How to Clean a Coffee Maker with Vinegar

You’re sick of your coffee tasting like mud and you keep forgetting to buy those coffee cleaner solutions. Not to worry; you don’t need a fancy solution to thoroughly purge your coffee maker. You can use ordinary vinegar to clean a coffee maker. A few simple steps will have you on your way to a tasty cup of coffee once again.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Drip coffee maker
• Water
• White vinegar

1. Dump out any leftover coffee from the carafe and empty the basket of the old filter and coffee grounds.

2. Rinse the carafe in cold water then fill with one part white vinegar to two parts water.

3. Pour the vinegar and water solution into the coffee maker’s reservoir and turn the maker on to brew a pot. Once the brewing cycle is complete, shut off the coffee maker.

4. Allow the vinegar solution to sit in the carafe for about 15 minutes .

5. Rinse out any vestiges of vinegar by brewing water only through the coffee maker twice more, again shutting of the coffee maker and letting it cool about 15 minutes between cycles.

6. Wash the carafe and filter basket in warm, soapy water. Rinse and get ready to enjoy great-tasting coffee once again.

Tips & Warnings

• For best results, coffee makers should be thoroughly cleaned out once a month.
• If your coffee maker has been neglected for a long time, you may want to brew another cycle of the vinegar and water solution before cleansing with water only.