Like other kitchen appliances, a kettle needs servicing every now and then. This is important for your health, but also for the life of the appliance. It is advisable to rinse your kettle daily, but even more important is to descale your kettle regularly. In this article we explain how to descale your kettle with vinegar and with sodium carbonate.
Cleaning your kettle
Descaling is important (a step-by-step plan for descaling follows below), but to keep your kettle in good shape it’s important to keep the housing and inside clean and grease it once every six months (if your kettle is stainless steel).
- Housing kettle: clean your kettle weekly with a cloth, warm water and some soap. Don’t forget to clean the plug well too.
- Stainless steel: to properly maintain stainless steel, lubricate the outside with a little olive oil. Do this with a soft cloth and do not use too much oil.
- Clean inside: rinse the kettle with water before using it.
How to descale a kettle?
The most important thing to do is to descale your kettle regularly; this will prolong its life and is better for your health. This can be done with vinegar, a slice of lemon or baking soda.
Descaling with vinegar
It does not really matter what kind of vinegar you use, but since you need quite a lot of vinegar, we recommend white vinegar. This is because it is a lot cheaper.
- Fill the kettle for ⅓ with water and ⅓ with vinegar. So the ratio is 1:1.
- Let it boil well until the kettle turns off.
- Do you still see lime? Add more vinegar and bring the kettle to a boil again.
- Let the water with the vinegar stand for about 20 minutes.
- Clean the kettle thoroughly by rinsing it with water. Do you still smell the vinegar after this? Then boil the kettle again.
Do you still see lime scale? Then let the water with vinegar stand longer or repeat the whole process. If necessary, you can also remove the remaining limescale with a cloth.
Descaling with lemon or lime
Some manufacturers indicate that you cannot descale the kettle with vinegar. In this case, you can descale with lemon. You do this as follows:
- Fill the kettle for ⅔ and add the juice of a lemon or lime. Cut the lemon or lime into slices and add these as well.
- Bring the water to a boil and let it stand for about 60 minutes.
- Rinse the kettle.
Lemon and lime works fine when your limescale is not too bad. If you have a lot of scale, it’s better to descale with vinegar or baking soda.
Descaling with baking soda
Descaling with baking soda is done with baking soda. You follow the following steps:
- Add about ⅔ of water to the kettle with a teaspoon of baking soda.
- Let the water boil and then soak for about 20 minutes
- Rinse the kettle thoroughly
How often to descale a kettle?
You should descale a kettle once every 1 – 3 months, depending on usage and water hardness in your area. When you can see the lime with your eye, you’re actually already too late.
To conclude
It is important to take good care of your kitchen appliances and kettle by performing regular maintenance. This will make your appliances last longer, look clean (the eye also wants something) and is better for your health and that of your loved ones.