The Surprising Way to Deal with All Those Crumbs in the Kitchen

You know all those crumbs that somehow mange to collect everywhere? Everywhere. The ones that litter the inside of your toaster oven and conventional oven, the ones hanging out in the crease between your oven and countertop, and the ones scattered all over your stovetop?

They’re annoying to try to wrangle, right?

If you clean them as you clean the rest of the kitchen, you’re going to make more of a mess than you need to. See, most of us usually clean our kitchen surfaces with some type of wet rag. But that rag gets gross quickly, and then you end up with sticky crumbs that gum up said rag and also mange to fall off said rag and onto the floor or back onto your surface. So then you have to clean them up twice!

And while we’re big fans of vacuuming up crumbs (especially in and around the oven), we know that you might not want to pull out your vacuum every time you need to clean up some crumby mess. Enter: a better solution … a paintbrush!

Read more: 6 Surprising Spots in Your Kitchen That You Can (and Should!) Vacuum

You can tuck it into your utensil drawer or even right into a utensil crock, and easily pull it out when you need it. Simply brush crumbs from corners and out of appliances and into your hand. Use a wide brush (like the kind you’d use to paint trim work in your house) or even a small one (like one you might use for an artistic oil painting) — or both if you want to have options. Bonus: We find it kind of calming to “sweep” our surfaces with a makeshift mini broom!

How do you handle crumbs in your kitchen? Share your tips in the comments below.