Skip The Vinegar - Here's An Easy Way To Clean Your Coffee Maker Without It

Somewhere on the internet is a saying that the first sip of coffee touches your soul. For us coffee drinkers, that is so true! One popular coffee brand even used to have a tag line that (their) morning coffee is the best part of waking up. Coffee drinkers do love their morning joe, and it's definitely one of the first best thing about getting out of bed. Humans aren't the only ones who love it. A few house plants like coffee, too! A great cup of coffee starts with a clean coffee maker, so regular cleaning is a must to keep it tasting its best. 

Over time, minerals in your water will cause a chalky white buildup in your coffee maker. Eventually, this can start to affect the coffee's taste and ultimately how well your coffee maker performs. You can take steps to reduce this by using filtered water to make coffee — true coffee snobs will advocate for purer water for taste anyway. Regular daily cleaning will help keep your machine clean and tidy, but you'll still want to descale your coffeepot every month or so to keep it sparkling clean and working properly. Vinegar is often used for this, but lemon juice is a much better option. It leaves a pleasing, citrusy scent and won't leave your coffee tasting "off." Here's what to do.

To descale your coffee maker, mix equal parts lemon juice and hot water and pour it into the water reservoir. Fresh lemon juice is best, as it is more potent than bottled juice. However, if you're fresh out of lemons, you can use bottled lemon juice in a pinch. Let the lemon juice and water sit in the reservoir for 15-20 minutes to break down any residue. Then, run a regular, full brewing cycle. After it finishes, run 2-3 more brewing cycles with fresh, clean water. This ensures all of the lemon juice is removed. If there is still some scaling, repeat the cycle. 

Lemon juice is not the only method for cleaning the coffeemaker. You can easily clean a coffee maker without using any vinegar or lemon juice by using baking soda or hydrogen peroxide. But you may want to start keeping lemons on hand. The natural acidity in fresh lemon juice makes it an excellent chemical-free cleaner and deodorizer. Lemon juice has a thousand uses around the house, from cleaning sterling silver to removing stains from just about anything. After squeezing fresh lemon juice for cleaning your coffee maker, use the rinds to make a DIY lemon air freshener to keep your home feeling clean.