Different Ways to Clean a Coffee Maker
My amazing wife bought me a coffee maker for father’s day. This was very generous as she doesn’t drink coffee at all, while I’ve slowly become dependent on one cup a day. This is my first coffee maker and I hope to use it for a long time. In that effort, I’m investigating different ways to keep it clean. Here’s what I found. Let me know if I’ve missed anything and what you think is the best way to clean a coffee maker.
Vinegar Solution
The coffee maker came with instructions for running a vinegar solution through the maker. Here are the important details:
- 1 part vinegar to 2 parts cold water.
- Run half the solution through the maker and then stop. Let it sit for about 15 minutes.
- Finish the vinegar solution and then rinse with plain water until all the vinegar is gone.
It seems that stopping part way through allows the vinegar to better break down hard water mineral deposits, old oils from previously brewed pots and other impurities. I’ve also read you can substitute another acid, lemon juice, in place of the vinegar.
Baking Soda
The next option is using baking soda to clean a coffee maker. It’s very similar to the vinegar instructions with a few small differences:
- 1 cup lukewarm water to 1/4 cup baking soda.
- Dissolve the backing soda before pouring into the water reservoir.
- Cycle clean water as needed.
Bleach Solution
Does anyone use bleach?
- 1/2 Clorox bleach to a full reservoir of hot water.
- Allow the solution to sit 15 minutes before starting running the solution through.
- Rinse with hot water.
Cleaning the Coffee Carafe
You can also focus on just cleaning the coffee pot (carafe) by itself. This method calls for coarse salt, ice and vinegar.
- Combine 2 tablespoons of salt and several scoops of ice in the coffee pot.
- Add 2 tablespoons of vinegar and swirl the contents.
- Keep swirling until all the stains are removed. Rinse as usual.
The ice and salt actually scrape away the coffee stains.
What do you think? Any suggestions to keep my coffee maker clean?
Image courtesy of Refracted Moments
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9 Responses to Different Ways to Clean a Coffee Maker
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June 26th, 2009 9:44 am
I’ve always used vinegar. Never heard of using bleach.
June 26th, 2009 11:43 am
I too have only used the vinegar method. The bleach receipe sounds a bit strong, I would rinse twice using that method.
June 26th, 2009 12:13 pm
I’m not a coffee drinker, but I’ll post a related suggestion: If anyone is like me and sometimes forgets coffee/tea with cream/milk in a plastic-lined travel mug, you know that the resulting sour milk smell is almost impossible to remove, and that many of the options (including vinegar and bleach) leave behind too much of their own smell. By far the best solution is to soak it in hot water with just a small bit of Oxyclean added. It removes the sour smell with just a couple of hours of soaking, without leaving behind its own nastiness.
June 26th, 2009 5:03 pm
I usually use vinegar. But occasionally CLR if the pot seems to have really slowed down and clogged up. (I followed the directions on the CLR bottle, which involved running three pots of water to rinse.)
June 27th, 2009 9:26 am
Do not use baking soda as it doesn’t dissolve and you’ll have a very difficult time removing it from unaccesible parts!
Also I wouldn’t recommend the bleach method. Bad idea for the environment and your health.
Vinegar is by far the best solution. And it works equally well at other appliances such as the clothes and dish washer, steam iron, water heater etc
June 27th, 2009 12:01 pm
I add some lemon slices to the salt and ice in the carafe trick and find that it works well.
June 28th, 2009 8:53 am
The carafe I just stick in the dishwasher when I have extra room. And when the coffee is tasting too bitter, I use vinegar in the coffee maker. When its done, I use the hot vinegar to either kill weeds or mold, or to clear a drain. I also air out the coffee pot so that all the vinegar dries. If you do this, the vinegar smell goes away and you don’t have to run the pot again with just water.
June 28th, 2009 2:22 pm
Thanks for all the great tips everyone! Hopefully this coffee maker will go the distance.
And J Mason, great idea reusing the hot vinegar. There’s always something nearby that needs a quick cleaning.
October 21st, 2009 7:16 pm
Am I the only one here that has no idea how much half means? I was tryig to figure if it was a half cup or whatever. I through out the half-cup theory because you can’t add a half cup to an already full reservoir of hot water. I am a big fan of cleaning with bleach which is why I am inquiring.