How We Research
We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
Updated: 2026-09-22 · 10 min read · Independent comparison
My top pick for keeping an air fryer clean is Easy Off Fume Free Oven — it's the only pick here that dissolves baked-on grease without harsh fumes or gloves, so you can spray, wait, and wipe instead of scrubbing.
• Easy Off Fume Free Oven — best for deep cleans on baked-on grease; pick this if you want a fume-free spray that needs no gloves and works on the oven too.
• Linda's Essentials Reusable Square Silicone — best for square basket air fryers; pick this if you want perforated, cut-to-size mats plus a recipe ebook and cheat sheet in the box.
• Carbona Oven Rack & — best for soaking racks and grates you can't reach; pick this if you'd rather bag, coat, and rinse than scrub anything by hand.
• Elbow Grease Air Fryer Cleaner — best for quick daily wipe-downs; pick this if you want a lemon-fresh trigger spray you can use on the basket and tray after every cook.
This is a 24 fl oz spray can of cold-oven cleaner built for both ovens and air fryers. In my opinion it's the most useful single bottle in this whole list, because baked-on grease is the one problem every air fryer owner eventually hits, and this is formulated specifically to break it down.
The headline feature is the fume-free formula. It's made without lye and without harsh fumes, which is why the brand says no gloves are required. In practice that means you can spray it inside a small appliance, close the door, and come back without filling your kitchen with that eye-stinging oven-cleaner smell. That matters a lot with an air fryer, since you're leaning right over it.
The method is spray, wait, wipe. You don't scrub. For an air fryer basket or the interior cavity, that's the difference between a two-minute job and twenty minutes of scraping with a sponge. It's also labeled for everyday spot cleaning, so it doesn't have to be a once-a-season deep clean — you can hit a greasy drip before it bakes into a shell.
It's also a genuinely multi-surface product. The description lists ovens, broilers, and barbecue grills, so the same can handles your oven racks' worst enemy and your grill grates. The 24 oz pro size is aimed at people doing frequent or bigger jobs, and the can is recyclable with NSF and Kosher material features listed.
The trade-off: this is a chemical cleaner, not a liner. It does nothing to prevent the next mess, and it's not a lemon-scented everyday spritz — it's a job-specific product you pull out when things get ugly. If you want a wipe-down spray for after every single cook, this isn't that.
This is a 2-pack of reusable silicone pot liners sized for 3 qt to 5 qt air fryers, with a top diameter of 8 inches and a bottom of 6.75 inches. They're round, non-stick, and come in brown and black. Think of them as the lazy-but-smart way to clean an air fryer: you clean the liner instead of the basket.
The concept is simple. You drop the silicone pot into your basket, cook in it, then pull it out and wash it. Grease and crumbs stay in the liner, and the basket underneath stays basically untouched. The brand's own framing is that this makes you more willing to actually use the air fryer, and honestly that's the real benefit — the cleanup is what stops people from cooking.
The biggest practical argument for silicone over paper: parchment liners are flammable, and this replaces them with something you reuse. The brand positions it as cheaper over time and easier to place and remove than a paper filter. Beyond the air fryer, the liners are listed as usable in microwaves, ovens, skillets, steamers, and even as fruit plates, so they earn their drawer space.
Two trade-offs to know. First, the fit is specific — this is a 3–5 qt, round-basket product, so if you own a square or extra-large air fryer, look elsewhere. Second, you're still washing something after every cook. It's easier than scrubbing a basket, but it isn't zero effort.
Linda's Essentials Reusable Square Silicone
This is a 3-pack of square silicone liners, each 7.5 by 7.5 inches and 2 mm thick. They're non-stick, BPA- and PFOA-free, and rated to withstand up to 446°F. If your air fryer has a square basket, these are shaped to actually cover the whole floor of it rather than leaving four rounded corners exposed.
The perforated design is the detail I'd point to first. Holes across the mat let air move through, which the brand says delivers even heat distribution and consistently crispy results. That's the main thing a solid liner can get wrong — trap air underneath and you get soggy bottoms. The 2 mm thickness is also pitched as extra-thick and durable, covering the basket rather than curling up at the edges.
On cleanup, the pitch is straightforward: food stops sticking to the bottom of the basket, so you're not scraping residue off the base. When you're done, it goes in the dishwasher and back into rotation. The liners are also listed as usable in microwaves and convection ovens, and they fit 4 qt air fryers and larger.
What's in the box is a genuine differentiator. Each order includes three liners plus a bonus recipe ebook and a printable cheat sheet. If you're new to air frying and mostly cooking the same four things, that's a real head start. The brand also notes you can cut the mats to size with scissors if your basket is smaller or an odd shape.
Trade-offs: 7.5 inches square won't suit a compact round basket, and like any liner you're trading a dishwasher cycle for a scrubbing session. Also, I'd treat the "fits all air fryers" line as marketing shorthand — measure your basket before buying, because a mat that doesn't lie flat defeats the purpose.
Carbona Oven Rack &
This is a different kind of product entirely: a kit with a bottle of cleaning solution, an extra-large bag, and gloves. The stated use is oven racks and grill grates, not the air fryer basket itself — but if your air fryer has a removable rack, tray, or grate that's caked in grease, this is the tool that handles it without you touching a scrub brush.
The method is three steps: bag, coat, rinse. You put the cold rack in the included bag, pour in the entire bottle, seal it tightly, and shake gently to coat everything. Then you wait 8 hours. After that, you pull the rack out and rinse it with water. No scrubbing. You can stack two racks in the bag at once and swish to coat them evenly.
The formula is unscented and fragrance-free, and the brand describes it as fume-free and odor-free. It's made with baking soda and a decomposable formula. For anyone who gets headaches from heavy cleaner smells or has sensitive skin — which is exactly why the kit includes gloves — that's the whole point. It's also listed as non-toxic in its material features and comes in a 16.8 fl oz bottle.
This is a 500 ml trigger-spray cleaner made specifically for air fryers, in a lemon-fresh scent. If the other picks are the deep-clean tools, this is the one you keep on the counter for after-dinner maintenance. The brand's own description frames it as spray, foam, wipe, rinse — no soaking, no bagging, no waiting around.
The formula is built around degreasing power, aimed at baked-on grease, dirt, and grime, and the brand says it can be used daily. That's the honest use case: you cook chicken or chips, you let the basket cool, you spray it down, you wipe, you rinse. Doing that consistently is what keeps you from ever needing an eight-hour soak in the first place. The brand also notes it's safe on non-stick surfaces when used as directed.
The ergonomic trigger nozzle is a small thing that matters more than it sounds. Even coverage across a basket floor and up the sides means you're not chasing grease into corners with a second spray. The lemon scent is a deliberate choice too — it's there to leave a citrus finish instead of a chemical one, which is a real consideration when you're cleaning something you eat out of.
Coverage is broad: the brand states it works with all types of air fryer ovens, compact or family-sized, on both the fryer basket and interior tray. The 500 ml bottle is sized for regular use, daily or weekly.
The trade-off is depth. A spray-and-wipe does a great job on fresh grease and everyday residue, but it's not what you reach for when something has baked onto the basket for a month. For that, you want the spray-and-wait approach of a dedicated oven cleaner. My honest take: this is the maintenance product, not the rescue product, and most air fryer owners benefit from having both habits.
How We Picked
FAQ
how to clean air fryer
Match the method to the mess. For everyday residue, a spray-and-wipe cleaner like Elbow Grease is designed for daily use on the basket and interior tray. For baked-on grease, a fume-free spray-and-wait cleaner is the better fit. For removable racks and grates, a bag-and-soak kit lets the formula do the work with no scrubbing.
how to clean air fryer basket
how to clean air fryer heating element
The heating element sits above the basket, so you can't soak it — you need a spray you can aim upward and wipe carefully. A fume-free, no-gloves-required formula is the sensible choice for that kind of close-quarters work, since you're leaning into the appliance. Let the spray sit briefly, then wipe rather than scrub at the element.
how to clean air fryer with baking soda
Baking soda is the active idea behind at least one product here: the Carbona kit is made with baking soda and a decomposable formula, and it's designed for parts you can remove and submerge. You bag the cold rack, coat it, wait 8 hours, and rinse. It's an overnight method, not a quick fix, so plan it for a day you're not cooking in a hurry.
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