The winter months are coming in, and as October gives way to November, the holiday season is just around the corner. With Thanksgiving and Christmas coming around soon, this means family gatherings and friends coming over more often. With this comes a good time to get your house in order.
There’s nothing worse than having to do a stressful last-minute deep clean because your in-laws are coming over, or your friends text you that they are just around the corner and mean to drop in with presents.
To prepare yourself, a full clean of the house around this time of the year is a great idea. You’ll be fully prepared for any guests arriving, and you’ll have a far more enjoyable time without the thought that you need to clean the oven in the back of your mind. A few jobs that are ideal to do now before things get too busy are the ones that don’t get done in your weekly routine.
A good culprit of this is the humble toaster. This is one of those appliances like the microwave that can get daily use, but doesn’t get cleaned as often as you’d like. This isn’t a big or difficult job, but one that, if you ignore for too long, can be a pain. With a build-up of crumbs, if you leave this too long, you may find an unwanted burning smell coming from the faithful appliance.
Safety first
If you’ve ever had a heart attack because you’ve seen someone digging around in a toaster with a knife, trying to get their toast out while the toaster is still on, then you’ll hopefully think of this before you start. Make sure that the toaster is fully switched off and unplugged before you start anything, and make sure the toaster hasn’t been used recently or else, it will be hot. The last thing we want when cleaning the toaster is an electric shock or burned fingers!
Inside out
The first place to start is with the inside of the toaster. This can be tricky as the areas where you place your bread are narrow, so Maid2Match Sydney suggests that you pick a thin sponge or an old toothbrush to get into every nook and cranny. The main thing to be mindful of is to not do any damage to the heating coils. They can be slightly fragile, so go over them firmly but not overly so. Make sure to also push down the lever on the toaster, then make the whole inside lower into its full locked down position. This will help you get right to the bottom of the toaster and allow you to clean the entire thing properly.
Emptying the crumbs
The majority of modern toasters have a crumb tray where any toast crumbs are collected. This is great and makes for easy cleaning. This is usually found at the bottom of the toaster and just slide out. Pull this out and toss in the trash, and give the tray itself a wipe down before slotting back in. It’s also a good idea to take the toaster, and tip it upside down to dislodge and remove any additional crumbs. You might be surprised how many crumbs fall out if you give it a good shake.
