How to clean a coffee maker with vinegar
Are you looking for DIY methods to keep your coffee maker spotless and working? Maybe you’re looking to save money buying specialty cleaning tablets, or maybe you need a solution now and can’t get to the stores. Well, you need to know how to clean a coffee maker with vinegar.
Although the manufacturer does not recommend cleaning the coffee machine with vinegar, in practice a vinegar-water solution works wonders against limescale.
In fact, many eco-friendly appliance descaler products contain vinegar anyway. So why not save on buying an extra cleaning product when you can do an excellent job of cleaning your coffee maker with what you already have in your pantry?
Of course, if you have a fancy coffee maker, you can’t brave the vinegar and opt for the manufacturer-recommended cleaning solution — especially if you’re still under warranty. However, if you work with a popular machine, we strongly recommend this tried and true DIY cleaning mix. Clean your coffee maker with vinegar and it will serve you longer and make better coffee.
How to clean a coffee maker with vinegar
Cleaning your coffee maker with vinegar is very, very easy. All you have to do is:
- Mix distilled vinegar (buy different sizes on Amazon (opens in new tab)) with water
- Fill the reservoir with the solution
- Leave for 30 minutes
- Perform the entire coffee brewing cycle with the solution
- Refill with clean water and run another 2-3 cycles until the vinegar smell is gone
This is the basic vinegar cleaning method for coffee makers in a nutshell. If you’re in a hurry you can let the solution sit for a little less time, although letting it sit for the full 30 minutes will give better results and mean you don’t have to clean your coffee maker as often.
However, it is important not to pour vinegar directly into your coffee maker. Vinegar is acidic and can damage the parts of your coffee maker over time if you use it too often. You can also get a vinegar smell if you use straight vinegar. Diluting it properly gives you a much gentler cleaning action that is still effective at removing scale.
What is the vinegar to water ratio for cleaning a coffee maker?
If you’re ready to clean your coffee maker with vinegar but are unsure of the correct vinegar to water ratio, coffee expert and former barista Matt Woodburn Simmonds can help. He recommends equal parts water and distilled white vinegar. For a 12-cup coffeemaker that holds 60 ounces in the reservoir, that means 30 ounces of vinegar and 30 ounces of water.’
So it’s that simple: 50 percent vinegar and 50 percent water.
Why is the 1:1 ratio correct? Kieran MacRae, coffee expert at Above Average Coffee (opens in new tab), explains: “This way you can remove any limescale deposits without your machine smelling of vinegar all the time. It also removes loose coffee grounds that could affect the flavor of your brew.”
Matt and Katie run the Home Coffee Exper website (opens in new tab)t (opens in new tab) Here they share information on all things coffee, which they’ve gathered throughout their lives in the hospitality industry, including seven years as dedicated baristas. They focus on how people can have a better coffee experience at home.
How much vinegar do you put in a 12 cup coffee maker to clean it?
12-cup drip coffee makers are typically based on a 5-ounce cup of coffee (which means a 60-ounce container), so you should mix 30 ounces of distilled white vinegar with 30 ounces of warm water. MacRae recommends combining these in the water compartment of your coffee maker and running the machine “as usual, but without the filter”.
“Empty the mixture once it’s ready and run the machine 2-3 times with just water in the tank to flush out all the vinegar. If your coffee pot only smells like water, you have rinsed it sufficiently.”
How often should I clean my coffee maker with vinegar?
This really depends on the quality of the water in your area. MacRae advises that “once every six months should be enough to keep it in good condition, but check the bottom of the water tank for scale buildup if you live in an area with particularly hard water. If deposits have accumulated, you should clean them.’
In areas with extremely hard water, you may need to clean your coffee maker with vinegar every month.
Note that for most coffee makers, if you decide to descale them with vinegar rather than the manufacturer-recommended professional descaling solution, your machine’s warranty will be voided.