So, here’s the deal. As a high tech nerd I have always looked for the best way to do things, and keeping my coffee maker in top working order has been of utmost importance. I like hot coffee, not the lukewarm stuff that comes out of a plugged machine. In my search for some of the top ways to rejuvenate coffee machines I ran across citric acid as a first class “decalcifier” and limescale remover. I found it’s not complicated and pretty much every product on the market uses it at some concentration. There are other acids that work well, but vinegar and citric acid are two of the most common.
The market is full of guides and how-to’s and whatnot and all you really need is some simple directions on what to do to descale your appliances.
I been in this thing for about 25 years, long before everyone and their uncle and in-laws were trying to tell everyone else how to do this or that.
As a highschooler, by brother and I would mess around with appliances and the like and would generally be a nuisance, without even trying, while the grownups were having serious discussions.
On more than one occasion we would pull shenanigans that just leave me shaking my head. I don’t want to get into too much detail because you know someone else is also going to try it. But, one example was trying to clean 55 gallon drums with the wrong fluids. The results were sky high. I also did, or tried to, repair engines at one point, but for a nerd it was easier just to fantasize about getting them to work. In reality I was into order and being neat and this was pretty difficult in an old shed with no heating and bad lighting, that should have been demolished 20 years earlier.
The experience was priceless and allowed me to develop skills such as looking for new ways to do things instead of relying on what everyone else was doing. At the time, it seems nobody really considered that coffee makers could be cleaned with anything but vinegar and the water was rock hard, so to speak; this was in New York state. The end result seemed to be half-functioning coffee machines and looking forward to a new one every year or two. Anyway, here we are and it’s pretty easy to make your own homemade descaling solution using citric acid, warm water, and a spoon. Good luck and have fun!