How To Clean Coffee Maker
If you’re like many people, you start off the morning with a steaming cup of coffee. However, the daily use of your coffee maker can lead to build-up from coffee residue and minerals in your water.
Learn how to clean a coffee maker — inside and out — to keep your machine running smoothly and your coffee tasting fresher.
How to Clean a Coffee Maker With Vinegar
Fortunately, cleaning your coffee maker is only a little more difficult than actually brewing a cup of coffee. This method will work for traditional coffee makers, as well as the single-cup makers that use pods. If you have hard water in your area, you may want to follow these steps weekly. Otherwise, you can clean your coffee maker once a month.You’ll need:
- A damp microfiber cloth
- 1 cup of distilled white vinegar
- 1 cup of water
- An empty coffee cup (if you have a single-cup model)
- Before cleaning your coffee maker, remove any old filters or pods and empty any reservoirs.
- Wipe down the outside of your coffee maker and any removable parts with your damp microfiber cloth.
- Make sure your coffee pot or coffee mug is in place.
- Mix the water and vinegar together and pour them into the coffee maker’s reservoir.
- Run a brew cycle with nothing but the water and vinegar mixture. For single-cup coffee makers, you may need to empty your mug and repeat this several times until the reservoir is empty.
- Fill your reservoir with filtered water and run several brew cycles to remove any traces of vinegar from the machine.
How to Clean a Coffee Pot
The first method of cleaning a coffee pot is very easy: As the vinegar descales your coffee maker when you run the above cleaning cycle, it will drip down into the pot. Simply leave the vinegar in the pot until it has completely cooled. Do the same when you run the water rinse through your coffee maker. Then wash your coffee pot as you normally would.However, this technique may not work if your pot hasn’t been cleaned in a while or has some staining. In those cases, you might find the following DIY cleaning remedy comes in handy.
You’ll need:
- 4 tablespoons of Kosher salt
- A lemon, cut into quarters
- 1 ½ cups of crushed ice
- 1 cup of cool water
- Let the coffee pot cool completely. Putting ice in a hot glass carafe could cause it to shatter.
- Squeeze the juice from the lemon quarters into the pot. Go ahead and drop the lemon rinds in, too.
- Add the ice, salt and water.
- Hold the pot by the handle and swirl it clockwise for about 15 seconds.
- Now swirl the mixture counterclockwise for 15 seconds.
- Repeat as necessary until the stains are removed. When cleaning a coffee pot with burns or staining on the bottom, try letting the solution sit overnight.
- Empty everything out of the pot and rinse well with cool water. Make sure the water is cool, as using hot water on an icy pot could crack or shatter the glass.
Now that you’re a pro when it comes to washing coffee makers and coffee pots, you might be interested in other kitchen cleaning and organization pointers. Learn how to remove residue from a scorched pot or take a look at these tips for making your kitchen more functional.
Need help keeping your home and kitchen clean on a routine basis? Contact your local Merry Maids to see if they can lend a hand.
