Can you get through the day without a cup of coffee? Every day should start with a good, strong cup of coffee.
Many people like to brew their coffee at home, to make sure it is just as a strong or light as they like it. Plus, it is a big way to save money, rather than buying it from Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks, or another coffee shop.
One of the hottest new ways to brew coffee at home is using a Keurig coffee maker! It makes the perfect cup of coffee for one person.
But if your Keurig is not acting right, it can be the worst way to start your day. You might need to clean your machine!
The Machine
If your Keurig is running slow, not brewing a full cup, or stopping and starting, it might be time to clean it! Don’t just throw it away.
Depending on your water source, you should be regularly cleaning the machine every three to six months. If you haven’t cleaned it yet, don’t panic. It isn’t hard to clean, at all!
Supplies:
For this cleaning process, you’ll need:
- White vinegar
- Water
- A towel or microfiber cleaning cloth
- A toothbrush
- Dish soap
- All-purpose cleaner
- A straw
- A paperclip
Step 1: Remove all of the parts that you can
Before you even start cleaning, you must unplug your machine. It would be a risky mistake to forget this important step!
After that, you need to remove every piece of your Keurig coffee maker that is removable:
- Lid
- Water reservoir
- K-cup holder
- Funnel
- Dip tray and cover
When removing the water reservoir, you do not want to lose the O-ring. Also, be careful when taking out the K-cup holder of the needles to puncture each K-cup.
Step 2: Clean, clean, clean
To clean the area around the K-cup, you will use the paperclip to carefully push into the holes that puncture the cups. Then you will use the toothbrush to clean the K-cup holder and the space.
On the outside of the machine, you will use the all-purpose cleaner to wipe it down with the towel/microfiber cleaning cloth. Time to get rid of any coffee stains on your machine!
You can use the straw to dislodge any coffee debris that has gotten trapped in the water line. You will need to remove the mesh lining from the water reservoir and you can run your water full stream over it briefly.
Step 3: Descaling
After you’ve cleaned and dried all of the parts of your Keurig, you must reassemble it so you can descale it.
You will need to refill the water reservoir with 2/3 white vinegar and 1/3 fresh water. You can run a cleansing cycle on your Keurig until the vinegar is out of the water reservoir.
Then you’ll fill the reservoir with fresh water again and run another cleansing cycle until it is empty again!
Tips for the future:
Never leave water just sitting in your water reservoir, as this is the #1 leading cause of mold in Keurig coffee makers.
You can avoid build up in the future by switching to distilled or filtered water.
When cleaning, always use vinegar instead of descaling solution to save money.
You can keep your Keurig extra clean if you run an extra cup of plain water after brewing anything that isn’t coffee in the Keurig.
Perform a cleansing brew after any sticky cups of coffee!
Please SHARE these cleaning instructions with your friends and family on Facebook.
If you like to be thorough when cleaning, you can also watch this YouTuber’s instructional video that has 2.7 million views.
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