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.

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How To Descale Using A Descaling Sachet

1. Fill your hot water dispenser’s tank up to its maximum with regular water
2. Place a cup under the spout ready for the water to be dispensed into it and press the start button
3. After the water has been dispensed into the cup, add your descaling sachet to the cup
4. Pour the cup of hot water (with descaling product inside) into the hot water dispenser’s tank
5. Place the cup back under the water spout and press the start button
6. When the cup is filled, pour this back into the hot water dispenser’s water tank
7. Repeat the process of filling the cup and tipping it back into the appliance another 5 times
8. Next, remove the water tank and give it a thorough wash in the sink to remove the descaling product
9. Fill the water tank to its maximum and place a cup under the spout
10. 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:

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1. Add one cup of regular water to your hot water dispenser’s tank, and one cup of vinegar (white or malt)
2. Leave the solution inside the tank for 1 hour
3. After the time has passed, place the cup under the appliance’s spout and press the start button
4. When the hot water dispenses into the cup, put it back into the tank.
5. Press the start button again and repeat this process an additional 5 times.
6. Now remove the hot water dispenser’s tank and give it a thorough wash in the sink to remove the vinegar solution
7. Feel the hot water dispenser’s tank to its maximum and place a cup under its spout
8. Press the start button and allow the hot water dispenser to fill the cup with hot water
9. 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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1. Fill a measuring jug with 500ml of regular tap water and add 25g of citric acid
2. Pour this solution into your hot water dispenser’s tank and leave it for 1 hour
3. After the hour has passed, place a cup under the spout and press the start button to dispense water into the cup
4. Put the water that comes out of the hot water dispenser back into its tank
5. Now press the start button again and repeat this process 5 more times.
6. Remove the tank and give it a good wash in the sink to remove the solution
7. Refill the hot water dispenser’s tank to its maximum capacity and place a cup under the spout
8. Press the start button to fill your cup with water
9. 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.

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1. 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.
2. Leave the solution for 3-4 hours (more if possible)
3. After the solution has been soaking for a few hours, place a cup below the spout and hit the start button.
4. Tip this cup full back into the water dispenser’s tank.
5. Press the start button again, catch the solution in the cup again, and repeat 4-5 times.
6. 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.
7. Refill the tank on the water dispenser to the maximum level, and replace the cup under the spout.
8. Hit that start button again, and throw away the cupful of water.
9. 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:

1. 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. 
2. 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. 

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