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How to get rid of limescale in an electric kettle? Video
A layer of limescale on a teapot is a familiar problem to most housewives. Thick gray deposits are very hard and difficult to clean mechanically. But here both special chemicals and homemade recipes can come to the aid of the hostess.
Scale in the teapot: how to clean it?
Limescale is solid lime deposits that form on the walls of vessels, in which water containing calcium or magnesium salts evaporates or heats up. Over time, grayish growths appear on the walls of water boilers and evaporators, on heating elements of household appliances. Over time, a thin layer of limescale can form even on the walls of the pan, in which water is kept for watering flowers.
You need to get rid of scale regularly. Lime deposits inside the kettle can lead to overheating of the heating elements, as a result, the appliance starts to work worse and breaks down faster. And even an ordinary enamel kettle standing on a gas stove will boil longer: scale prevents heat transfer. In addition, small particles of limescale that get into tea or coffee are harmful to human health, not to mention the fact that they significantly impair the taste of drinks.
The rate at which scale appears depends on the quality of the water: the harder it is, the faster the walls of the kettle become covered with a grayish “crust”.
Household filters are not able to completely purify water from metal salts. In order for scale to form more slowly, use bottled or settled water
Special products for descaling
In the departments of household chemicals, you can purchase special cleaning products designed for cleaning teapots, samovars and coffee makers from scale. The names of such funds are usually “talking”: “Antikipin”, “Anti-scale”, “Anti-scale” and so on. The main active ingredient in all such formulations are various acids.
The way to use them is quite simple: the product, following the proportions indicated in the instructions, must be dissolved in freshly boiled water and left in the kettle for a while, or added to cold water and brought to a boil. After this procedure, the scale becomes loose and easily leaves the walls of the kettle.
Then the kettle must be thoroughly rinsed, filled with water, boiled and poured out: this will help get rid of the remnants of the chemicals that make up the product: they may be unsafe for the body.
We clean the kettle with home remedies
If you do not want to use chemical agents to clean the kettle, you can use softer and safer homemade products.
One of the popular “grandma’s” methods is to clean the teapot with baking soda. In this way, even thick layers of limescale can be removed. Boil water in a kettle and immediately after turning off add three tablespoons of baking soda and stir until dissolved. Leave to cool, and after about half an hour, boil again. Then pour out the soda solution and, without rinsing the kettle, pour a new portion of cold water there, add one or two teaspoons of vinegar essence or 2-3 tablespoons of citric acid and boil again. Wait half an hour, then pour out the water and proceed with the descaling. By this time, it will soften and become loose and it can be easily washed with a sponge or dishcloth.
If the lime crust inside the kettle is not very thick, you can try to wash it without soda, using only solutions of “kitchen acids” – all the same vinegar essence (1-2 teaspoons), citric acid (2-3 tablespoons) or juice of one lemon.
It is not necessary to squeeze the juice from the lemon: you can simply cut the lemon into 6-8 pieces and dip them into the water. A whole lemon can be replaced with a peel from two to three fruits
Add acid to cold water, bring to a boil, and leave boiling kettle on fire for 10-15 minutes. The electric kettle, which switches off automatically after boiling, can be “warmed up” several times at intervals of 3-5 minutes. Wait for the cleaning solution to cool and rinse the kettle thoroughly. If the scale is difficult to remove, repeat the procedure again.
All acids act on lime deposits in the same way, softening and dissolving scale. But if you have a choice, it is better to refuse to use vinegar essence: it has a pungent and persistent smell, and after washing the kettle may smell of vinegar for some time.
Do carbonated drinks dissolve limescale?
Sometimes it is recommended to use sweet carbonated drinks (Coca-Cola, Sprite, and so on) to dissolve scale. Boiling soda in a kettle can actually soften gray deposits. But this is not because these drinks contain some particularly effective chemical substances: they just contain the same citric acid in a small concentration. It is she who is the main “cleaning component”.
Therefore, it is possible to use soda to clean teapots, but it is quite pointless: a bottle of a sweet drink costs much more than a bag of citric acid, and their effect will be the same.