How to descale a kettle or a coffee machine

If you live in a hard water area like I do, you will be used to a build up of limescale. This could be on shower screens, taps and, of course, kitchen items such as kettles and coffee makers. When it builds up on a kettle or coffee machine, it can be particularly annoying: nothing ruins a hot drink than dregs of limescale in the bottom!

It's easy to descale your kettle without scrubbing

There is a solution to this: regularly descaling your appliances. However, it can be hard to know where to begin. Here are some different techniques for descaling a kettle or a coffee machine:

How to descale a kettle:

There are specific kettle descaling products available in shops for this chore, or you can choose to take a more natural approach. Depending on which one you choose, here’s how to descale a kettle or a coffee machine:

Descale a kettle using a kettle-cleaning product:

There are various kettle descaling products on the market, each of which will have its own instructions that you should follow. However, this is the basic premise of most of the products:

1. Follow the instructions on the kettle-cleaning product with regards to how to dilute the product.
2. Pour this into your kettle.
3. Boil your kettle, and then allow the product to get to work on the limescale build up. Follow the instructions on the product for how long you should leave it in the kettle.
4. Pour the product out, and rinse the kettle thoroughly before use.

Descale a kettle using natural products:

Some people may prefer to use a natural product for descaling their kettle, such as vinegar or lemon juice. These options both work well, and this is how to go about using them:

Descale with Vinegar:

1. Fill your kettle to three-quarters full with equal parts water and white vinegar.
2. Boil the kettle and allow it to cool.
3. Pour out the water and rinse it thoroughly before use. You may need to do this several times to ensure there is no after taste.
4. Boil again with just water and tip it away to remove any trace of the vinegar aftertaste

Descale with lemon juice:

1. Mix lemon juice with equal parts water and pour into the kettle. The lemon juice can be freshly squeezed or out of a bottle; both will work to breakdown the limescale.
2. Boil the solution in the kettle.
3. Leave the lemon juice solution to cool down within the kettle for approximately 20 – 30 minutes.
4. Pour away the solution and rinse well. As with the vinegar, you may need to re-boil with just water to remove any final aftertaste (although lemon juice with tea is more pleasant than vinegar!).

Descale with citric acid:

Citric acid is actually the part of lemon juice that breaks down the limescale, but if you don't want to bother with squeezing lemons you can use powdered citric acid instead, I use these food grade citric acid crystals.  (I also use these to clean my toilet).

1. Fill your kettle with water to above the point where limescale has built up and turn on until nearly boiling.
2. Pour in some citric acid crystals. A table spoon should be enough, but the more you put in the faster it will walk.
3. Watch as the limescale magically disappears. 
4. Pour out and rinse well (the food grade crystals aren't harmful, but they would make your next cuppa taste sour if any remains).

How to descale a coffee machine:

Any of the solutions used above can also be used within a coffee machine, too. However, it’s worth being aware that vinegar or lemon juice may leave more of an aftertaste in a coffee machine than in a kettle, as it’s harder to rinse through.

No matter which method you use, here’s how to descale your coffee machine:

1. Choose one of the solutions above and pour it into the tank or the jug of your coffee machine.
2. Set your coffee machine to a standard brew cycle, and let the descaler flow through all of the parts of the coffee machine as it runs its cycle.
3. When the machine reaches the halfway point in the cycle, if it’s possible to do so, turn the machine off and leave the solution within it for an hour.
4. Now repeat steps 1 and 2 but with clean water in order to rinse the machine out. You may need to repeat this a couple of times to remove any descaler, vinegar or lemon juice and flush the machine out.

How to prevent limescale in your kettle:

Going forwards, prevention of limescale build up is better than having to descale it. As such, I would suggest buying a kettle with a limescale filter to start with; this will ensure that no impurities are allowed into your tea. This Russell Hobbs Brita Filter glass kettle comes highly recommended. Similarly, if you live in a hard water area, it is worth using a water filter jug to remove any limescale within the hard water before pouring it into the kettle.

Otherwise, try to keep on top of the limescale build up: descale your kettle once a month if possible, and you may wish to invest in a descaler ball which you can pop inside your kettle to stop the build up.

I hope these tips help with keeping your kettle or coffee machine at their best. If descaling is carried out regularly, it shouldn’t build up into a big job, so it’s worth keeping an eye on the limescale build up and keeping on top of descaling.