Nobody wants to blend up a strawberry banana smoothie, only to notice a bit of green from that kale smoothie you made yesterday. In this article, we will go through all the steps to clean a Ninja blender thoroughly.
1. Disassemble the Blender
The blender cup or pitcher can be removed by turning it counterclockwise and pulling it off the base. Next, detach the top of the blender by pressing the release button and pulling it off using the handle if your Ninja blender has one.
You now have three separate pieces:
- Base
- Blending cup / pitcher
- Blending cup lid
Advanced Disassembly
If you want to clean your Ninja blender more thoroughly, we added some extra steps:
The handle of your ninja blender pitcher can collect some gunk over time. This can lead to a foul smell and a bad-looking handle. Luckily, you can detach it and clean the inside of the handle to keep it looking pristine.
If you turn the pitcher upside down, you will see two Phillips head screws holding part of the handle together. You can unscrew these (KEEP THEM CLOSE BY) and then take the black piece of the handle off.
The handle does not slide out, though. It needs to be pried off gently. You will hear the clicks when you remove it and the same when you put it back on after cleaning the blender.
You can also remove the blade from the pitcher similarly by unscrewing 3 Phillips head screws on the bottom of the pitcher. Removing the blade should be done with extreme care.
The blades are very sharp, and you could badly cut yourself if you’re not careful. Use a thick rag to handle the blade if you have one. And at the risk of sounding repetitive, I want to mention again that keeping track of the Philips head screws you took out before is essential.
Taking off the back of the handle so the inside can be cleaned and removing the blade may seem extreme to some. Still, if you clean a Ninja blender like this it will end up looking as new. You can rest assured that you got it thoroughly clean because you cleaned the blades individually.
Nerdy Tip
Ultimately, the best moment to clean a Ninja blender is directly after usage. The residue in the blender gets difficult to remove as it dries out and sets in.
If you can’t clean it right away, at least rinse the pitcher and blades off directly after use.
2. Clean The Ninja Blender
You may be tempted to toss the entire thing in the dishwasher and forget about it. Yet, there is a best cleaning method for each piece of your Ninja blender, independent of whether or not it is dishwasher safe.
The Base or Motor
Never submerge the base in water or liquid. Instead, it is best to just clean this with a wet cloth or sponge.
The Pitcher and Blade Assembly
Both the pitcher and the blades of your Ninja blender are dishwasher-safe. Still, it is better to remove the blades from the pitcher and place them with the cutlery in the dishwasher.
Personally, I tend to wash my blender by hand straight after use in hot soapy water. The gunk comes off easily when cleaned immediately. Additionally, the blender will last longer without the high heat and harsh chemicals in the dishwasher.
The Lid
The lid is probably the easiest piece to clean. It’s dishwasher-safe, no matter what model you have. Just make sure it goes on the top rack. Hand washing the lid is extremely easy as well.
Simply rinsing the lid with hot water and then scrubbing lightly with a small amount of dish soap is a sufficient way to clean the lid of your blender. It’s a component that does get dirty but doesn’t contain as many nooks for germs to hide. Yet, sometimes it may be required to do a brief hand wash afterward.
3. Let Each Piece Dry
Letting each component air dry is essential when you clean a Ninja blender thoroughly. You don’t want any watery residue left when you plug in your blender next time you want to make a healthy breakfast smoothie (that is, unless you want to experience an electric shock).
4. Reassemble The Blender
Your work is nearly done. Now, all that’s left to do is to assemble the fully-dried components to get the Ninja blender working again. By this point, the device should be sparkly clean and ready to use, so you should be able to make any smoothie, sauce, or other type of pressed liquid that your heart desires.
If you want to improve the taste of your sauces and curries, you may want to consider a wet grinder.
We have an in-depth explanation on what they are and compare models that are available.
Conclusion
In order to clean a Ninja blender, you always need to disassemble it beforehand. You can do a basic disassembly or go deeper and remove even the minuscule components for a deeper clean. The lids, pitchers or cups, and blades are all dishwasher safe. However, a post-use (and sometimes post-dishwasher) hand wash will give you the best results.
