it, fat and crumbs fall onto the base and the element below.
Published by Spectrum Brands (Russell Hobbs).
- Your own manual is the governing document. Where it differs from anything here, follow it — this is a synthesis of what several manufacturers publish, not an instruction for your specific machine.
Oven-style cavity — Greasy film
The cavity of an oven-style air fryer
An oven-style machine is a different cleaning problem from a drawer: there is a cavity with walls, a door with glass, shelf runners, and a crumb tray, and grease reaches all of them. The published methods differ by surface, which is why they are recorded separately rather than as one wipe-down.
- How often
- About weekly
- Dishwasher
- Not removable, so the question does not arise
Before you touch it
Unplug the appliance at the wall and let it cool completely before cleaning any part of it. An air fryer draws 1.5-2kW and its element and chamber stay dangerously hot for a long time after the fan stops — one manual in this catalogue warns that the frying tray is still hot half an hour after use. Never immerse the main unit, the cord or the plug in water or any other liquid. Every manual read for this catalogue says so, and it is the single instruction with no exceptions anywhere in the set. On an oven-style machine the element is usually exposed at the top of the cavity — do not let a wet cloth touch it, and do not clean around it until it is completely cold.
What works
Wipe the cavity walls with a damp cloth and warm soapy water
The published method for the exterior applies equally inside: a damp cloth, wrung out, with the appliance unplugged and cold.
Published by Spectrum Brands (Russell Hobbs).Take the removable parts out and wash them separately
Wire shelf, bake pan, drip tray, air-fry mesh rack and crumb tray all come out. Washing them out of the cavity is easier and it is what the manual describes.
Published by Spectrum Brands (Russell Hobbs).
What not to do, and why
Oven cleaner in the cavity
No manual read for this catalogue permits it, and a countertop cavity is thinner and more likely to be painted or coated than a full-size oven's enamel. Several manuals prohibit strong solvents outright.
Published by RKW Ltd (Tower Housewares).Using a pyrolytic or self-clean cycle it does not have
None of the countertop machines in this catalogue publishes a self-cleaning cycle. Running one empty at maximum temperature to burn residue off is not a published method and it puts a chamber full of fat deposits above a live element.
- Your own manual is the governing document. Where it differs from anything here, follow it — this is a synthesis of what several manufacturers publish, not an instruction for your specific machine.
Viewing window — Greasy film
The viewing window
A glass door on a cooking appliance is the one surface where the obvious product is the wrong one. The single published method in this catalogue is as much a prohibition as an instruction.
- How often
- About weekly
- Dishwasher
- Not removable, so the question does not arise
Before you touch it
Unplug the appliance at the wall and let it cool completely before cleaning any part of it. An air fryer draws 1.5-2kW and its element and chamber stay dangerously hot for a long time after the fan stops — one manual in this catalogue warns that the frying tray is still hot half an hour after use. Glass that has been heated and is then cooled unevenly can crack, so let the door reach room temperature before washing it.
What works
A damp cloth or sponge in warm to hot soapy water
The published method. Follow with a soap-free damp cloth to remove residual suds and streaks, which is the step that decides whether it looks clean afterwards.
Published by Spectrum Brands (Russell Hobbs).
What not to do, and why
Spray glass cleaner
Explicitly ruled out by the manual: do not use a spray glass cleaner on the door. A solvent-based cleaner sprayed at a door seal and a heated glass panel is a different proposition from a window at room temperature.
Published by Spectrum Brands (Russell Hobbs).Abrasive pads or scrapers on the glass
Scratched heat-resistant glass is weakened glass, on a panel that is repeatedly heated and cooled.
- Your own manual is the governing document. Where it differs from anything here, follow it — this is a synthesis of what several manufacturers publish, not an instruction for your specific machine.
Evidence and confidence
- Applies to
- Specific to this type of appliance
- Why this rating
- One manufacturer publishes a complete care section for an oven-style machine and it is the only such section in this catalogue. Its glass-cleaner prohibition and its crumb-tray instructions are both specific enough that no general advice would produce them.
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-13
What this does not cover
- Your own manual is the governing document for your appliance. Where it differs from anything here, follow it.
Sources (2)
Russell Hobbs Express Air Fry 12.6L Mini Oven 26680-56 — Instructions (PDF)
Spectrum Brands (Russell Hobbs) — Manufacturer manual (United Kingdom)
Relied on for: The glass-door method and the spray-cleaner prohibition, the hand-washing method for the removable parts, the one-hour soak, and the crumb-tray instructions.
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 564/2566.
Tower T17023 2.2 Litre Air Fryer — Safety and Instruction Manual (PDF)
RKW Ltd (Tower Housewares) — Manufacturer manual (United Kingdom)
Relied on for: The prohibition on strong solvents and abrasive cleaning agents.
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 745/2194.