Are you ready to drink a tasty coffee in the morning to kickstart your day with energy? Most people’s morning starts with a coffee. But a coffee maker is needed to clean regularly for a better taste of the coffee.
A Coffee maker is the most used kitchen appliance in the morning. But if the coffee maker is not cleaned properly from the inside, the taste of the coffee won’t be enjoyable. Due to the continuous contact with water, mineral deposits accumulate on the inside wall of the coffee maker. Regular cleaning of the coffee machine helps to make the flavor of the coffee tasty.
Vinegar is a good cleaning solution to clean a coffee maker. But can you clean a coffee maker without vinegar? Yes, it is possible. So, let’s see how to clean a coffee maker without vinegar.
What Happens If You Don’t Clean Your Coffee Maker?
For the coffee lover, a coffee maker is an essential part of their life. It makes delicious coffee. But people ignore its cleaning and the result is a change in the taste of the coffee. Calcium and other minerals in the water create buildups in the coffee machine.
By keeping a coffee maker clean, you not only get a tasty coffee but also the life of the coffee maker increases. With outside cleaning of the coffee maker, its inside cleaning is also essential. Using household food-grade cleaners, you can clean a coffee bar without using vinegar.
A dirty coffee maker not only makes coffee taste bad but also bacteria to form inside it. No one wants to start their day with a bad-tasting coffee.
While making a coffee, we use different ingredients coffee grounds, oils, milk, water, etc. Its a high chance, that these ingredients sit on the coffee machine. When we are in hurry, we don’t clean it and it becomes rancid and difficult to remove.
Descaling the coffee machine is important for healthy and tasty coffee. If you can’t clean it regularly, clean it once a week.
Check also – How To Grind Coffee Beans With a Food Processor
What Can I Use Instead of Vinegar To Descale a Coffee Maker?
This guide has several ways to descale a coffee maker without vinegar. Vinegar is a common household and it cleans coffee machines properly so people prefer it. Here are cleaning solutions, which you can use instead of vinegar.
- Lemon juice
- Baking soda
- Mild dishwashing soap
- Critic acid
- Cream of tartar
- Hydrogen peroxide
- CLR
- Denture tablets
- Alcohol
- Commercial cleaner
How To Clean a Coffee Maker Without Vinegar?
Delicious coffee makes your mood refreshed anytime in the day. With a coffee maker, you may make a perfect cup of coffee. But for a tasty coffee, you need to clean a coffee maker regularly. Here are our tested methods to clean a coffee maker without using vinegar.
Method 1 – Lemon Juice
Lemon juice is a good nontoxic cleaning solution to clean a coffee machine in the absence of vinegar. Lemon juice won’t leave a bad odor on the coffee maker so your next cup of coffee will smell good.
First, clean it with cold water so if there is any coffee ground in the coffee maker, it will dislodge. Now mix lemon juice and water in a glass. The ratio of lemon juice and water can be adjusted as your need.
You may start with one spoonful of lemon juice in a glass of water. If you feel, you need a stronger cleaner, increase the quantity of lemon juice.
Stop the coffee maker and pour this mixture into the reservoir.
The mixture will take time to break down any buildup inside the coffee maker. So, leave the mixture inside the coffee maker for 15-20 minutes. Now run the coffee maker with clean water.
Place a filter in the basket. So, when buildups come outside, they collect into the filter. Maybe at once, all buildups won’t come out so repeat this process 2-3 times. Don’t use the used lemon juice mixture, make a new one.
When you see no buildup coming outside from the coffee maker, run the machine with clean water 2-3 times to rinse out any remaining lemon residue inside.
Check also – Best Non Toxic Coffee Makers
Method 2 – Use Baking Soda
Baking soda is a harmless cleaning agent. It doesn’t create a strong odor in the coffee maker after cleaning. People use baking soda as an alternative to vinegar to clean a coffee maker machine. Baking soda is easily available at your nearest shop.
First of all, you need a bowl, baking soda, and hot water. Mix baking soda and hot water into the bowl. Take ¼ cup of baking soda and a cup of hot water and mix them well until the baking soda dissolves into the water.
Now pour the mixture into the coffee maker and let it sit down there for half an hour to do its work. After it, run the coffee maker to take out the whole mixture.
If buildups are old and hard then you need to repeat this process 2-3 times. After every cleaning cycle, clean the coffee maker with clean water. When you see clean water coming out from the coffee maker, stop the process. Baking soda is also good to clean the Bunn coffee maker.
Method 3 – Mild Dishwashing Soap
Mild dishwashing soap with hot water is used to clean many kitchen appliances. It is not harmful to any machine and it also doesn’t damage any part of the machine. So, people use it to clean chemical stains and other buildups from the appliances.
If you haven’t used mild dishwashing soap to clean a coffee maker, you have missed the simplest method. Mix dishwashing soap with hot water and pour it into the coffee maker. Take a good amount of dishwasher soap so the mixture becomes powerful.
It works fine but it takes more rounds of cleaning as compared to baking soda and lemon juice.
Method 4 – Critic Acid
Critic acid has become a staple among the cleaning product for kitchen appliances. Disinfectant and chelation properties of the critic acid make it a good cleaning solution for the coffee maker to fight against hard water deposits.
Due to critical acid chelating features, it becomes easy to clean a coffee maker from the inside. Critic acid is quite fast and easy to clean cleaning agent.
Mix a tablespoon of the critic acid with a liter of water. Stir the mixture so critic acid dissolves properly into the water and then boil this mixture for around 10 minutes. Pour this mixture into the coffee maker.
It will clean all residues from inside the coffee maker. Critic acid is widely used in food items so it is not dangerous for the health. Rinse the coffee maker with hot water to clean it properly. Your coffee maker is ready to serve tasty coffee.
Method 5 – Cream of Tartar
The next cleaning solution that can be used in the place of vinegar to clean a coffee machine is a cream of tartar. It is easily available in your nearby superstore. It will not harm the coffee maker and your health.
- Cream of tartar is a good natural cleaning agent.
- Its acidic property removes all stains and residue from inside the coffee maker.
- Take 3 tablespoons of the tartar and mix them into a pot of hot water.
- Turn on the coffee maker and pour the mixture into it. Wait for 20 minutes.
- The mixture will run through the entire coffee machine and clean it.
- In most cases, a single cleaning cycle is enough but if you feel to use it one more time, you can use it.
- At last, run the clean water into the coffee maker and rinse it properly. It will remove the smell of the critical acid.
Method 6 – Hydrogen Peroxide
Many people have heard about hydrogen peroxide in their school time. It is widely used in the medical industry for cleaning purposes but nowadays people are using it to clean kitchen appliances. In the absence of vinegar, use hydrogen peroxide to clean the coffee maker.
Fill the coffee maker with warm water and add one cup of hydrogen peroxide. Wait for a few minutes until it fully dissolved into the water. Now run the coffee maker so the mixture moves into the maker and clean it properly.
Fill the fresh clean water into the coffee maker to rinse it. If your coffee maker has a paper screen, don’t forget to wash and clean it.
Method 7 – Use CLR
CLR is known as calcium, lemon, and rust remover. People use CLR to clean a coffee maker without vinegar. CLR is also a good alternative to lemon juice for cleaning.
CLR works well with water. Take 1 part of CLR and 8 parts of the water and mix it well. Now run the coffee maker with the mixture of CLR and water. Run it for a few minutes and take it out. Rinse the coffee maker with clean water 2-3 times.
Method 8 – Denture Tablets
Denture tablets are one of the most effective coffee machine cleaning solutions instead of vinegar. It removes all buildups and bad taste from the coffee machine. Denture tablets are used to clean kitchen appliances.
Fill the water reservoir with lukewarm water. Now mix 2-3 denture tablets into the water. Run the coffee machine with its full brew cycle. Reaped the process to clean all buildups of the coffee machine. Clean the coffee machine with fresh water to rinse out denture tablets from it.
Method 9 – Alcohol
Alcohol is a recommended cleaning agent to clean kitchen appliances. From coffee maker to kitchen faucet, everything you can clean with alcohol.
Like other cleaning solutions for the coffee maker, here you also make a mixture of water and alcohol. Take 2 cups of alcohol and 8 cups of water and mix them. Pour a mixture of alcohol and water into the coffee machine. Wait for half an hour and then run the coffee machine so the mixture comes out. You may repeat this process for more time.
Method 10 – Commercial Cleaner
Commercial cleaners are also available to clean a coffee machine. These cleaners are easily available on any online store. Read instructions on the cleaner to use it. If it needs water, mix it with water otherwise use it without water. Fill it in the coffee machine and run the machine for cleaning.
What Is The Best Thing To Clean a Coffee Maker?
Since your coffee maker serves hot coffee to you and your family, you must know what is the best thing to clean a coffee maker. By cleaning a coffee maker, you are sure, you will get the best cup of coffee at every serve.
It is recommended by experts; that you must clean your coffee maker every month to increase its performance and life. It will prevent any mineral buildup inside the coffee machine.
All methods in this guide are safe to use at home to clean a coffee maker without vinegar. Lemon juice and baking soda are the best things to clean a coffee maker because they are easily available at any home and also, they don’t leave any bad smell in the coffee maker.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Much Baking Soda Do I Put In My Coffee Maker To Clean It?
Baking soda is a safe cleaning agent for the coffee maker. Along with a coffee maker, you can use it for other household items. Baking soda will remove all buildups and odors from the coffee maker.
You need to mix baking soda with water. Take ¼ cup of baking soda into a cup of water. Basically, you need 25% of baking soda for the whole quantity of the water. It will make the coffee machine new.
Will Lemon Juice Clean Coffee Maker?
Yes, definitely lemon juice cleans a coffee maker. Lemon juice contains citric acid so people use it clean a coffee maker. It can kill bacteria and mold inside the coffee machine. Lemon juice won’t leave any smelly odor inside the coffee machine.
Can I Use Citric Acid To Clean My Coffee Machine?
Critic acid is a good cleaning solution. If you don’t have vinegar, you can use it to clean a coffee maker. It not only kills germs inside the coffee maker but also removes stains. For other cleaners, these stains are hard to remove but not for citric acid.
How Often Do You Need To Clean a Coffee Maker?
If possible, you should clean it every day. A coffee maker has removable parts so it is not tough to clean it. Remove parts and clean them with dish soap. If you clean it regularly, no buildup will be formed inside it. If not possible then clean it once a month.
Conclusion
People start their morning with a delicious tasting coffee but when you get a tasteless or bad smell in the coffee, it ruins your day. A coffee maker without cleaning makes a bad impact on the coffee. If you don’t want to clean a coffee maker with vinegar, this guide shows you how to clean a coffee maker without vinegar. All these cleaning solutions are natural and safe to consume. We have only shown those cleaning agents that are easily available at your home or nearby grocery stores.
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