How Do I Clean A Keurig Coffee Maker

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Go the about out of your single-serve java maker—and the best-tasting coffee—past learning how to clean a Keurig the right way.

If your Keurig is serving up K-cup goodness for more than ane person, more than once a twenty-four hour period, read on. Sure, frequent coffee drinking does have its benefits, only using your Keurig daily—without taking the time to care for or maintain it—can accept some pretty disgusting side effects.

Why Do You Demand to Clean a Keurig?

Cleaning a Keurig is a health and safety precaution. Like any other type of coffee maker, Keurigs can abound mold if they're not properly drained, rinsed and cleaned. Aside from keeping mold and bacteria at bay, your Keurig should exist cleaned on a regular basis so that it can perform to the best of its ability. A quick make clean-up will remove the mineral buildup in the car that affects the gustatory modality and quality of the coffee being brewed. A clean Keurig produces ameliorate quality coffee.

How to Clean Your Keurig

Follow these steps when properly learning how to clean your Keurig. Once y'all learn how to do it, yous'll recollect the steps every time you make clean! The starting time time, brand sure to take a peek at your specific Keurig model's recommendations to come across if certain parts (like the water reservoir) tin get in the dishwasher or not.

1. Take autonomously your Keurig

In social club to clean everything as thoroughly as possible, you will want to disassemble your Keurig. You lot should exist able to remove the baste tray, the water reservoir and chapeau and the K-cup pod holder.

2. Wash removable parts and reassemble

Afterward taking everything apart, wash the water reservoir with lather and water, and rinse thoroughly (because you don't want soapy coffee!). Let the reservoir drip dry out in society to avoid lint sticking to the sides that could eventually end up in your java cup.

Take this opportunity to clean out the needles that pierce your K-cup every morning, also. Take a straightened paper clip to loosen any java grounds that have gotten stuck.

And then, have a damp, soapy, lint-free cloth to wipe down the drip tray and the K-loving cup pod holder, and later on y'all reassemble, the exterior of your car also.

three. Descale your Keurig

Scale forms when calcium hardens and mineral deposits dry upward within water. When yous fill up a Keurig with water that has a high level of mineral content, it can cause buildup in the brewer and prevent it from working correctly. It too impacts the sense of taste of your coffee. Yuck! But don't worry, you lot can descale a Keurig using a few different methods:

Keurig Cleaning Solution

Keurig has created and officially approved their ain Keurig Descaling Solution, which is fabricated for all Keurig two.0 and 1.0 Thou-cup coffee makers. Unplug and turn off the motorcar, then fill the h2o reservoir with 1 function Keurig Descaling Solution and i part water. Place a coffee mug underneath the dispenser, and mash one loving cup of hot h2o. Cascade the water out one time information technology'south washed, replace the mug and repeat this step until all the water is gone out of the reservoir. Rinse the h2o reservoir, fill it up with fresh water, mash another cup of hot water and pour it out. Voila! A descaled Keurig.

Vinegar and Water

Make full the h2o reservoir to the halfway marker with white distilled vinegar, which is key to removing scale buildup, and fill the other half with water. Begin the brew bicycle sans K-cup, and repeat until the unabridged reservoir is empty. One time the water reservoir is completely empty, repeat with plain water to flush out the vinegar gustation. (Seriously, what can't vinegar clean!?) Bank check out all of the easy vinegar uses there are to clean and burnish your habitation.

Citric Acid

Like vinegar, citric acid is bully for sanitizing a Keurig, and a elementary homemade mode to get rid of any calibration that'due south formed. Prepare a citric acrid solution by combining one to two tablespoons of citric acid (you tin can find it at spice shops or in your grocer's canning aisle—or on Amazon) with almost four cups of water, and pour it into the h2o reservoir. Place a coffee mug underneath the drainage spout and brew a loving cup of hot h2o, so pour it out and repeat the step. Fill up the h2o reservoir with h2o over again, and keep brewing until there'southward cypher left in the reservoir.

Keurig Cleaning Products

How Oftentimes Should Y'all Clean a Keurig?

keurig k cups NoDerog/Getty Images

Keurig highly recommends descaling a Keurig coffee maker every 3 to six months. This should help forestall calcium deposits or scale buildup from occurring. The other parts of the Keurig should be given more than regular attention, though. If you brew a K-cup every day, so the Keurig'southward exterior, cold water reservoir, baste tray and pod holder should all be cleaned once a week. It might seem like one more job to add together to the list, simply cleaning your Keurig regularly volition extend the life of your machine and go along your morning time (and afternoon, and evening) loving cup of coffee tasting fresh and stiff.

How to Maintain a Keurig Betwixt Cleanings

Keurig Rinse Pods

Keurig Rinse Pods are merely the thing to proceed your Keurig fresh weekly without doing a lot of piece of work. To employ, merely place a large mug on the Keurig drip tray. Elevator the handle and insert a Keurig Rinse Pod, just like you would with a java sheathing. Brew the rinse pod on the viii ounce brew setting. Remove and discard the rinse pod and the brewed rinse solution, and so do an viii ounce water brew to completely rinse. Done! Yous'll taste the departure, specially if you use a diversity of flavored coffee and tea pods. No more cross contagion between chai teas and cinnamon scroll coffee flavors.

Keurig Water Cartridge Refills

If your tap water has a lot of chlorine, it's going to touch the sense of taste of your coffee. Never fear. Keurig water cartridges help remove chlorine from the Keurig tank. For best results, supplant the cartridge every 2 months or subsequently 60 tank refills. Six water filter cartridges should last about a year, depending on how much coffee you're brewing. And if yous accept a Keurig, we're guessing you brew a lot of coffee!

When to Supercede Your Keurig

Most Keurig customers say that their machines typically final for three to five years. But here are some other signs that might let you when to supervene upon your Keurig before and so:

Your coffee doesn't come out piping hot.If your Keurig is brewing lukewarm java, get a new Keurig you lot can count on, or opt for ane of our picks for the best coffee maker (only sure you know how to make clean a coffee maker instead, then!).
Your Keurig takes more than than a few minutes to brew a loving cup.Keurigs are congenital for speed! If your machine is struggling to proceed up with your busy schedule, information technology might exist time to move on.
Your coffee is besides watered downwards, or your Keurig is leaky. Yous don't actually desire your coffee to sense of taste like edible bean water.

Nevertheless, by knowing the best ways how to make clean a Keurig coffee maker, y'all'll extend the life of your beloved caffeine car. Sparkling make clean, it will be one of your favorite appliances in the kitchen—even if you lot have some of these other beautiful kitchen appliances to boot.

And if you love your Keurig, you won't exist able to resist these other Keurig accessories, either—like a personalized java bar mat or a Keurig decal that actually makes your motorcar your own.