Scale on the walls of a teapot is a build-up of salts and metal particles in the water. It has low thermal conductivity, therefore it takes a long time to heat and boil water. In an electric kettle, scale covers the heating coil. Remove it promptly to prolong the life of the kettle.
Prevention
4 rules to keep scale to a minimum:
- rinse the electric kettle every day, cleaning it from thin deposits of scale with a kitchen sponge;
- use filtered water;
- after boiling, drain the water from the kettle;
- do not wait for the scale to become thick: the less sediment, the easier it is to remove.
Use the home cleaning methods below.
Descaling with citric acid
Fill the kettle with citric acid solution at the rate of 1 sachet (25 grams) for a full kettle of water. When boiling, turn off the kettle (when boiling, the water foams) to avoid splashing liquid over the top. Leave the hot solution for 30 minutes (for kettles with a standard volume of 1.7 liters). Depending on the size of the kettle, the cleaning time can be longer or shorter. Pour out the contents, clean the remaining scale with a sponge, rinse the kettle.
Descaling with acetic acid
Fill two thirds of the kettle with water, add one third of the 9% vinegar solution. Boil water and leave in a teapot for two hours. Drain the contents, rinse the kettle from the remains of limescale. Before using the kettle, boil water in it to get rid of the vinegar smell.
Descaling with baking soda and vinegar essence
Rub a slurry of baking soda and water into the surface covered with scale, after moistening the sponge with vinegar. Soda, when combined with vinegar, will break down the scale. Loose deposits are easily removed. In case of large layers - repeat cleaning.
Descaling with products
It removes limescale well. Cut it into pieces, put it in a kettle, cover with water and bring to a boil. Boil for 10 minutes. If the scale is badly peeled off, repeat the procedure again.
Boiling the peel of apples or potatoes in a kettle for half an hour helps to get rid of scale.
Descaling with special cleaning agents
We put a special cleaning agent in the kettle, fill it with water, bring it to a boil. These funds are presented in the form of liquid, powder and tablets. We boil for 40 minutes. Under the influence of sulfamic, adipic or citric acids, which are part of the cleaning agents, the scale peels off and falls off the walls of the kettle.
It is important, when using special cleaning agents, to thoroughly and repeatedly rinse the kettle with hot water. Or, boil water in the kettle several times after cleaning, pouring it out after boiling and collecting a new one.
Read: "2 Ways To Clean A French Press"
See how easy it is to remove plaque from the kettle
