How To Clean A Coffee Maker Without Vinegar Of 2021
If you’re a coffee drinker who needs a cup of delicious coffee every morning to start a day, you might have a coffee machine of your own. Making the coffee as delicious as it smells requires the coffee machine to be free from germs, mold, and leftover oil. You may be used to throwing the coffee pot in the dishwasher, but what about other parts?
Using vinegar is a solution as it’s an excellent cleaning agent, but certainly not the best. It’s not EPA-rated for killing 99.99% of the bacteria, and it may leave a strong odor to your machine. So, how to clean a coffee maker without vinegar? Well, there are better ways to do it, in this article, I’ll talk about the better alternatives to vinegar when it comes to cleaning your coffee maker.
Why Is Cleaning Of Coffee Maker Important?
Making a cup of coffee may seem an easy job using the automotive features of the modern coffee makers. To keep it clean, you may take the coffee pot out and wash it thoroughly, but what about the inner components? The moving parts inside the machine also need cleaning because of these reasons:
- Extending the lifetime: Keeping the coffee machine clean inside out will help you extend the lifetime of your machine and minimize the calcium deposits.
- Prevent from growing mold: The coffee comes through a channel in the machine where mold and bacteria can grow up if you don’t clean the inside.
- To keep it from testing better: If you don’t clean the machine and mold grows inside, the coffee will start to taste better and lose integrity.
How To Clean A Coffee Maker Without Vinegar – Step By Step Guide
As I said earlier, vinegar may not come as beneficial as it sounds, and it may even worsen the test of coffee. So, here is how to clean a coffee maker without vinegar, using better alternative ways:
Using baking soda
Baking soda can be a great cleaning agent if you can use it properly, combining with proper elements. If you’re wondering how to clean a coffee maker with baking soda, here is what you need: You have to get a quarter cup of baking soda and a cup of warm water to do the job. First of all, mix the baking soda with the water, pour it into the carafe, and swirl it to dissolve. Then, brew the soda into a cup using the regular way to make coffee until it runs out. Fill the tank again with regular water and run a few more cycles to clear the passageways from soda.
Use borax for decalcifying
Another great cleaning agent for the job is to use borax, which is a good option for decalcifying the machine. Take about two tablespoons of borax into the reservoir of the coffee machine while having it filled with water. Let it rest a bit to dissolve, then brew the whole water; it will thoroughly clean the inside of the machine. After that, you must repeat the same process with regular clean water to complete the cleaning.
Use lemon juice
The best way to do things is the natural way of doing it; the same applies to clean your coffee maker. The citric acid in the lemon will effectively clean the machine’s internal, the way acetic acid does with vinegar. Especially if you’re using a Keurig coffee maker, it will be the best option to clean it. Take a cup of lemon juice, mix it with a cup of hot water, and pour it into the water reservoir. Let the solution in the tank sit for 10-15 minutes, then run the cycle like other options, brew it. After brewing all the solution, repeat the process with fresh water again.
Hydrogen Peroxide can be an alternative
Hydrogen Peroxide is a powerful disinfectant that can effectively cut through molds, limescale, and germs. It will work very well interchangeably with vinegar for your coffee maker, even more effectively. If you’re using a powder form of hydrogen peroxide, make a diluted solution with a cup of water with it. Make sure the water is warm; let it cycle through for the whole reservoir until it’s empty. After brewing hydrogen peroxide, it’s time to brew some freshwater to complete the cleaning.
Use some Alka Seltzer tablets
The Alka Seltzer tablets are the most popular option and a distinguished cleaning hack that you can go for. They consist of citric acid and baking soda in them to reduce indigestion in the coffee maker. Drop-in two or three tablets into the reservoir while it’s full of water, the tablets will fizz and dissolve. Keep it that way for about 15 minutes and then brew the whole water reservoir to clean the machine thoroughly. Now, do the same with fresh water to complete the cleaning and rinse it.
Use hard alcohol
Using alcohol can be an alternative for vinegar or any other acidic ingredient to clean a coffee maker. Like other processes, pour in hard alcohol into the reservoir of the coffee maker. Vodka or other hard alcohol would do the job very well and effectively clean the passageways. Add some water with the alcohol as well; the alcohol to water ratio could be about 25:75 to make a good mixture. Now, run the cycle to brew the alcohol through the machine until the whole reservoir is empty. Do the same with regular water to remove the leftover alcohol from the machine.
Go for salt and Ice water
The combination of salt and ice water works great for descaling any buildups in the carafe of the machine. Crush some ice, pour it into the carafe and add salt with it, rub it against the wall of the carafe. Let it sit that way until the crushed water dissolves into water, and then you can run the cycle. Empty the reservoir by brewing it all to make sure the buildups and molds are clean inside. Then, you have to do another cycle with fresh, regular water to remove the salt in the machine.
Frequently Asked Question
Here are the most frequently asked questions about cleaning coffee makers that you might also have an interest in:
How many times should I run vinegar through my coffee maker?
You should run it until it runs out of the reservoir after filling it all in.
Is a descaling solution better than vinegar?
Yes, it’s completely toxic-free and better at not making any odor that vinegar might make.
Can you mix baking soda and vinegar to clean?
Yes, you can do so; however, that would be an overkill for cleaning the coffee maker.
Final Thought
To start an active and fresh day or getting energized after a long work, coffee is such a great drink. It will rejuvenate you instantly after a stressful working day, and make you feel good with the taste and smell. To get the most out of the machine, you have to keep it clean, and vinegar leaves a bad impression doing that.
However, as you now know how to clean a coffee maker without vinegar, you have plenty of alternatives. So, best of luck with keeping your coffee maker clan and getting good coffee each time you brew it.
