How to Descale a Coffee Maker With the Right Method

Choose the method your machine uses

If you've got vinegar ready but your machine also has a cleaning button, we'd check the model's instructions first. KitchenAid directs programmed-cycle users to their manual, while Thermador makes the display part of its procedure, so the controls change how you carry out the job.

Descaling removes deposits left by calcium, magnesium and other minerals in water. Those deposits can affect brewing time, taste and performance. Coffee oils and splashes are a separate kind of residue, which is why running a descaling cycle and washing removable parts have different jobs.

Use the KitchenAid drip example below when it matches your machine's guidance. Its 12 Cup Drip Coffee Maker with Spiral Showerhead and the step-up model with a programmable warming plate both have a cleaning indicator and cleaning cycle. The Thermador example applies only to select built-in machines, with the owner's manual determining the instructions for your model.

When it's time to descale

If you brew daily, KitchenAid gives about once a month as a general descaling interval. Keep the qualification attached to that number: how often you need to do it depends on both your water hardness and how much you use the machine. It's a starting point for a daily brewer, not a fixed schedule for every household.

You can also look for the signs in KitchenAid's descaling guidance (opens in a new tab): excessive brewing times, gurgling or other unusual noises during brewing, white residue on visible parts, and coffee that tastes off. These give you reasons to check whether descaling is due, including on a machine without an indicator.

On select KitchenAid models, an illuminated cleaning indicator is the prompt to descale as soon as possible. Thermador's guidance uses the machine's own notification as the trigger. Keep those prompts tied to the machine you own instead of applying KitchenAid's monthly guidance to the Thermador program.

Pick the KitchenAid solution and water

For the KitchenAid drip method, choose either a commercial descaling agent or vinegar. With a commercial product, use the package's stated amounts of agent and water. The vinegar recipe has its own dilution, so keep that recipe separate from the directions on a cleaner's package.

If you're descaling a coffee maker with vinegar using this method, choose white distilled vinegar. Its mild acidity helps break down mineral buildup. KitchenAid describes equal parts vinegar and water in both its general solution instructions and its vinegar-specific directions.

For a vinegar-free option, KitchenAid recommends affresh coffee maker cleaning tablets. If a grid prevents a whole affresh tablet from entering the reservoir, its guidance allows you to crush the tablet into smaller pieces inside a plastic sandwich bag, then pour the powder into the reservoir.

Choose water for both the solution and the later rinses now. KitchenAid advises against distilled water in its coffee makers, saying it attracts metal ions from internal components and may slowly damage metal parts. That restriction concerns distilled water; white distilled vinegar is the vinegar named in its recipe.

Run the KitchenAid drip cycle

For the vinegar route, KitchenAid's drip procedure (opens in a new tab) begins with the filters and coffee grounds removed. That preparation comes before adding the solution, so you're running the descaling cycle with those items out of the machine.

1. Fill the reservoir to its maximum level with equal parts water and white distilled vinegar. The reservoir should contain a half-water, half-vinegar mixture at the maximum mark.
2. Run a complete brewing cycle with the solution. If your machine has a pre-programmed cleaning cycle, use your model's manual to carry that cycle through to completion.
3. If your machine has a Cleaning Needed Indicator that remains lit afterward, repeat the descaling treatment as KitchenAid directs until the indicator no longer illuminates after brewing.

The cycle's endpoint here is completion, rather than an elapsed soak time. On a model with the cleaning indicator, the light going out after brewing is also the stated endpoint for the repeat instruction. The fresh-water rinse comes next.

Finish the fresh-water rinses

Empty the carafe after the descaling cycle. For the rinsing stage, use fresh, cool water and let each brewing cycle finish. KitchenAid's numbered method calls for two rinse cycles, with a full carafe of fresh water for each one.

There's a small difference within KitchenAid's instructions (opens in a new tab): its vinegar summary calls for two to three fresh-water brew cycles, while the numbered method specifies two. For the vinegar route, we'd use three, because that follows the upper end of its vinegar-specific range.

Count the plain-water cycles separately from the cycle containing descaler. They are the rinse stage of the job, and each uses a fresh fill rather than the solution collected during descaling.

Wash the parts and restore the filter

Check your owner's manual for the hand-washing instructions for your removable parts. KitchenAid identifies the coffee pot, lid, filter basket and reusable filter as parts commonly covered by these instructions, with the reservoir included on some machines. Keep the part-specific guidance with your model.

To finish the descaling procedure, hand-wash the brew basket and carafe in hot, soapy water, then rinse them thoroughly with hot water. Keep this washing to the removable parts: do not submerge the drip coffee machine itself in water.

Reinstall or replace the water filter, then leave the lid open so the filter can dry. This is the finishing step after rinsing and washing, with the filter back in place and the lid left open.

Use the Thermador built-in program

For a compatible Thermador built-in machine, Thermador's program instructions (opens in a new tab) take you into a guided sequence. Confirm the method in your model's owner's manual before using these controls, because this sequence applies to select built-in machines.

1. Press CLEAN. The display will show the available cleaning programs.
2. Use the arrow buttons to select DESCALE, leaving that program selected on the display.
3. Press START | STOP. The program will begin and the display will show step-by-step instructions.

Continue by following those displayed instructions and your model's manual. Starting the program is the handover to the machine's guided procedure, so use that guidance for the remaining work instead of carrying over the KitchenAid solution or rinse recipe.