Descaling a hot water dispenser
You’ve probably noticed that over time your hot water dispenser got some weird white spots on it. What on earth is that stuff? Well it’s nothing harmful —it’s merely mineral deposits from your water, likely calcium and magnesium. Neverthless, it’s important you clean it off regularly, because it can build and build over time.
It’s probably worse if you live in an area with hot water but it can happen anywhere.
Luckily, there’s a few easy solutions to descale your hot water dispenser!
Pretty much anything acidic gets rid of the stuff and that includes vinegar, citric acid and regular old lemons. There’s no need to use any harmful to treat it — we can definitely take the natural route here. Note that citric acid is just a regular baking ingredient, you can eat it and it’s not toxic! I bought mine from a bulk baking store. Most households are more likely to have vinegar or lemons though so it’s fine to use that (plus it’s cheaper!).
All you need to do is boil vinegar or citric acid in your electric hot water pot, leave it in over night, and then boil fresh water in the pot once or twice to flush out any residue.
Easy step by Step how to descale your electric hot water pot:
Start with an empty hot water pot
Add in a solution of half white vinegar and half tap water to the top OR squeeze the juice of a few lemons into tap water
Plug in your electric hot pot and let it boil water OR press the descaling button if you have it
Once the water/vinegar mixture has come to a boil let it sit over night, or at least for a few hours.
Dump out the descaling mixture and check your pot
If there’s any scale left, repeat the process or scrub any remaining white flakes with baking soda and a rag or bottle brush.
Put fresh, clean tap water in your electric hot water pot, boil and dump out water. Repeat process once or twice.
How often do I have to descale my hot water dispenser?
About every three months or so
And that’s it! You can descale your kettle, taps and shower faucet the exact same way! (just tie a ziplock bag with your acid/water mixture onto the faucet so it can immerse itself overnight).
