Would you have a drink from this kettle?

[Birkinbag]

Went to my sister in laws for a coffee this morning and she asked to me fill the kettle while she was sorting the dog. I took the lid off to put under the tap and noticed how black and scaly the bottom of the kettle was, like it had never been descaled.

I had a coffee but definitely didn’t enjoy it after seeing the state of the kettle! Do you descale your kettles or is it normal for residue to build up and just live there for the duration of the kettles life?

It's just calcium - it's in the water anyway, why does it matter if it's in the kettle....

I rinse our kettle regularly but don't descale very often. Maybe once or twice a year.

What really grossed me out were the work colleagues who decided using the kettle to heat up their milk for their coffees. Yup - just poured the milk in and let it boil!

Thanks for the reminder!

Mine needs descaling, and I need to change the filter in the jug.

The water here is foul - it smells like bleach, and tastes similar. 🤮

I never descaled a kettle until I moved to a hard water area. Now I have a glass kettle so I can see when it needs to be descaled. I probably put lemon juice in the bottom on a weekly basis now.

When I lived in an area with hard water, I has a little wiry thing that was left in the kettle to help reduce limescale build up - it looked like a mini Brillo pad without soap! But I still had some deposits and used to get little crusty bits in the bottom of my cup of coffee, mainly when visiting friends, so learnt not to drain the mug but leave a small amount of coffee. I still do this thirty years after moving to a soft water area!

I descale mine regularly - it's a glass kettle with a flat bottom (concealed coil) so I descale as soon as I notice a ring start to form above the element, and take that as the reminder to change the Brita filter.

Limescale may not be harmful, but it makes the tea really scuzzy, with slimy bits in the water - and teapot gets scummy.

Never descaled a kettle, but then I use a Brita water filter so it never seems to get scaled up (despite being in a hard water area). No I would not be happy drinking out of a kettle like that!

I'm a Scot who lived down South for 10+ years. I loved it, but do NOT miss the water!

Our kettle is see-through so gets descaled almost daily and we try not to leave water in it.

Well there's a taste comparison I shan't be making. 🤮

I hate scale, so I'd descale it.

However, in my area kettles don't fur up because the water is soft. So it's thankfully not something I have to worry about.