A coffee maker is one of the most-used kitchen appliances. It’s used every day in every home, but not many people bother to clean it the right way. It needs to be cleaned often if you want it to work well. Buildup of coffee in the machine can also change the way your morning coffee tastes. A dirty coffee maker is the perfect place for germs, bacteria, viruses, and even some fungi to grow and spread. This could cause you to get very sick from microorganisms that cause infections. You can avoid these bad things by keeping your coffee maker clean.
You don’t have to worry, because we’ll show you how to clean your coffee maker in detail. No matter what kind of coffee maker you have, vinegar is the only thing that will clean it. Vinegar takes some time to work, so don’t rush this. It’s best to do this cleaning at night so that your machine is clean in the morning. When your coffee maker is being cleaned and you want a cup of coffee, you can try to make a cup of coffee without a coffee maker.
Let’s break this guide into steps for cleaning and taking care of things. Before we talk about how to clean a dirty coffee machine, we will also talk about what we need.
What you need to clean a coffee machine and how to get them
- White Vinegar From Distillation
- Water
- Cloth for Cleaning (at least two)
- Filters for coffee
- Solution for Descale
How to Clean
1. Clean out the coffee machine
First, throw away any coffee or coffee grounds that are in the coffee maker. It needs to be empty.
2. Put water and vinegar inside
Fill the water tank with an equal amount of water and vinegar. If there is a lot of coffee buildup in the coffee maker, increase the amount of vinegar compared to how much water you use. The vinegar cleans and sanitizes the coffee maker and carafe. It also helps get rid of the minerals that have built up inside the machine and makes it look like new.
3. Brew
Put a filter in the basket and let the coffee maker do its thing, just like when you make a cup of coffee. When the coffee maker is half way through the cycle, turn it off. Just let the water and vinegar sit for 30 to 60 minutes. Then, turn the coffee maker back on and let it finish brewing.
4. Put an end to it
Once the cycle is done and the machine is turned off, throw away the filter paper and the water-vinegar solution. If you think the coffee maker needs to be cleaned more, you can run it through a second cycle with the same solution.
5. Drain the Water
Once the brewing cycle is done, fill the water reservoir with water to clean it out. After that, use fresh water to run a brewing cycle. Before you do that, don’t forget to put a filter in the basket. Once the cycle is done, you should do it again with clean water. Add baking soda this time. When baking soda and vinegar mix, they make a “fuzz” sound.
If you don’t hear this sound, it means that all of the vinegar has been washed away and you don’t need to brew again. If you hear this sound when you add baking soda to water, keep brewing until you don’t hear it anymore.
7. Clean the coffee pot
Use hot soapy water to clean the basket. The stains in the corners can be cleaned with a toothbrush. Clean the basket all the way through and get rid of all the stains.
8. Wash the Outside
A damp cloth can be used to clean the outside of the coffee maker. First, make sure the cloth you’re using doesn’t have any threads on it. Next, rub vinegar on any spots that water didn’t get rid of. After you’ve cleaned it, wipe it again with a wet cloth. The last step is to wash it again with a dry, lint-free cloth.
Steps for maintenance
To have fresh, hot coffee every morning, you need to clean and maintain your coffee maker. Help us show you how to do it.
First, we’ll talk about some general maintenance tips, and then we’ll get into the details.
1. Steps in general
Use safe water. Make sure the water you put in your coffee machine has been filtered properly. Salts, microdebris, and other things that don’t belong in the water can get stuck in the coffee maker.
Clean stains as soon as you see them because you don’t want them to stay.
Wash the parts that come off often.
Besides these steps, you need to do some maintenance every day, every week, and every two years. So let us help you figure that out.
2. Maintenance every day
To keep your coffee maker in good shape, do these things every day:
To get rid of stains, wipe the outside of the machine with a wet cloth.
If you have a drip coffee machine, clean the brew pots and brewing chambers well.
3. Maintenance Every Week
Every week, the following things need to be done:
Soak the filter baskets, group handles, and other parts of the coffee machine overnight in a solution of hot water and coffee machine detergent. Then, you should wash them with water and let them dry before you use them again.
Take off all the parts that can be taken apart and can be washed. Wash them really well.
Don’t forget to check your water filter system’s pressure gauge. If a filter is more than a year old, you should get a new one.
4. Maintenance Every 6 months
Replace worn gaskets that have been in use for a long time. There are gaskets for the showerhead, the steam arm, and the steam valve.
Sharp burrs on the coffee grinder are needed to make a good cup of coffee. Depending on how often they are used, the burrs wear down. On average, they live for six months. When the coffee beans are being ground, a high-pitched sound means that the burrs need to be changed right away.
We’re sure you know how to clean your coffee maker by now. Happy brewing!
Read our other articles about how to clean a dishwasher, kitchen cabinets, and an oven if you want your kitchen appliances to look as good as new.
