Cleaning the kettle – in two minutes!

If you want to find out how to clean a kettle, you have come to the right place. Even though you only pour clean water into the kettle, it still needs to be cleaned occasionally.

This is because limescale in the water accumulates and creates deposits. If you do not clean the kettle, you may get small white flakes of limescale in your tea water, and although it’s not dangerous, it’s not very pleasant.

"What, another thing I have to remember to clean?" you think. But it is much easier than it sounds. In fact, there are few things in the home that are as quick to clean as the kettle!

Citric acid + boiled water = cleaned kettle

The only thing you need to get the inside of your kettle sparkling clean is citric acid. You can find it on the spice shelf in the store, usually in a sachet.

Citric acid is used, for example, as a preservative when making cordial and jam. Here’s what to do:

1. Pour 1–1½ sachets of citric acid into the kettle.

2. Fill with water and bring to the boil.

3. Pour out the water and rinse thoroughly.

If there is still limescale remaining, just repeat the procedure, but this is usually not necessary. The low pH value of citric acid means it effectively dissolves the limescale. If you do not have citric acid at home, you can use vinegar instead.

If you want to learn more about how different cleaning agents work, you can read our post Your guide to different kinds of cleaning agents.

Click here to see how easy it can be to clean a kettle!

Don’t forget to clean the filter and the outside

Most kettles have a filter sitting in the spout, and it is usually possible to remove it so you can clean it.

If you don’t know how to remove the filter or it doesn't come off, you can pour out the citric acid water slowly when descaling the kettle to dissolve deposits stuck in the filter.

The outside of the kettle can, in addition to getting dusty, develop water spots which are also made up of limescale.

To remove these from the outside you need some acid-based cleaner. You can try lemon or vinegar, or a product specifically designed to remove limescale.

How to descale your kettle as rarely as possible

How much limescale accumulates in your kettle depends a lot on the water where you live.

If you live in Malmö, for example, the water is very limescale-rich, which is noticeable both in the kettle and around taps and other places where water collects.

This is usually called hard water, which means there are a lot of minerals in the water. In Stockholm, where we operate as a cleaning company, the water is softer and less limescale forms.

One thing you can do to prevent limescale deposits is to pour out water you’re not going to use. Don’t let water remain in the kettle between uses. This makes a bigger difference than you might think.