Alternatives to Pricey Nespresso Descaling Solution

db3745

I have a DeLonghi Lattissima Touch Coffee Machine. After 3/4 months of regular daily use the orange "descale" warning came on yesterday - flow has slowed down in recent days which is probably connected. I'm reluctant to fork out £7.00 for 2 sachets of Nespresso's own descaling agent, especially as I'll have to pay postage/carriage, having just received a batch of pods, so won't re-order for a while.

I couldn't find any threads via my MSE search but as usual found some old closed ones via a Google search. I'd rather not have to rely on what just might be outdated advice from 2010, 2011 and most recently 2014, and wonder what fellow MSE fans are using nowadays.

The advice that - "2 tablespoons of bicarbonate of soda mixed into a tank of clean water. Does the job just fine for our Tassimo machine and costs near enough nothing..." from dgtazzman in 2014 is tempting, and I'll probably go down that route if that would do the trick for my newer machine.

Any advice welcomely received.

I_have_spoken

Sounds right to me, bicarb will remove limescale and isn't too aggressive to plastics and polished metal

peachyprice

We use this DeLonghi descaler from Amazon

https://www.amazon.co.uk/DeLonghi-ECODECALK-descaler-SER3018-500ml/dp/B008YETL18/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1494873821&sr=8-10&keywords=nespresso+descaler

Not dirt cheap like bicarb, but cheaper than the Nespresso stuff.

db3745

Thanks to both of you. I've gone down the bicarb route just now and it seems to have worked a treat. Certainly the orange warning light's gone, and I can see with the 1st cup that the flow is better and seems to have have returned the volume to the original level I'd set - I could swear I was getting about 75% of set volume. Anyway.........I won't be spending unnecessary pounds any time soon.

getmore4less

The active ingredient in the De'longhi EcoDecalk is lactic acid.

Apodemus

Not sure why you would want to use bicarbonate of soda (i.e. an alkaline chemical) to remove lime scale (another carbonate). You surely want to use a mild acid, such as lactic or acetic acid. I would try vinegar.

Edit: If it needs to be in powder form, you may have Cream of Tartar or Ascorbic Acid in the kitchen.

getmore4less

The other issue will be warranty if you care.

it05jb

A company called mugpods does a descaler sachet for 95p + postage of only a pound.

I just add one to my regular order of hot chocolate and coffee pods.

Not trusted with linking yet but just visit mugpods directly or google it.

-taff

I use citric acid in the kettle. White vinegar could also work.

Gloomendoom

-taff

Oops, sorry, didn't see the date just the latest reply....