How To Use Keurig Descaling Solution

The Keurig coffee machines have become a common device in homes and offices because of its convenience: there is nothing like placing a K-Cup and get fresh coffee. The machine has even inspired similar products for different types of food and drinks. However, there are times when it becomes a bit frustrating when it is clogged by dirt or lime, so it is important to know how to clean a Keurig.

Lime can be particularly annoying. The water has trace minerals, which react at high temperatures, joining nearby surfaces. As this happens over and over again, a layer similar to a limestone builds up. This causes your Keurig to reduce the flow of water, preventing it from filling a cup correctly and eventually blocking it completely.

To avoid these inconveniences, unpleasant odors, mold, and make sure your coffee maker is working properly, it is important to clean it. Therefore, we create a quick guide on how to clean a Keurig, where we will show you the best way to do it, where to start, and what materials to use.

The dreaded symptoms of scaling on your Keurig are unmistakable: Slower pours, settings that no longer work, stinky build-up, and a half cup of coffee when you really needed that full cup.

Scaling occurs when hard deposits in water — water with a lot of minerals in it — attaches to the inside of the Keurig, gradually clogging up its tubes (the same thing can happen to your plumbing, too). More advanced Keurigs will often tell you when it is time to descale, but it’s generally a good idea to do so at least every six months if you use regular tap water. Here’s how to descale a Keurig when the time comes.

How To Use Descaling Solution For Keurig?

Step 1: Prepare your Keurig

Empty your Keurig, and then clear out a nearby sink to create plenty of room. Pour whatever water is left in the reservoir down the drain, and make sure there are no K-cups left inside the brewer. Find a large mug to use for draining, and make sure no one is going to need their coffee fix for the next few hours.

Step 2: Prepare your descaling agent

Now you need an acidic descaler to run through your brewer so it can break apart the calcium deposits. There are two popular descaling choices, both with pros and cons.

White vinegar: White vinegar is very cheap, readily available, and works great on the scale. You’ll need at least several cups for a good cleansing, which means you may have to go out and buy some more specifically for this project. Also, it is vinegar, which means your kitchen or break room may reek of that vinegar smell for a little while.

If you’re using the Keurig solution, you will want to empty the entire bottle into the reservoir, and then fill the rest with clean water. For white vinegar, you want your reservoir to be filled with half vinegar and half water — possibly even more vinegar than water for a really tough descaling job.

Step 3: Run your descaler through the Keurig

Set your Keurig for a normal, full cup of coffee — you can go larger if you have a thermos nearby, but a mug typically works best. (And again, make sure there’s no K-cup inside.) Run the descaling solution through and wait for the cup to fill.

If your Keurig has a bad scale problem, it may not be able to fill up a full cup even on the right setting. That’s okay, the solution takes a little time to work. Continue filling cup after cup and pouring them down the drain. If you used the white vinegar solution, the room is really going to start smelling like vinegar, but hang in there and keep going until the reservoir is empty.

By the end, the water should be pouring more smoothly and filling up cups with a bit more ease. If you don’t notice any improvement at all, you may want to fill the reservoir with more solution and repeat the whole process, just to make sure.

Step 4: Flush the Keurig with fresh water

Leave your Keurig to sit (still powered on) for a while — around 30 minutes. This gives the acid time to break down the remaining scale inside the brewer. Now, carefully clean the reservoir, and wipe down the inside to remove all traces of the vinegar/solution. When finished, fill up the reservoir with clean, fresh water. It’s time to flush out all of the descaling solutions from the system.

Once again, set the Keurig for a full cup and start running cup after cup of water through the brewer, dumping each. If you have a carafe setting, you can use that setting to speed up the process a bit. Once the reservoir of water is empty, fill it up again and continue doing the same thing. It will take a least two full reservoirs of water to flush out your Keurig, so prepare to get rid of a lot of water.

At this point, you may want to perform a taste test to see if you can taste any of the descaler remaining in the water. Don’t be afraid to flush it out a few more times, as the flushing can never be too thorough.

How to Prevent Scale Buildup in Your Keurig

Generally, scale forms more easily from tap water. That’s why Keurig suggests you use filtered or bottled water to fill up the brewer and help keep scale problems to a minimum. Bottled water is a pricey option, but you may want to consider buying a simple water filter to use solely for your Keurig if a scale has been an ongoing issue for you. This will help your machine run better for longer, and the price of a filter will probably outweigh the frustration and hassle of dealing with scale in your coffee maker.

FAQ

What is Keurig?

Keurig is a leading brand of individual serving coffee makers, known for providing a consistent, convenient, and excellent taste experience to its consumers in a cup of coffee.

What are the advantages of using the Keurig® coffee system?

  • Keurig® coffee makers are designed to make infusions with K-Cup® Capsules to produce drinks of the highest quality and different sizes that vary between 110-290 ml.
  • Keurig® coffee makers allow you to customize the size of your drink, control the intensity and prepare a drink in less than a minute without having to grind coffee beans, measure coffee, manipulate filters, or clean.
  • K-Cup® Capsules are sealed with oxygen and have an airtight barrier that helps maintain the freshness and quality of ground coffee inside.
 


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