A quick descale gets your coffee machine ready for spring!

Spring is around the corner, and it's the time of the year where we clean our house from top to bottom, and make space in our cupboards for the new things to come. But not only your home needs a deep clean. Your coffee machine that has been working hard for you all winter also wants attention.

Why Descale my Coffee Machine?

All coffee machines and appliances that come into contact with water build up deposits of calcium and lime scale over time (the white build up you see in kettles). This build up can cause blockages and also reduce the effectiveness of the boiler/thermoblock to heat up the water.

What is Descaling?

“Descaling” is the act of stripping these deposits from your machine's internal components such as the boilers/thermoblock, pump and pipes using a specific cleaning agent. To keep your machine functioning properly, you should remove these build-ups regularly.

Before and After - Boiler

This is what a typical boiler for a small commercial coffee machine looks like. The one on the left is new and as you can see the one on the right is covered in calcium and lime scale deposits that will build up over time. If your machine is not descaled regularly, it will reduce the efficiency of the boiler and the taste of your coffee.

Before and After - Thermoblock

Below we see a typical thermoblock system found in most domestic coffee machines. The picture on the left is full of deposits and build up whereas the one on the right is a fairly clean thermoblock.

Thermoblocks are affected in 2 ways by lime scale build up. 1. They become inefficient reducing the temperature of your coffee. 2. Because of the small size of the water channels, they are prone to getting blocked and to stop working if not descaled regularly.

Our Descaling Advice for your Coffee Machine

Depending on usage and water hardness, you can descale your coffee machine every 3 to 6 months. In order to get the most out of your coffee machine, make sure to descale it regularly. The Caffenu Eco Descaler removes lime scale and mineral build-ups and is suitable for all coffee machines, made from high quality non-polluting, biodegradable materials.