Erika Tracy is a work-from-home mama happily living in the South. She works as a freelance designer and photographer in Montgomery, AL.
updated Sep 23, 2022
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(Image credit: Joe Lingeman)
Love them or hate them, pod coffee systems have carved (and kept!) a home in the morning beverage market. If you use this type of coffee maker, you know how crucial it is to keep the system brewing without issue every morning — or maybe all day, depending on your coffee habit. Could you just imagine if it worked just fine for your husband and then it stopped brewing when you tried to make your own cup? The horror!
It can happen: Machines getting a lot of daily use can develop clogs that can cause the system to quit completely. Here’s a quick cleaning routine to keep your machine running well.
This Is the Best Way to Keep the Coffee Flowing
While we offer a tutorial here to clean your Keurig with vinegar, a household staple for most of us, if you want to be really certain you’re clearing out those clogs you can opt for a descaling solution. This one is the only Keurig-approved cleaning solution for its brewers!
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Grab your copyHaven’t cleaned your Keurig single-serve coffee maker in a while? It’s time. Much like cleaning your laundry vents and polishing hardwood floors, maintaining your small kitchen appliances is essential to their well being. So, take good care of your coffee maker. It is, after all, your lifeline to a productive morning.
How to Clean Your Coffee Maker – Inside and Out
Delime, descale, and clean your single serve coffee maker.
Photo by: Emily Fazio
Emily Fazio
The convenience of single-serve coffee makers is unmatched, but unlike a traditional coffee maker, many models retain water in a reservoir for long periods of time leading to mold and mineral deposits. Whether you operate a Keurig, De'Longhi, Lavazzo, or one of the many other brands available, signs that it may be time to clean your coffee maker include:
Signs You May Need to Clean Your Keurig
Mineral deposits associated with hard water buildup, whether visible to the eye or not, are responsible for many of these problems associated with a single-serve coffee maker. If you have hard water, you may notice a need to descale (or delime) the inside of your machine more often.
Steps to Cleaning Your Keurig or Other Single-Serve Coffee Maker
1. Begin by emptying any water from inside the reservoir.
2. Wash and clean any removable components of the coffee maker in the sink with warm, soapy water. Some models even have dishwasher-safe components (for example, the entire reservoir on my Keurig is safe to go in the dishwasher). If your coffee maker also excels at espresso and has a milk steamer attachment, use this opportunity to disassemble and clean those pieces, too.
How to Clean a Single-Serve Coffee Maker
Wash and clean any removable components of the coffee maker in the sink with warm, soapy water. Some models even have dishwasher-safe components.
Photo by: SHAIN RIEVLEY
SHAIN RIEVLEY
3. While the coffee maker is partially disassembled, use a small cleaning brush dipped in vinegar to clean around the base of the machine where the reservoir is and in the area surrounding where the pod/cup goes (I’m not the only one with lots of grounds trapped in there, am I?). On some models, that plastic area that the pod sits in is also removable.
How to Clean a Single-Serve Coffee Maker
While the coffee maker is partially disassembled, use a small cleaning brush dipped in vinegar to clean around the base of the machine where the reservoir is and in the area surrounding where the pod/cup goes.
Photo by: SHAIN RIEVLEY
SHAIN RIEVLEY
4. Reusable filters need a good scrub now and again, too, because the grounds will become congested in the mesh. I’ve found that a trip through the dishwasher isn’t quite as effective for the reusable pods, but if you soak it in a cup of vinegar, and then use a small brush to loosen any granules and clean the fine mesh, you can get it pretty clean.
How to Clean a Single-Serve Coffee Maker
Reusable filters need a good scrub now and again because the grounds will become congested in the mesh. Soak the filter in a cup of vinegar, and then use a small brush to loosen any granules and clean the fine mesh.
Photo by: SHAIN RIEVLEY
SHAIN RIEVLEY
5. Cleaning the inside of the coffee maker is as important as cleaning the exterior components. Reassemble your clean, dry reservoir, and fill it with 4 cups of white vinegar and 2 cups of water.
How to Clean a Single-Serve Coffee Maker
Cleaning the inside of the coffee maker is as important as cleaning the exterior components. Reassemble your clean, dry reservoir, and fill it with 4 cups of white vinegar and 2 cups of water.
Photo by: SHAIN RIEVLEY
SHAIN RIEVLEY
6. Run the machine a few times with no filter in place, essentially brewing cup after cup of hot vinegar. After a few cups have cycled, let the machine sit with the vinegar solution in it for a few hours, and then complete the rest of the cycles so that all of the solution has run its course through the machine. I think you'll be surprised about how dirty that vinegar water will be. You'll be sorry you didn't do this sooner.
HGTV At Home Cleaning 100 - Clean Your Coffee Maker
Photo by: SHAIN RIEVLEY
SHAIN RIEVLEY
7. Remove and clean the reservoir one more time, and this time fill it with water.
How to Clean a Single-Serve Coffee Maker
Remove and clean the reservoir one more time, and this time fill it with water.
Photo by: SHAIN RIEVLEY
SHAIN RIEVLEY
8. Run several more cups of plain water through the reservoir to clean out any lingering vinegar (though keep in mind that vinegar is non-toxic, and you probably wouldn’t even notice if there were still a few drops of it in your coffee).
How to Clean a Single-Serve Coffee Maker
Run several more cups of plain water through the reservoir to clean out any lingering vinegar.
Photo by: SHAIN RIEVLEY
SHAIN RIEVLEY
All set! Test it out with some fresh grounds, and have a great start to your day.
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