Cleaning a Coffee Maker

I love thrifting. Actually, I like to consider myself a pioneer in the field since I have been checking out thrift stores before it was a popular thing to do –and definitely long before Macklamore made it a mainstream activity.  

Regardless, I was at the local Goodwill the other day and came across one of the best finds EVER: an espresso maker. I love coffee and I love espresso even more so I knew that I couldn’t pass up the chance to own one -especially with a price tag of $3.99. 

      My exact model

I brought the machine home and tested it out to see if it ran. It did. But then came the arduous task of cleaning the thing. I remember once that I put soap in an old coffee make I had and needless to say, the thing was done in. I never was fully able to wash out the soap so I had to throw it away. Because of this past experience I needed to find a way in which I could safely and efficiently clean it without ruining it.

What I came about during my musing on the internet was talk about using vinegar to disinfect and clean it. Eventually I settled on a combination of my own calculations and it ended up working quite well.

The recipe is as follows:

1.      50% water, 50% vinegar ran through the machine 2-3 times.

2.      Once it has gone through, run clean water 4-6 times (more if desired).

3.      Voila –clean!

It seems so simple because it is. But regardless of the simplicity, the espresso maker was clean and I have been using it ever since.