cleaning inside an electric kettle

cazs

I'm in a hard water area so white residue on the base and huge great bits of what I assume to be flakes of limescale but cream coloured attached as well. Very unpleasant. Tried boiling vinegar, using denture tabs and baking powder and leaving concoction overnight. About two thirds improved but still some way to fully clean. Does anyone else have other good tricks for really stubborn kettle gunk.

Ps if all that inside is limescsle can I use Vikal limescsle remover?

Brambleberry

Wilkos sell boxes of citric acid - dissolve a couple of tablespoons in freshly boiled water and pour back into full hot kettle, then leave overnight.

If this is a regular problem and you are in a hard water area, it might be worth looking into a water filter as these soften the water and reduce deposits in kettles.

Chunks

To rapidly remove limescale, I use this, which I stock up on when it's on offer at Robert Dyas. Never use the recommended dose (overkill) so one bottle lasts at least 6 months.

I purchased a Brita water filter about 10 years ago now and again, on the back of offers (to minimise cost) have used it ever since.

Why do I need descaler? It depends on how often you refill your jug, but in my case, even after one month, I have as much (or as little) scale in the kettle (hence the need for a light descale once a month) as I would after two days of use, using unfiltered tap water.

Try it. You can get a jug and a starter pack for £20 or so. Replacement cartridges work out around £3 per month (keep an eye out for deals). I have tried cheapo copies incidentally but eventually come back to Brita (I don't work for them by the way).

EssexExile

We use Viakal, no problem.

Cornucopia

You can buy Kettle/Iron descaling products.

I used to have a glass kettle that got filthy with limescale after a couple of months of use. I found a product called Oust (supermarkets/poundshops) which did the job very nicely/easily.

I think you get 3 treatments in the box for around £1. If the alternative is using filtered water at £3/month, then this is a cheaper option.

Currently £1.50 at Tesco. but I've seen it cheaper:
http://www.tesco.com/groceries/product/details/?id=250479407

Snakey

Once you've got it all off, in future empty the kettle completely as soon as it's boiled and then leave the lid off to dry out (it pretty much evaporates right away if you do it soon enough). Limescale only builds up while the water's there so if you're always leaving your kettle part-full ready for the next cuppa it's bound to make a difference over time.

pc1271

Pouring excess water out might help, but leaving it to evaporate will only make it worse!

cazs

Thanks to all for their thoughts. I tried lemon Juice which is supposed to contain citric acid but didn't shift unfortunately.

On the basis of Chunks advice I ordered some of the Kilrock descaler for a few pounds off Amazon and I'm thrilled to say that on the second go it worked. (On the first it didn't shift and I was going to give up but then I tried to try one more time with less water and an increased amount of the Kilrock poured in and this time it was gone in 30 secs.)

So a thanks to Chunks for the heads up on the product and I hope that if anyone searches this same query, this will help them too.

NB the white limescale seemed to shift easily enough with the homegrown solutions, vinegar etc, it was the cream coloured deposit which was incredibly difficult to get off so if anyone struggles with the same thing, do try this stuff.