Quote:
Originally Posted by Razor Ramon HG
I have an electric kettle that gets used a few times a day and there's some buildup on the bottom of the kettle after maybe two years.
It's nothing crazy by any means, but since it's noticeable I do think there's some merit in descaling it every year or two? Just not the scheduled 3 months that some manufacturers recommend.
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Yes, absolutely. Do you live in East Vancouver or a different municipality? I'm asking because different municipalities have different water sources. I grew up in East Van, and the kettles, pots, and pans at my parents place have always been spotless, but this limescale can build up depending on your water source and plumbing.
For a kettle, you can try to find some citric acid from your local grocery store (find it in the spice or ethnic foods aisles - brand should not matter.) Sprinkle maybe a teaspoon or two in there, and fill your kettle. Boil it a few times, and dump out the water, then boil a new fresh pot, dump, inspect, and you are good to go. For tough limescale build up, you may have to do it 2 - 4 times.
For the machines like a Nespresso or Keurig, I'd say once or twice a year is fine. If you read the label of the descaler, it normally is just a concentrate of citric acid and water. I don't own one myself, so I'm not familiar with the cleaning regimen other than the time I had to "descale" the one my brother had at my parents house, and like Badhobz, I just pressed the button and told it to STFU. It backfired because it got stuck on descale.
For those of you who have a semi-automatic machine, run your Cafiza or equivalent cleaners regularly. You "could" descale it, but I don't feel it's warranted in Vancouver. Just remember that descaling and running a cleaning agent through your machines are two different things. I am out of the loop for Nespressos and Keurigs as I don't own one, but if that is the only way to "clean" the machine, I would run it more regularly or as recommended.