How can you clean a regular kettle from scale. Choosing effective ways to remove scale in the kettle Scale in the kettle what to do

Scale in the kettle- a very common problem of housewives who use this practical device.

Whether it is an electric kettle, or we are talking about a conventional appliance - scale in the kettle will appear in any way.

If you are also worried about the scale in the kettle, and you do not know what to do, take note of the tips on how to descale the kettle using effective methods, how to descale the kettle with home remedies, and how to descale the electric kettle.

In this article, we will tell how to remove scale from a kettle quickly and easily.

To understand how to clean the kettle from plaque and scale, you should know that the scale on the walls of the kettle occurs due to the layering of various kinds of salts and metals that are part of the chemical composition of the water.

If the scale in the kettle has formed after just a few boils, then your water is not of the best quality.

In addition, the scale layer prevents the rapid heating of water, and therefore more time and electricity are spent.

It will be more difficult to clean the scale in the kettle if you wait for a thick crust of plaque on the walls. Try to remove the sediment systematically.

If scale appears in an electric kettle, be prepared for the disc or heating coil to deteriorate.

Particles of boiling salts and metals, exfoliating, fall into the water you drink, which, of course, is not very pleasant.

When you don't have time to descale the kettle at home, buy it at the store special chemicals for cleaning the kettle. They effectively remove plaque and scale from the kettle.

To prevent scale in the kettle, try to rinse the kettle with a sponge and water almost every day. So the plaque will not have time to gain a foothold on the walls of your kettle.

Scale builds up in the kettle not only over time, but also because of poor water quality. Therefore, if possible, take filtered water.

When the right amount of boiled water has been used, don't forget about the rest of the water that we usually forget in the kettle.

It turns out that if you leave water for a while, scale in the kettle is guaranteed.

Homemade ways to descale a kettle

Many housewives welcome only homemade methods for cleaning the kettle. We have collected the most common tips on how to clean the kettle from scale and plaque at home.

How to remove scale from the kettle with citric acid

Your kettle can be descaled with citric acid. Make a solution of 1 liter of water and 10 grams of citric acid.

When this kettle cleaner is almost to a boil, turn off the kettle so that the frothy water does not go over the top.

After the contents of the kettle have cooled, pour it out and remove the remaining scale with a sponge or brush, washing the kettle again with water.

It happens that the first time citric acid cannot cope with all the scale in the kettle. Repeat the procedure one more time.

How to clean scale in a kettle with vinegar

To descale a kettle with vinegar, add two thirds of water and one third of 9% acetic acid to the kettle.

The prepared liquid must be boiled and left for 2 - 3 hours. After performing this cleaning, rinse the kettle with water, removing the remaining scale.

Another point to be aware of when using vinegar to clean your kettle. To remove the smell after cleaning, let the kettle boil again, but with clean water.

Old scale in the kettle can be removed with baking soda.

Baking soda is a versatile dish cleaner. The kettle can also be cleaned in this way.

Even for a running kettle, where there is already a thick crust of plaque, a solution of ordinary soda and water (2 tablespoons / 1 liter) is suitable, which should be boiled before further cleaning with vinegar or a solution of citric acid. Soda promotes an active chemical reaction for better descaling.

Non-standard ways to clean the kettle from scale

The above methods will tell you how to descale the kettle with the usual means.

And here unusual electric kettle cleaner. You will be surprised, but the electric kettle from scale is very well can clean coca cola.

The citric and phosphoric acids contained in this drink will help remove scale from the electric kettle.

Many hostesses talk about caring for a teapot with brine and also offer clean the kettle with potato peels.

We hope our rules and tips on how to descale the kettle will be useful to you in the kitchen, and scale in the kettle will never be a problem for you again.

An electric kettle is a handy device that is often found in modern kitchens. It is made from different materials: plastic, ceramics, glass and stainless steel. However, no matter how high-quality and high-tech it is, you will have to think about how to remove scale in an electric kettle.

The question is really difficult. You need to clean the electric kettle at home very carefully, carefully choosing cleaning products: incorrectly selected, it can ruin the heating element, and you will have to take your favorite appliances to the trash.

Scale is insoluble salts (silicates, carbonates and sulfates of calcium and magnesium) that have pores. They harbor dangerous bacteria. Drinking water that has been heated in a dish with a thick layer of scale is very unhealthy. In addition, heat does not pass through it well, so the water will take longer to heat up, increasing energy consumption and overloading the heating element of the kettle. This leads to a quick breakdown of the device. That is why it is important to get rid of salt deposits.

Cleaning methods

There are two ways to descale an electric kettle:

• mechanical. You will need hard sponges and brushes that scrape off plaque. This method requires a lot of effort and time. Experts do not recommend using it, because cleaning tools leave scratches on the walls of the kettle, which creates favorable conditions for the reproduction of pathogens in them. It is difficult to remove all scale, especially from small elements. However, if there is nothing else at hand, then use the mechanical method;
• chemical. Acid and alkali are needed: part of the salts lends itself to one substance, part to another. They are in almost every home - acetic, citric acid and soda. The mechanism of action is simple: these products decompose scale into constituent components that are easily washed off with water.

Chemicals: acids and soda will help to clean the kettle at home qualitatively and easily.

Now there are a lot of tips on how to remove scale. The main thing to remember is:

1. Carefully choose a plaque remover: some of them are not suitable for a particular teapot material.
2. Consider the degree of contamination. If the scale layer is thin, then boiling is not worth it. Pour the required solution into the kettle and leave for several hours. With a significant amount of deposits, you will have to boil, and the procedure will most likely need to be repeated.
3. Warn loved ones about cleaning the electrical appliance so that no one accidentally gets poisoned.
4. Before using chemical methods, rub the walls of the kettle with a hard non-metallic sponge for several minutes. Skip this tip if you have a plastic appliance (its walls are easy to scratch).
5. Do not fill the kettle completely, otherwise the water will pour out when boiling. Be guided by the marking of the displacement of the device. Usually there are allowed maximum and minimum values.
6. Wash the kettle after cleaning is complete. Then boil plain water in it once or twice and pour it out, thereby removing chemical residue and smell (otherwise there is a risk of poisoning).

Removing salt deposits is a simple matter. But if you want a well-maintained electric kettle for long-term use, don't let it build up a thick layer of limescale.

Vinegar

You can clean the electric kettle with acetic acid, but this must be done carefully. Use 6 or 9% table vinegar. This method is used for electrical appliances made of plastic, glass and stainless steel, if there is a large amount of hardened scale inside the kettle. Try one of the recipes:

• Fill the kettle two-thirds full with water. Top up the rest with vinegar. The solution must be boiled. Leave it for a few hours to let the water cool down.
• Fill the kettle with water and vinegar in an approximate ratio of 2:1 (that is, you will need a little less than two glasses of acetic acid per liter of water). Boil water first. Then add vinegar and turn on the kettle. After turning off, leave it for an hour.

Instead of vinegar, you can use vinegar essence 70%: one glass is replaced by 1-2 tablespoons, respectively.

Ventilate the room after using vinegar to remove the pungent odor.

Lemon acid

Citric acid is a milder and more suitable way for electric kettles to remove salt deposits. With its help, it is difficult to get rid of hard old scale, but it is perfect for small dirt. Another plus of this method is its versatility: it is suitable for plastic, metal, ceramic and glass devices.

Gently pour citric acid powder into boiling water (it can hiss and splash out). The ratio of ingredients: per liter - 1-2 teaspoons. The solution should be boiled for several minutes. Then leave it for a couple of hours.

Instead of citric acid powder, juice is sometimes added. Squeeze a quarter of a lemon into half a liter of water or simply put it in a kettle, waiting for the water to boil.

Soda

Scale in an electric kettle is removed with baking soda or soda ash. This is the most gentle method. It is suitable for any kettles. Use with caution on colored plastic utensils as stains may remain.

Pour baking soda into boiling water. You will need 2 tablespoons per liter. Let the solution boil for a few minutes, then leave for a couple of hours to cool completely.

Citric acid and soda

It is possible to effectively clean an electric kettle from plaque at home using the following procedure:

1. Pour baking soda into a kettle of water. Boil it, then leave it for half an hour. Then drain.
2. Pour water into the kettle and saturate the citric acid there. Then repeat the steps of the previous paragraph.

Special funds

You don’t have to think about which method to choose, how to use it and whether it will suit your kettle, because the modern household chemicals market is replete with special products. The seller of such a store will tell you what to choose.+

Follow the instructions for use of household chemicals to effectively, efficiently and safely descale the electric kettle.

In the vastness of the network there are many different recommendations, but not all of them are suitable for electric kettles. It is not recommended to use:

• cleaning (potato, apple and others);
• colored carbonated drinks. With caution, you can use colorless ones ("Sprite", "Schweppes"). The liquid should not contain gases, so leave the carbonated drink for several hours in an open container. Then pour it into the electric kettle and boil;
• a well-known method of triple exposure (soda, citric and acetic acid);
• brines.

Prevention

Even the hardest and oldest raid can be defeated, but it will take a lot of time and effort. It is better to remove a thin layer of scale: you will spend less effort and extend the life of your electrical equipment. For this:

• clean the electric kettle regularly, at least once a month;
• if hard water flows from your tap, you can use a filter;
• when choosing an electric kettle, give preference to those in which the heating coil is located inside the body, because it is quite difficult to clean it.

Lime scale inside your electric kettle can quickly disable the appliance and also harm your health. You can cope with it with acid or soda, which almost every housewife has. In addition, the household chemicals market offers a variety of special products.

Whatever water you use - tap, purchased or spring - sooner or later a white coating will appear in the kettle. This is a scale formed as a result of the deposition on the walls of potassium and magnesium salts dissolved in water. If it is not cleaned regularly, it will turn into limestone. I will tell you about all the ways to remove scale in the kettle without resorting to special tools.

What is the danger of scale and how to avoid it

From what scale appears, it is clear: these are salts evaporated from the water. You can avoid its appearance only if you use distilled water. But it is not only not useful, but also harmful to the body.

However, water scale itself is also not harmless.:

• Damage to health. The high content of undissolved salts in drinks leads to cholelithiasis and other physiological disorders;
• Scale affects the taste of water;
• Electricity. The limestone on the bottom and walls of the kettle reduces their thermal conductivity and forces them to spend more energy on heating water. And the heating elements in the electric kettle burn out quickly.

Therefore, the answer to the question of how to remove scale in the kettle will help you solve not only an aesthetic problem. But also to avoid unnecessary expenses and health problems.

Unfortunately, it is impossible to completely prevent the occurrence of plaque. But you can prevent the formation of a thick and hard layer, which is very difficult to deal with.

To prevent a thick layer:

• Use soft water. It can be filtered, settled before boiling, or purchased from reliable suppliers.
• Do not keep water in the kettle. After each tea party, the leftovers must be poured out and the dishes rinsed.
• Clean regularly. Depending on the quality of the water, it should be repeated every 2-4 weeks.

To do this, you can use special tools sold in stores. Their price varies from 20 to 300 rubles, but they act, in my opinion, in exactly the same way. The method of application and the time spent on cleaning may differ - each preparation has its own instructions. But this is not essential.

But you can do without them. After all, in every kitchen there will always be other, more natural means that can cope with this task.

6 ways to get rid of scale

If you do not know how to remove scale in the kettle, look in the kitchen cabinet or refrigerator. You need foods that contain acid. These are vinegar, citric acid or fresh lemons, apples, pickles and even carbonated drinks.

Method 1 - using vinegar

This product perfectly softens even old mineral deposits. But it is quite aggressive, so it is better not to clean the plastic electric kettle. As well as enameled or aluminum.

We act like this:

• Pouring water into the kettle so that it covers the entire plaque;
• Bring it to a boil and remove from the fire;
• Carefully pour a glass of 9% vinegar into boiling water or 2 tablespoons of essence for every liter of water;

• Leave for 1-2 hours.

During this time, the plaque will become loose and easily removed with a sponge.

Method 2 - using brine

Pickled cucumber or tomato brine already contains vinegar, so you can use that too to descale your kettle. It is not necessary to dilute it, just strain through a sieve.

The same effect has sour milk and whey, which contain organic acids.

Method 3 - using citric acid

Citric acid is not so aggressive, therefore it is also suitable for aluminum, plastic and enameled metal teapots. You can use both powder and fresh lemon.

The amount depends on the degree of contamination:

• 1 tablespoon powder or a quarter of a medium lemon per 500 ml of water will remove a faint white coating in the kettle;

• twice as much required for a thicker scale layer.

But a large plaque, which has already managed to stick to the walls, citric acid will not dissolve.

The recipe is the same as when cleaning with vinegar: the acid is added to freshly boiled water, and after a couple of hours it is poured out along with the dissolved salts. Their softened residues will need to be removed with your own hands using a dish sponge.

Method 4 - using carbonated drinks

Sprite, Fanta, Coca-Cola and other carbonated drinks contain phosphoric acid, which can also remove scale in the kettle.

They are poured into an empty vessel, stirred to get rid of gases, and then brought to a boil.

When the liquid has cooled, the kettle can be washed.

Method 5 - using apple skins

This method will not help clean the kettle from heavy scale. It is rather preventive, it is used when plaque has just begun to settle on the walls. To get rid of it, it is enough to fill the cleaning in the kettle with water, boil it and pour it out together with the skins in an hour.

In addition to apple, you can use pear skins. or washed raw potato peels.

But this gentle method is suitable for cleaning ordinary teapots made of any material. If you use it regularly, you will not see scale in them at all.

Method 6 - using soda

Another effective home remedy is baking soda or soda ash.

It is applied like this:

• Before descaling from the kettle, you need to mix two tablespoons of powder with a liter of water;
• Pour the solution into the kettle and put it she fire;
• When it boils, reduce the fire and leave the water to boil gently for half an hour;
• Then drain the solution, and rinse the dishes and boil clean water in it.

In general, after each remedy listed above, it is recommended not only to wash the kettle, but to boil clean water in it 1-2 times.

What to do with an old plaque

If the scale is old and covers the surface with a thick layer, only a special tool or repeated use of the methods described above can help.

It is best to alternately apply vinegar, baking soda and citric acid, using an increased concentration of the cleaning solution.

Even if the scale does not go away on its own, it will become soft and loose, which will allow it to be cleaned from the walls.

Conclusion

I hope that the listed methods for descaling the kettle will help you always keep your dishes clean. And those who wish can boast of especially spectacular results in the comments.

The video in this article shows the cleaning process - you can see for yourself that these methods work.

Scale always appears on the inner walls of the kettle, regardless of whether it is electric, metal, or coated with a special enamel. Even if you use special water filters, or use only purified water, scale still appears on the inside of the kettle. Its presence reduces the quality of the water that boils in it.

If we are talking about an electrical appliance, then it accumulates directly on the heating element, which leads to a quick breakdown of the equipment. If the container is made of metal, not only scale, but also rust will get into the water.

Today, most of the kettles in use are powered by electricity, so it is important to know how to remove scale in an electric kettle.

Water is one of the most necessary products for a person, without it we cannot live even a week, but it can also contain many harmful substances and harmful organisms. To combat the latter, people have long begun to boil water, but this process does not allow you to remove salts and other impurities. And the water that comes from the water supply contains a lot of such substances, and the more of them, the more “hard” the liquid will be.

Salts in excess are harmful to the body, so the fact that they remain on the walls and / or the heating element can be beneficial for a person, but over time they become too much. To prevent scale formation in an electric kettle, filters can be used, but they cannot completely eliminate the salt content in the water.

Negative consequences of scale in the kettle:

• breaking;
• water pollution;
• harm to the body, in particular to the organs of the urinary system.

That is why it is important to know how to descale an electric kettle and not neglect its cleanliness.

Prevention

Certain measures allow, if not completely eliminating the formation of scale on the surface of the heating element, then at least significantly reducing the rate of formation. There are several simple ways to prevent:

• wash the kettle daily, a thin coating is easy enough to remove using an ordinary sponge, but a thick one will have to be removed with difficulty;
• use filtered water, you can also buy pre-purified water;
• drain excess water after each boil, leave the kettle empty at night;
• notice the need for cleaning in time, the thicker the layer, the more effort will have to be made to clean it.

You can simplify care already at the purchase stage by opting for an electric kettle, in which the heating coil is closed from contact with water, or a disc is used for heating.

Remove limescale from an electric kettle with home remedies

Scale is exposed to various substances, and the practice of cleaning electric kettles involves both the use of special tools and folk recipes. Active substances allow you to dissolve and remove scale, some of them are quite affordable, and are sold even in ordinary grocery stores. These include:

• vinegar;
• lemon acid;
• soda.

Scale can be removed in many ways, and the most harmful to equipment will be mechanical. You should not try to remove plaque using hard and sharp tools, as this will further damage the device. Damage to the body or heating element will be irreversible, and after their occurrence, all that remains is to get rid of your electric kettle. You should not resort to the mechanical method when the layer has become very thick, only pre-treatment of the rigid (but not metal) inner surface with a washcloth is allowed.

citric acid

Of the acceptable descaling agents for an electric kettle, citric acid is one of the mildest. When preparing the composition for processing, it is necessary to dissolve 10 grams of citric acid in a liter of water. It is sold in ordinary grocery stores, usually in 25-gram packs.

To make the calculations easier, it will be enough to pour the contents of one bag into one full kettle. After the finished solution is in the electric kettle, you need to turn it on.

Do not leave the device unattended, as soon as the liquid is brought to a boil, it must be turned off, otherwise the boiling water will start to foam and splash out over the top.

After completing this simple procedure, the hot solution should be left inside for 15 minutes. This time will be enough for the acid to dissolve the scale, or reduce its thickness.

After the procedure, the solution is poured out, it cannot be used for other purposes, and the kettle itself is washed so that the remnants of active substances do not get into tea or coffee later. If the layer was too thick, the descaling procedure with citric acid can be repeated.

Under the influence of citric acid, the scale is converted into a loose gray precipitate, in addition, the liquid will contain small pieces of lime in the form of plates. Alternatively, you can use not the powder in the store, but the lemons themselves.

For effective processing, it will be enough to place 1-2 lemons inside the device, cutting them into circles. The effectiveness of this method is no less high; at the same time, a strong lemon aroma will escape into the room along with the steam.

Vinegar

The second way to remove scale from an electric kettle involves the use of vinegar, popularly called the "grandmother's" method, if only because it has been used for a very long time.

Initially, vinegar was used against scale on copper kettles, but for modern electric kettles it may be quite enough. For the procedure, you need the usual 10% solution, which is in every kitchen.

Mode of application:

1. An electric kettle is filled two-thirds with water, and the last third must be filled with vinegar.
2. The resulting mixture must be boiled, and then leave the device and wait until it cools down. During this time, the scale layer should dissolve, or significantly decrease.
3. After the procedure, you must either repeat it or rinse the kettle thoroughly with hot water several times so that there is no vinegar left on its walls that can spoil the taste of any drink.

Acetic acid is an effective reagent for removing scale, due to the chemical reaction that it enters into with salts, the latter are decomposed into simple substances. For a conventional electric kettle with a volume of one and a half to two liters, two glasses of vinegar will be required. This method also has a significant drawback - the smell.

After the procedure, a persistent vinegar aroma will reign in the kitchen, which will not seem pleasant to anyone, so you should take care of ventilation in advance.

Soda

If you need to remove very serious contaminants, the effect of acetic acid can be supplemented with soda. First, a concentrated soda solution is boiled in an electric kettle, and after that we immediately fill the equipment with vinegar and water (1: 2) in such a volume that the active liquid completely covers the heating element. As a result, a very violent chemical reaction will appear, accompanied by the release of carbon dioxide. Bubbles will begin to form, which will destroy the thick layers of scale.

The method of cleaning an electric kettle with soda from scale, in fact, is not independent, it is used so that the particles of soda eat into plaque when boiling water, so that, after reacting violently with acid, mechanical removal is ensured on the surface of the heating element by means of emerging carbon dioxide bubbles . For one liter of water, two tablespoons of soda will be enough.

Other ways

In addition to the three "kitchen" substances, other, rather unusual methods can be used for cleaning:

• Brine. The brine left after pickled cucumbers or tomatoes can also be used for this purpose, because it contains citric acid. Having boiled the electric kettle with brine, you can also successfully clean it of plaque, the procedure is exactly the same - pour the brine, boil, wait until it cools down, pour it out, and wash the container. Cucumber pickle is also able to eliminate rust.
• Soda. Quite an unexpected way to clean kettles from scale. Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola, and other similar drinks also help to cope with scale, since they contain phosphoric acid, which can cope with even a fairly thick layer of scale. It is not necessary to boil water at all, you just need to leave the electric kettle with soda for several hours. It is important to use only high-quality drinks, as they contain stable dyes that do not remain on the walls. If the teapot is white, then the drink used should not have a dye, otherwise the paint will still have to be removed.
• Oxalic acid. This substance is not so often found on the farm, but it is no less effective than the above-mentioned remedies. If it is not available in its pure form, you can use a fresh bunch of freshly cut sorrel. The method of washing the kettle is standard, however, in the case of using a fresh plant, you need to wait longer due to the reduced acid concentration.

How to remove scale in an electric kettle with household chemicals

Naturally, you can use not only folk remedies, but also special household chemicals. Manufacturers of various compositions for household use could not ignore such a problem as the formation of scale in an electric kettle, so you can always find several products suitable for this purpose on the chemical products market. They can be in the form of liquid, powder and tablets.

The manufacturer, of course, can supplement them with their own instructions, however, on average, the method of using chemicals is reduced to 40 minutes of boiling water, in which a given dose of the agent is dissolved.

The compositions may contain various types of acids (sulfamic, adipic), including those that can be found in your own kitchen.

As a rule, after the first use of special means, the sediment will begin to exfoliate and fall off in pieces from the inner surface. However, it is important to wash the inner container without fail and as thoroughly as possible, and the more active the substance, the more times you need to repeat the washing.

This should not be neglected, if citric and acetic acid are used in the food industry, then other acids can harm the body.

The use of strong chemicals is resorted to only if the pollution in the kettle is too great, and the scale layer is so thick that it cannot be amenable to standard methods.

Sometimes the owner of the appliance makes a choice in their favor, because he wants to achieve the fastest possible effect, however, if the scale layer has increased over the years, and the kettle is still functioning and there is no desire to throw it away, even Antinakipin and other similar products will not cope with it from the first same attempts.

In addition, cleaning agents are an extra harm to your health. It is much better to remember this problem in time and use the “light” types of acids that can be found in the kitchen than to poison the air in the room with chemicals later.

You can prevent the appearance of scale, even if you just regularly wash the inside of the kettle with a relatively soft washcloth and ordinary dishwashing detergent.

But if the kettle still turned out to be dirty, chemistry will be the most effective solution, only powerful active substances can quickly cope with an old and thick layer of plaque.