Keep Your Keurig Coffee Maker Clean And Mold-Free With Just Two Kitchen Staples

Cleaning your Keurig coffee maker isn't just about wiping down the most-touched areas. You do need to open these machines up, take apart the different pieces, and give them a thorough cleaning regularly. If you aren't cleaning your Keurig coffee maker regularly, you're putting yourself at risk every time you brew a cup of coffee. When you forgo consistent cleaning, your Keurig — or any other kind of coffee maker, really — is at risk of developing mold. The inner components of these machines, which rely on hot water, are the perfect nooks and crannies for mold to take up root and flourish. But cleaning your Keurig coffee maker doesn't have to be difficult. All you need to do is open up your kitchen cabinets, and odds are you already have two staples that are perfect for this cleaning task: dish soap and distilled white vinegar.

Yes, that cleaning routine does include descaling, or removing mineral deposits left behind during the coffee-making process that can alter the performance of your machine and how your coffee tastes. Together, these two kitchen essentials can get both the exterior and interior parts of your Keurig clean. Dish soap can work its cleaning magic on the general messes that accumulate outside of your machine, while white vinegar can tackle the stubborn deposits you don't necessarily see inside it.

Odds are you use your Keurig single-cup coffee maker at least once every day (or far more, if you're in need of caffeine!). So, once each week, you should break out your dish soap and clean all of the removable components of your Keurig coffee maker — like the drip tray, water reservoir and its lid, and the K-cup holder that sits inside the machine. Using your typical dish soap and warm water to soak, scrub, and clean these pieces will help keep the machine mold-free.

Descaling your Keurig with vinegar should be done once every three months. To get started, empty out your Keurig's water reservoir and fill it halfway with distilled white vinegar; top off the rest with water. Then, turn the machine on and brew the largest possible cup size (just make sure you don't put a K-cup in!), and repeat this step until the water reservoir is empty. To finish, wash the reservoir to eliminate any lingering vinegar, fill it with water, and then run a couple more cycles of just water to flush out your machine.

Now, it's important to note that Keurig recommends its very own descaling solution for all of its machines. Keurig touts it as "better than vinegar" because it includes citric acid, an acidic organic compound made from lemons similar to vinegar. However, vinegar is a kitchen staple that works and is recommended as an alternative to store-bought descaling solutions; since you already have it on hand, you won't have to spend extra.