How to Clean a Keurig Machine
Unless you’re brewing with distilled water, your Keurig machine will develop lime scale and calcium deposits over time. These deposits are non-toxic, but they can impact machine performance and the taste of your coffee.
The only true way to break up these deposits is with an acidic substance. The method for cleaning is similar in all cases so we’ll start with a brief discussion of the possibilities:
| Cleaning Agent | Why it works | Pros | Cons | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lemon Juice | Contains 6% citric acid | No foul smell, easier to flush out, relatively inexpensive | Less cleaning power, squeezing all those lemons is annoying | $ |
| Diluted White Vinegar | Contains 5% Acetic Acid | Ultra-Cheap, effective | The smell, takes 4 or 5 fresh water cycles to flush out. Can also corrode rubber seals. | $ |
| Ready-to-use cleaning solution | Contains 10-15% food-safe acids | Extremely effective, no smell or taste | Slightly more expensive, no sense of DIY satisfaction | $$ |
Whatever your chosen method of cleaning, the process is the same:
- Fill your reservoir with the appropriate mix of cleaning solution and water
- Lemons: About 12 freshly squeezed lemons (half lemon juice/half water)
- Vinegar: Half vinegar/half water
- Ready-Made Cleaning Solution: Depends on the brand. TriNova is 1 oz to every 16 oz of water
- Run brew cycles until empty, discarding the liquid
- Flush the system out by running brew cycles with fresh water (2 cycles for ready-to-use, 3 for lemon juice and 100+ for vinegar…just kidding, more like 5)
A few extra tips:
If you’re going to clean your machine, might as well do the whole thing.
- Use a paper clip to clean the exit needle of any build-up
- Clean all the detachable pieces with mild dish soap
- Wipe down the surface with a disinfectant wipe
Keurig recommends cleaning every 3-6 months depending on your water composition and usage in order to maintain peak performance.
Interested in a ready-to-use solution?
TriNova’s ready-to-use solution is a blend of Citric, Sulfamic, and Glycolic Acids and has one of the highest dilution ratios on the market (meaning a little goes a long way!):
Keurig, of course, makes their own product which uses an entire bottle per cleaning. You can compare to our version here:
View our Short Instructional Video
Have any DIY cleaning tips for the Keurig? Tell us in the comments what you use to clean your Keurig!
Walmart sells a cleaner. It’s by their Keurigs.