Tips for Cleaning Your Coffee Maker

When you first bring your coffee maker home, you never imagine it could get so – dirty! But it does, and then you’re left cleaning it. Fortunately, cleaning the machine is an easy task, and with a few helpful tips, you can actually prolong the life of your coffee maker and have better tasting coffee as a result.

To clean a coffee machine, start by removing the coffee filter and then adding vinegar to the water reservoir. Pour the vinegar in until the reservoir is about one-quarter filled, and then add water until completely filled. Turn the coffee machine on and let it run until it’s cooled, which is usually about ten minutes.

Run the vinegar and water through another cycle and let the machine cool for another ten minutes. To complete the process, run a cycle of just water through the coffee machine and thoroughly wash the carafe and filter basket with soap and water. Make sure you don’t spray any chemicals or other cleaners onto the carafe; just warm, soapy water will do the trick.

You may read information about using lemon or baking soda, but vinegar is the best solution for the job. If you haven’t cleaned your coffee maker in a while, you may need to continue rinsing the machine out with vinegar and water in order to remove the foul taste. If you keep up with the cleaning cycles every couple of months, you won’t run into bad tasting coffee or a dirty machine.

This cleaning cycle should be done every two to three months in order to keep your coffee machine running at its top performance and producing fresh tasting coffee. Cleaning the machine with vinegar will remove buildup and impurities and will ultimately help improve the taste and quality of the coffee. Furthermore, when water drips from the coffee machine and allows bacteria to breed, you inadvertently drink these bacteria, which can be harmful to your health.

Not only do you want to clean the inside of your coffee maker, but also the outside. To keep the appliance looking its best, use a microfiber cloth that will remove debris, dust and excess coffee grounds. Microfiber clothes are ideal because they won’t scratch the surface of the machine.

Now that your machine is clean, be sure to use distilled or spring water instead of tap water that has many more impurities. Paper filters are cleaner and tossed away with each use, unlike permanent filters that are difficult to keep clean. And finally, if you notice a certain type of coffee causing buildup, switch to a new brand and give the machine a thorough clean.