Do you HAVE to use the proper de-scaler on a coffee machine?

[AintNobodyHereButUsChickens]

I bought a Dolce Gusto machine last week, secondhand from Facebook marketplace (cost me a fiver, bargain!) and I was going to de-scale it just to make sure it's squeaky clean. But on the DG website you have to spend a minimum of £20 to get delivery and I don't want to buy pods from them, I'd rather get them from Tesco where they're cheaper! The £20 thing is a bit shit really, they won't even send you out a free pod recycling bag unless you spend £20

I've always used diluted white vinegar to clean my coffee machine. I then always run through a couple of cycles of water only to rinse it. My first machine lasted 12 years despite this method!

There are a number of suitable alternatives, one of which is above white vinegar. I had reason to need this information recently as my coffee maker had the descale warning light and refused to make me coffee unless I did it. I live in a part of the country where water is so soft that you never need to descale anything. I ended up just running the cycle with water.

I buy a descaler from Amazon - lots cheaper than the Nespresso one.

We buy ours from Happy Donkey website.

They do a box of 10 sachets specifically for domestic coffee machines for about £6-7 but pretty sure they do others too

I use this one from Amazon in my tassimo. Less than £4 and does the job perfectly.

White vinegar here. Don't know what the commercial stuff is but it's corrosive and toxic. Not taking any chances with it!

Diluted white vinegar and a water rinse through afterwards does the job here!

I use bottle of lemon juice.

I use the Ecozone one, it's great. Cleans and descales.

The descaling product is just citric acid, you can buy the powder in Wilko’s. Dissolve 2tbsp in 500ml of water and flush it through the system, then follow with plain water.

Thanks all! I'll get it sorted out this week then

I use white vinegar in my coffee machines and the kettle.
It's fine for Dolce gusto machines.
If you don't fancy using white vinegar, you can buy sachets of descaler in the supermarket cheaply.

I use citric acid (says to in the instruction booklet). I've just bought 2 boxes off Amazon for about £7 (pre Covid used to buy it in the small local hardware shop) it's cheap & lasts ages!!