I love coffee. I love my Keurig. Life is good.
My Keurig coffee maker is now three years old, purchased for me for Mother’s Day by My Three Sons in 2012. Every morning, rain or shine, 4:30, 5:30, 6:30 or 10 a.m., I am pushing that button and waiting for the blue lights to come on. In seconds I am smelling the most delicious brew and ready to settle down for a cup with my Bible study.
But I have discovered if I don’t keep it clean, it won’t be long before there is build-up, a not-so-full cup or a funny taste. I usually clean mine every six months, sometimes more often if it seems it needs it. If you have hard water then three months is probably better.
I said it was easy. Let’s get started.
You need this. You must have it. You can’t clean your Keurig without it. Distilled White Vinegar; buy the gallon size. You won’t use it all this time but you will have it.
Take the coffee maker apart beginning with the draining dish. Wash them in hot, soapy water and dry. Wipe down the entire unit and dry. Next, take out the K-cup holder, it pulls right out!
I wash that in hot, soapy water too, rinse well and let dry. Be sure to not stick your finger down in that K-cup! There is a needle inside that punctures the K-cups to let the water in and coffee out. With a wet paper towel or your wet dishcloth you can clean all around the K-cup area, coffee dust is usually plentiful and you need to clean that out. There is another needle in the top of the lift handle, carefully clean around that as well. (Yep, we are adults, we can do this!) If you feel as if your needle is clogged, mine was once, just open up a paper clip and use it to clean out the hollow needle. Super easy and it works!
Now you are ready to descale the unit.
Fill the water reservoir with the distilled white vinegar, doesn’t have to be completely full, even 3/4 is good. Let the unit heat up and then just begin to run through cycles, without any coffee of course, just the vinegar will pour into your cup. I just put a large measuring cup there to hold several run-through’s. Do this until it is almost empty, it will stop with vinegar still in the reservoir because it isn’t enough to make a “cup”. Pour that out and rinse the reservoir well. Now fill it with clean water and start the process over again. I go through three full reservoirs of clean water, some only do it once. I just don’t want any vinegar laden coffee in the morning!
That’s it! The vinegar will take away any hard water deposits, the water will rinse away the vinegar and you are good to go. Be sure and do this every 3-6 months and your Keurig should stay in good shape for years to come!
Want to make your own creamer? Read my easy DIY posts here and here!
The Daniel Fast Devotional is still going strong! This week I was privileged to be a part of a podcast interview on the Apostolic Informer with Host Rob Barrow. He allowed me to talk about the book, how it came to be, what is a Daniel Fast, etc. and even give away a book or two. Folks, I don’t do well listening to my own voice, yikes. But Rob is doing a great job getting information on district happenings within the UPCI for Indiana and beyond. Take a listen here and get your copy of The Daniel Fast, A Devotional, today!
Sharing with Wake Up Wednesday, Wholehearted Wednesday, Happiness is homemade, Making your home sing, Dance with Jesus, Good Morning Mondays, Inspire Me Monday, Modest Monday, Homemaking Linkup, Happy and Blessed Home
You are so welcome! Thanks for the linky 😉
Great advice and easy steps, thanks for sharing at Good Morning Mondays and for the reminder to clean my coffee machine more often :’), Blessings
Thank you so much….I love tea too. Sounds pretty good right now! Thanks for stopping by!
You’re still good, ha. It doesn’t take too long if you’re doing other things in the kitchen. And your Keurig (and coffee) will thank you for it ♥
yes, I saw that too! I should have mentioned it I guess. I would agree that percolated coffee is pretty wonderful 🙂 Thank you so much for stopping by. ♥
I appreciated that Laura!! Thank you so much!
This made me laugh out loud! I would guess that no one has thought of it or everyone thinks someone else will do it if it is like most churches, businesses, etc. 🙂 Maybe you could do a night of tutorials and bring the ladies (and men!) together, lol. Thanks for stopping by!
So glad you got that accomplished! I think it is super easy, extends the life of the Keurig and will definitely make the coffee taste better. And all the people said, “Amen!” Blessings!
Ha, ha, no pressure Sheryl, no pressure 🙂 It is very easy though and I am hoping it prolongs the life of the machine! Good luck!
Okay…I was just thinking today that I really need to clean mine. I guess I better not procrastinate and get some vinegar tomorrow.
I cleaned my Keurig just as you said and it was easy. It looks much better too. Thanks for the reminder to do something we often forget. Visiting from Modest Mom.
I don’t have a Keurig, but I wonder if anyone cleans the ones we have at church!
Tweeted it for you!
https://twitter.com/LauraLane1986/status/607654155465850880
I love the wonderful things vinegar will do! I clean my Keurig now once a month, since the recent news came out about possible contaminations that can be hiding in the Keurig. I do love my Keurig, although I use it mostly for hot tea. We like our coffee percolated 🙂 A great how-to post!
So funny, I bought my Keurig mini just before Xmas (present to myself) & I have yet to clean it. I did get the instructions out about a week ago, meaning to do it, but haven’t had time yet. Guess I’d better get on that! Have a great weekend!
Oh yes, what would we do without our Keurigs? My husband takes care of keeping it clean, but it is important! You’ve given a great tutorial here. Now I’m headed for a cup of tea…