How To Clean A Hot Water Dispenser
Cleaning a hot water dispenser is a must do task if you’re looking to prolong the life of your appliance. For some, it’s a rarely needed activity. But for others, especially those in hard water areas, it’s something you’ll be all too familiar with.
Cleaning the outside of your hot water dispenser is fairly straightforward, you simply need a damp cloth to lightly rub the surface over with, and then just towel dry using a soft material to avoid scratches.
However descaling the appliance is often far more important, and yet commonly overlooked due to the fact that most people don’t see the limescale buildup inside the machine.
Why Descale A Hot Water Dispenser?
Although limescale isn’t dangerous to us, it can cause even the best instant hot water dispensers to break – making the descaling process a great way of saving money.
Having excessive buildups of limescale in your machine’s element forces it to work harder – placing excess stress on the dispenser, hindering its performance, making it take longer to boil and using more electricity.
All of which are things we want to avoid. The good news is descaling your hot water dispenser is a lot easier than you might have imagined, here’s how:
Descaling Your Instant Hot Water Dispenser
Most hot water dispensers will have instructions that teach you how to descale your appliance. They will usually advise you to use a descaling product that comes in a sachet. You can usually pick these up at any supermarkets such as Tesco, ASDA, Sainsbury’s etc.
- Quick Kettle Revival - Our kettle descaling tablets make descaling kettle chores a breeze. With the power of our kettle descaler liquid, even the most stubborn limescale deposits disappear, leaving your appliances, from the steriliser to your coffee machine, looking as good as new.
- Simple, One-Step Cleaning - Say goodbye to limescale with just one sachet of our descale tablets. Perfect as a steriliser descaler, these magic tabs also double as a toilet descaler tablets, making them a versatile solution for every home.
- Powerfull descaler, descaling tablets For all types of Coffee makers
- Fits automatic 'Bean to Cup' coffee machines
How To Descale Using A Descaling Sachet
- Fill your hot water dispenser’s tank up to its maximum with regular water
- Place a cup under the spout ready for the water to be dispensed into it and press the start button
- After the water has been dispensed into the cup, add your descaling sachet to the cup
- Pour the cup of hot water (with descaling product inside) into the hot water dispenser’s tank
- Place the cup back under the water spout and press the start button
- When the cup is filled, pour this back into the hot water dispenser’s water tank
- Repeat the process of filling the cup and tipping it back into the appliance another 5 times
- Next, remove the water tank and give it a thorough wash in the sink to remove the descaling product
- Fill the water tank to its maximum and place a cup under the spout
- Press the start button and let the water dispense into the cup. Repeat this process until the water tank is empty.
Your hot water dispenser is now clean and ready to use.
How To Descale A Hot Water Dispenser With Vinegar
Vinegar is a cost effective and convenient product you can use to descale your hot water dispenser. Here’s how:
- MAKE KITCHENS & BATHROOMS SPARKLE: White Vinegar is a powerhouse product in cleaning the home. Use White Vinegar on porcelain, countertops, stainless steel appliances, oven and microwave interiors, laminate flooring, toilets, glass surfaces, tiles, wooden furniture, dishwashers, washing machines and more. This product is already diluted, ready-to-go for cleaning immediately. Please note White Vinegar should not be used to clean marble.
- KINDER ALTERNATIVE TO HARSHER PRODUCTS: Practical and suitable for home, commercial and industrial use. You can use White Vinegar as an effective drain cleaner when mixed with baking soda, add to laundry loads for soft, odour-free clothing or even for removing stains on clothing, carpets and upholstery. White Vinegar can also be used to repel insects such as ants and spiders. Best of all, having a universal cleaner also means less packaging and plastic!
- Natural and eco-friendly: Pure Chem's White Vinegar is made from natural ingredients, free from harsh chemicals and additives, and is a safe and eco-friendly alternative to traditional cleaning products.
- Versatile cleaning agent: This vinegar's acidic properties make it a powerful cleaner, cutting through grease, grime, and stains on a variety of surfaces. It can be used to clean floors, tiles, countertops, and even as a natural fabric softener.
- SURFACE CLEANER & LIMESCALE REMOVER : Disinfect with natural cleaning white vinegar, use on sponge or spray bottle for best application. White Vinegar can be used to clean up tough stains, shine stainless style & remove limescale. Best of all, it is non toxic
- DRESSING, SACUES & MARINADE: Use as vinaigrette, tenderising meats, seafood or vegetables. White Vinegar use in marinating provides a natural kick to food preparation across pickling, baking, dressing, sauces or cheesemaking
- Add one cup of regular water to your hot water dispenser’s tank, and one cup of vinegar (white or malt)
- Leave the solution inside the tank for 1 hour
- After the time has passed, place the cup under the appliance’s spout and press the start button
- When the hot water dispenses into the cup, put it back into the tank.
- Press the start button again and repeat this process an additional 5 times.
- Now remove the hot water dispenser’s tank and give it a thorough wash in the sink to remove the vinegar solution
- Feel the hot water dispenser’s tank to its maximum and place a cup under its spout
- Press the start button and allow the hot water dispenser to fill the cup with hot water
- Repeat this process until the tank is empty
Your appliance is now clean and ready to use.
How To Descale A Hot Water Dispenser With Citric Acid
Citric acid can also be used to clean your hot water dispenser and is available from almost any local pharmacy. Here’s how you use it:
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- ✔ Anhydrous Citric Acid: Our citric acid is food-grade and safe to eat, but it is also a highly helpful home product, thanks to its strong acidity, which makes it an excellent cleaning agent. With its strong acidity, it performs an outstanding job of removing quicklime, especially since it is non-toxic to humans; and because it is very water-soluble with no odour, it comes off quickly and without streaks!
- 🍋 The fine granular NON-GMO citric acid is a kitchen essential used in preserving, flavoring, and cleaning completely; preserves the Vitamin C content of a food product.
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- CITRIC ACID FOOD GRADE – Benefit from the multi-purpose quality of Grow Chem’s Citric Acid. A naturally pure, potent and versatile household essential used in flavouring, food preservation and as a powerful household cleaner and descaler. It’s 100% food grade, GMO free and available in a variety of package sizes
- ULTIMATE CLEANING POWER - Use our citric acid for cleaning and descaling surfaces and appliances in your home! It’s your go-to solution to tackle tough stains and limescale buildup with ease. It effortlessly cleans and disinfects counters, leaving them sparkling and spotless
- Fill a measuring jug with 500ml of regular tap water and add 25g of citric acid
- Pour this solution into your hot water dispenser’s tank and leave it for 1 hour
- After the hour has passed, place a cup under the spout and press the start button to dispense water into the cup
- Put the water that comes out of the hot water dispenser back into its tank
- Now press the start button again and repeat this process 5 more times.
- Remove the tank and give it a good wash in the sink to remove the solution
- Refill the hot water dispenser’s tank to its maximum capacity and place a cup under the spout
- Press the start button to fill your cup with water
- Repeat until there is no more water in the dispenser
Your hot water dispenser is now clean and ready to be used.
How To Descale A Hot Water Dispenser With lemon Juice
If you don’t have any citric acid, and you’re not keen on using vinegar or a descaling sachet, there is always lemon juice. Most people have a lemon rolling around in their fridge since some time ago, even when it goes soft and wrinkly, the juice is still great for descaling your hot water dispenser.
- Tropical Sun Lemon juice makes it easy to add delicious lemon flavor to dipping sauces, marinades, or even sodas or juice without slicing and squeezing fresh lemons.
- Tropical Sun lemon juice has a sour and fluid consistency with a tangy flavor that blends well into a variety of dishes and drinks.
- Premium quality lemon juice
- Made from lemons grown in Greece
- Add one cup of water to your water dispenser’s tank, and ½ cup of lemon juice, fresh and strained is best but bottled lemon juice will be fine as well. Be sure to remove any pips, pith or skin as any foreign bodies could potentially clog the pipeworks and inner workings of the hot water dispenser.
- Leave the solution for 3-4 hours (more if possible)
- After the solution has been soaking for a few hours, place a cup below the spout and hit the start button.
- Tip this cup full back into the water dispenser’s tank.
- Press the start button again, catch the solution in the cup again, and repeat 4-5 times.
- Once the solution has been emptied for the 5th time, remove the tank, and thoroughly wash it under fresh running water to remove all traces of the lemon juice.
- Refill the tank on the water dispenser to the maximum level, and replace the cup under the spout.
- Hit that start button again, and throw away the cupful of water.
- Keep pressing, emptying, and throwing the water away until you drain the tank completely.
Then refill with fresh water and it’s ready to be used again.
How Often To Descale Your Dispenser
How often you need to descale your hot water dispenser will depend on your answer to these two main questions:
- Do you have soft or hard water?
People who live in soft water areas (or use a water softener) will not need to descale their dispenser as often as those who live in a hard water area. - Do you use it a lot?
Hot water dispensers that are frequently in use will need to be descaled more often than those that are not.
As a general rule, we’d advise you to descale your hot water dispenser once per month if you’re in a hard water area and you use it a lot. Or descale it once every two months if you’re in a soft water area and you don’t use it very often.
This advice is given as a general rule – It’s always best to check the instructions on your specific model and follow their directions on how often to descale.
