Descaler for a coffee machine

A cup of hot, aromatic and invigorating coffee can pleasantly and gently wake you up in the early morning. To get this feeling every day, you need to learn how to care for your coffee machine. Not only the taste of the prepared drink, but also your mood for the whole day depends on the state of this device. In this article we will tell you what descaler for a coffee machine you can use, and also try to understand why to clean this device and how to do it correctly.

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When is preventative cleaning necessary?

How often you have to descale a Delonghi coffee machine depends on the quality of the water you use:

• applying a soft and purified liquid, the machine must be cleaned once every six months;
• if hard water from the tap is used, the procedure is performed approximately once a month.

Important! Another criterion for descaling the coffee machine is the intensity of use of the equipment. Making about 200 cups of coffee is a signal that it’s time to take preventative measures.

Some models of equipment for this are equipped with a special counter, which independently inform the owner about the need for cleaning. If the unit is not so perfect, then you need to pay attention to the following factors:

• a trickle of coffee pouring into a cup becomes much thinner than usual;
• the coffee machine starts to hum;
• a whitish precipitate appears in the drink.

If any of the above signs appears, you need to prepare to descale your appliance.

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Descaler for coffee machine

Usually, all coffee machine manufacturers produce special descaling agents inside their appliances. The most popular are chemical compounds from the following manufacturing companies:

• Philips
• Bosch
• Delonghi;
• Melitta;
• Top house;
• Krups.

Important! You can purchase these funds at almost any hardware store. However, when using chemical formulations, strictly adhere to the instructions on the dosage and method of application of the specific substance indicated on the bottle.

Typically, branded descaler for a coffee machine comes in the form of capsules, liquids, or cleaning powders. Such substances have a rather high cost, but in the modern market you can buy universal products that can serve as a replacement for them.

In principle, it is not necessary to use branded chemicals to clean the coffee machine, but you can use folk remedies, such as lemon juice or acid.

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Cleaning procedure

Depending on the model of equipment and the product you have chosen, descaling can be done in one of the following ways.

Self cleaning function

If the machine has a display and a counter of prepared cups of coffee, then the cleaning procedure is performed according to the following algorithm of actions:

1. According to the instructions on the packaging of the detergent, prepare the solution.
2. Pour it into the water tank.
3. Thoroughly clean the coffee grounds and waste collection container.
4. Turn on the automatic cleaning mode and follow the signals that the coffee machine itself periodically emits. Often she asks to add water and clean the pan again.

The rest of the cleaning process the machine will carry out independently.

Manual cleaning

If the function of automatic cleaning by the designers of the device is not provided, then the procedure is as follows:

1. Prepare a cleaning composition according to the instructions for the coffee machine.
2. Fill the water tank with this solution.
3. Remove any coffee residues from the filter and empty the waste container.
4. Turn on the appliance and open the tap to drain 100-150 ml of boiling water from the unit.
5. Repeat the drain procedure 4-5 times approximately every 5-7 minutes.
6. If the machine is not equipped with a pulverizer, then you need to pour coffee and start the program for preparing it without draining the cleaning solution.

Important! If the coffee maker is of the carob type or there is a pulverizer, then you can start the program without filling the coffee.

7. Pour out the resulting liquid.
8. Repeat the procedure until the solution is poured into the coffee maker tank.
9. Rinse the water tank thoroughly by pouring cold water into it and repeating the procedure.
10. Rinse the operating unit of the unit with running water.

Important! For proper cleaning, in any case, you must first read the operating instructions. Some machines have special containers in which cleaning products in the form of tablets are placed.

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Folk cleaning methods

If you prefer to use natural products, then there is a way to decalcify a coffee machine without the use of chemicals. For cleaning procedures you will need lemon juice or citric acid, you can also use a solution of vinegar.

To clean the Delonghi coffee machine from limescale with citric acid, follow the instructions below:

1. Clean the coffee maker from the waste and rinse the removable parts with running water.
2. Prepare a solution of lemon juice squeezed from 1-2 lemons, depending on their size, which must be diluted in 1 liter of water. You can also use 6-8 teaspoons of acetic / citric acid.
3. Pour the resulting solution into the water tank and leave for a couple of hours, since the acid dissolves the scale longer than special products.
4. After the allotted time has elapsed, start the coffee brewing program. As with the use of special tools, this process is done with or without coffee and is repeated until the solution is complete.

Important! The resulting drink is not allowed. If there is too much scale, then this procedure is repeated several times.

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Stock footage

In this article, we talked about how to rinse a coffee machine from a scale at home, and we sincerely hope that the equipment will delight you with delicious and aromatic coffee for a long time.