How can I de-scale my kettle?

[tryingtosortmylifeout]

I live in a hard water area, and my kettle has a bad case of limescale. I read that vinegar is a good way to get rid of it, but should I be using white vinegar or just the brown stuff I put on my chips?

I use lemon juice rather than vinegar and it does the trick, it has a lower boiling point than water though so be careful.

White vinegar is the one to use. Also I find astonish limescale remover is brilliant.

I use white vinegar once a week. Boil full kettle, once it's done put in good glug of white vinegar and leave it.

I just boil cheap malt vinegar.

Thanks! I’m hoping to use vinegar as I have some already in the house. Pristine how long do you leave it in the kettle for?

Any vinegar, I use the cheap stuff from Aldi, just rinse well afterwards.

We have the same problem, I use a kettle descale fluid which works well. I've not had to do it for a while as I found one of those Brillo pad looking things and that works a treat! Just leave it in the kettle all the time and occasionally give it a rinse

One of these!

I use powdered citric acid from the hardware shop. Boil the kettle to just below boiling and then tip in a bit of the citric acid and leave it to fizz. Then rinse out before using. No smell and pretty cheap.

Citric acid is great for descaling the toilet too.

I use white vinegar, same amount of vinegar to water up to the fill line. Boil the kettle and leave for 30 mins. Empty and rinse well before using.

You can reuse the vinegar, too. Just pour it back into the bottle when you're done. Make sure to mark the bottle well!

If you're in a hurry, fill the kettle with vinegar and bring it to the boil. Give it a scrub with a brush after a few minutes. If you're not in a hurry, just leave it full of vinegar overnight. You may not even need to scrub in the morning. A long-handled art paintbrush, the sort with stiff bristles, is very useful for getting into all the nooks and crannies.

Advantage of vinegar is that it is entirely harmless if not perfectly rinsed out.

Thanks for the tips everyone - I knew I could count on MN!

I live in an ultra hard water area and the kettle needs descaling every couple of weeks. I buy the cheapest vinegar I find ( doesn't matter what colour) Half fill the kettle then add about a cup full of vinegar, boil then leave for about half an hour. A tip I saw and now use is to leave the bottle of vinegar by the kettle while descaling to remind you not to boil and use for tea!

Cola works too...

Wilkos do a descaler for future reference. It wasn’t expensive, and cleared all the limescale within minutes.

I get astonish descaler from the range or one of the pound shops. It's basically just concentrated citric acid. Does a fab job.

Bottle is about a quid and lasts months...

Last time I posted on a thread about descaling kettles the thread got deleted for breaking talk guidelines. I never did find out why!

Another that uses boils vinegar in the kettle once a week.. Cheap as chips and non toxic!

How much vinegar ?

@SuziQ10 I buy white vinegar (under 50p a bottle) and use about 1/4 to 1/3 of a bottle with the same amount of water.. Boil and leave for as long as you CBA, rinse well 🙂

How do you descale the pouring out bit of the kettle? I use normal descale but it only does the inside

Unless it's a pricey one, just replace - whatever you use will flavour the water for months

Unless it's a pricey one, just replace - whatever you use will flavour the water for months
Do you live in a hard water area? We'd be buying a new kettle every month!

Citric acid works well and doesn't leave any smell or flavour after.

I've started only filling the kettle from the Brita filter jug and that has pretty much stopped it developing any scale now.

whatever you use will flavour the water for months

No it doesn't. Neither citric acid nor vinegar leave any taint.