TikTokers shocked to discover most toasters have a crumb tray

Amy Bails was floored to find out the important cleaning fact after 10 years – leading others to admit they too had no idea.

Part of being an adult is discovering that there are certain life admin tasks you’re expected to do, even if no-one explicitly told you about them.

Things like emptying the filter in your dryer or checking the water in your car, just to name two random, definitely not specific to me examples.

So it’s perhaps no surprise then that plenty of fully grown adults on TikTok have been floored to find out that not only is there a crumb tray in your toaster, but it needs to be cleaned regularly.

Appliances Online category expert Colin Jones told news.com.au that most toasters had crumb trays – but some may be harder to locate than others.

“Depending on the model they are either noticeable, or can be more integrated into the design of the toaster,” he said.

“The purpose of a crumb tray is to catch the excess crumbs that fall off your bread once you place it into the toaster or during the toasting process.”

They need to be cleaned regularly for safety reasons, Mr Jones said.

“Crumb trays should be removed and cleaned on a regular basis, to remove the build-up of crumbs and to reduce any potential fire risk,” he said.

UK woman Zoe said her mind had been blown by the find. Picture: TikTok/@zoealexanderuk

She revealed her overflowing crumb tray. Picture: TikTok/@zoealexanderuk

Responding to a video that asked for an example of an “adult problem that nobody prepares you for”, TikTok user Zoe Alexander shared her horror at discovering her toaster had a hidden compartment.

“Nobody told me that I had to empty the crumb tray in the toaster,” she said, pulling out her tray to reveal a lot – and I mean A LOT – of crumbs.

“Because if I don’t, it sets on fire!”

@zoealexanderuk

##stitch with @samvanhorn THE CRUM TRAY!!!! ##adulting##fyp##fml##grownup##zoealexander

♬ original sound - Zoe Alexander

Another woman Amy Bails, who had watched Zoe Alexander’s video, didn’t believe her toaster had a crumb tray all this time and set off to investigate.

“No, no, nope that doesn’t exist,” Amy can be heard saying as she walked to her kitchen,

“There’s not a crumb tray, what are you talking about?”

Amy’s face says it all. Picture: TikTok/@amybails

Her video got more than 1.9 million views. Picture: TikTok/@amybails

But to Amy’s surprise she discovered her toaster did in fact have a crumb tray – and it was very overdue a clean.

“I’ve had this toaster for 10 years,” she exclaimed. “There’s a crumb tray?”

Both videos got a combined 2.5 million views as well as thousands of comments from viewers who discovered they too had a crumb tray they had never cleaned.

“That’s a thing? I’m gonna empty it right now,” one shocked person wrote.

“Now I’ve gotta go make sure my toaster doesn’t explode,” another commented.

“I’ve had my toaster for over 10 years and I still haven’t done this,” one commented.

One commenter joked that they were “just surprised we all haven’t accidentally died yet”.

@amybails

@zoealexanderuk This came on my ##fyp at midnight so yes! I am not wearing a bra. HOW DID I NOT KNOW THIS???

♬ original sound - Amy Bails

Another said they had survived by just flipping their toaster “over the sink and hit it every once in a while”.

But while there were plenty of people shocked by the fact that crumb trays existed, others were horrified it wasn’t more widely known.

“(I’m) shocked that so many people didn’t know about this,” one person wrote.

“How do people not know? I discovered this when I was seven years old,” another commented.

“So many adults don’t know basic home cleaning … it’s me, I am one of the adults,” one person quipped.