De-scaling kettle

ValOrient

Living in Kent I find that our kettle scales up badly (as does the steam iron too) and despite using all the usual tips for descaling, I was having to descale every few weeks which costs a bomb in the end for white vinegar etc. To be honest, the water is so hard you can virtually walk on it!

We decided to bite the bullet and buy a filter jug from Argos and it cost £4.99 in the sale. We have just decided to renew the '30 day' filter after 3 months (the kettle is still incredibly clear of scale, as is my new iron). A pack of 2x '30 day' filters is £7.49. On past experience that should last us 6 months.

I know the idea of MS is not to buy things but this solution has worked best for us in the long run.

Gothicfairy

I have been given an old second hand electric kettle and to be honest it could do with a clean.

The outside is easy but what to use on the inside ?

I only have things like vinegar, salt, bicarb etc and I am not able to get anything from the shops like kettle descaler.

Anyone got any ideas ? Could I boil some vinegar and bicarb with water and just clean it that way ?


Thanks a ton for any help as I did check the search thingy and got lots of hits of people cleaning their kettles but nothing for doing it with kitchen fixings rather then proper store bought things.

santer_2

You can use white vinegar to descale

Either leave it overnight or switch the kettle on until the vinegar bubbles for a few seconds then switch the kettle off, this speeds up the desacling but uses the vinegar more quickly. If you label the bottle you can re-use the vinegar

It says here about adding other things as well, though i have just used white vinegar

http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-descale-a-kettle

http://www.wikihow.com/Descale-a-Kettle

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5680

Pink.

Hi Gothicfairy,

It sounds like a build up of limescale.

To clean/descale the inside of a kettle I fill it with vinegar in and leave it overnight (with a note on it to remind everyone that it's vinegar not water ), then empty out the vinegar and boil it with water a couple of times in the morning to make sure there is no vinegar residue. Don't discard the used vinegar but keep it for cleaning or re-using next time the kettle needs descaling.

I find once normally does the trick but if the kettle has really bad limescale build up it may be worth doing it a couple of times.

There's an earlier thread with more suggestions that may help:

De-scaling kettle

I'll add your thread to that one later to keep the replies together.

Pink

jascrawf

My dad is meticulously clean and scrubs the inside of the kettle with a scourer - where the limescale builds up on the plastic/metal. He doesn't touch the element though and I think he soaks in vinegar then boils/rinses.

Gothicfairy

It's not just scale..it is dirty I am afraid.

I am grateful to have the kettle as my gas bottle is going down quicker then I am use to but the person who gave it to me is not the cleanest person in the world.

I don't have white vinegar..only malt

santer_2

Net Mums use Malt Vinegar as well with water

http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/other_subjects/40595-vinegar-to-descale-a-kettle/AllOnOnePage

Pink.

Gothicfairy wrote: »

It's not just scale..it is dirty I am afraid.

I am grateful to have the kettle as my gas bottle is going down quicker then I am use to but the person who gave it to me is not the cleanest person in the world.

I don't have white vinegar..only malt

Assuming the kettle has only been used for boiling water, how do you get the inside of a kettle dirty?

Malt vinegar will work just as well as white for descaling.

Pink

Gothicfairy

How they got it dirty is a wonder but one I am not going to spend too much time thinking about as I had to spend 2 days cleaning the cassette toilet when we bought their old caravan.

I think they might have used it as an ashtray and also a pot noodle cooker..ugh oh and there seems to be grease in there as well...I shudder at the though but once clean it will be perfect....I hope..lol

mummysaver38

What's the best way to descale a heavily scaled kettle, please?
:question: