Apparently the amount of coffee I drink doesn’t correlate to the frequency that I clean my coffee maker. Even though I drink about a pot a day (I know, it’s gross), the last time I cleaned my coffee pot was over a year ago (yes, that’s even grosser). I remember that because when I cleaned it, I used vinegar. Super popular and there’s about a zillion Pinterest pins about it. Unfortunately for me, even though I rinsed and rinsed, the vinegar smell and taste lingered for days in my coffee maker. I thought I’d have to wait days until I drank another cup of coffee… and then I remembered I live in Seattle, the home of coffee, literally on every block.
But what I did learn that I won’t use vinegar again.
Fortunately there’s another solution, and as you guessed ….. it can be done in 5 minutes!
All you need is:
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1/4 cup baking soda
Pour baking soda in to the coffee pot full of water. Mix with a spoon. With your coffee maker turned on, pour the baking soda water through the coffee maker and run the coffee maker as normal (minus a coffee filter). Once its finished running, pour the hot baking soda water back in the tank and run through the process two more times.
Then use a sponge or rag to clean out the inside of the coffee pot with the baking soda water still inside (the baking soda will help remove the coffee residue more easily).
Dump out the baking soda water, rinse and add fresh water to the coffee pot. Pour in the lemon juice and run through the coffee maker one last time.
and ….
TADA! Coffee maker cleaned! No vinegar smelling coffee maker, no running to Starbucks needed.
To celebrate, I made a cup (errr… pot) of coffee. Caffeinated Lindsay = happy.
Lydia Nordhoff says
I need to do this RIGHT now! Great tutorial, THANKS!!
Linday @ Crazy Organized says
Thanks so much Lydia! You’re so sweet!
Kristy as Giftie Etcetera says
Will this work in a Keurig? I have the same problem with vinegar!
Linday @ Crazy Organized says
I don’t have a keurig, but I do have an espresso machine and we tried it out! It works, just make sure the baking soda is mixed in the with water well. and I wouldn’t poor as much water in the Keurig water holder because you’ll have to keep running it until all the baking soda water is out and then a couple times with regular water.
But our espresso machine is all clean now!
Jess says
Oh wow…this is such a neat idea! I never would have thought of this!
Thanks for joining Cooking and Crafting with J & J!
Julie says
Hi Linday,
Thanks for sharing this great coffee cleaner tip at our Cooking and Crafting with J & J.
I’m now following you on Pinterest, Twitter and Instagram! I hope you’ll follow me back. Thanks!
Hope to see you next week.
Julie at Julie’s Lifestyle
Tiffany says
HI, Lindsay ~ I’m a lover of coffee, too! I’ve also tried the vinegar method of cleaning the coffee pot. It didn’t leave a taste behind, but it stinks up the entire house. Yuck! I’m so glad to have found this recipe! I use baking soda and lemon all of the time to clean around here. I just never thought to try it in the coffee pot! Thanks for sharing with us at the Merry Monday Link Party! Hope to see you again on Sunday night! :0)
Linday @ Crazy Organized says
That was exactly my problem! I could never get rid of the smell! Thanks so much for stopping by! ‘see’ you next week!
Jamie @ Medium Sized Family says
That’s funny, I was just thinking the other day that I really should clean out my coffee maker! Thanks for the non-vinegar tips! Pinning it so I remember.
Linday @ Crazy Organized says
Thanks so much!!
Audra @ Renewed Projects says
I’ll have to give this a try, too. Usually I use the vinegar method but it doesn’t really get rid of the residue.
Linday @ Crazy Organized says
Same with me! I found the baking soda to really do the trick! Hope if works for you!
Cheryl @ ReimerandRuby says
Great idea! I do drink coffee too but I make it straight to the cup so I don’t need to clean a coffee maker lol. Thanks for sharing! #TheList
Angela @ Setting My Intention says
Love this! Doing it tomorrow! I’m a coffee lover and never clean the machine. Thanks! Visiting from Pinbellish
Linday @ Crazy Organized says
Glad to see another coffee lover 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!
Paola @ Do It With Heart says
I’ve done the vinegar before, but haven’t tried the baking soda/lemon technique yet. I was actually in the market for a new technique since my new coffee maker has a tank that keeps water warm, so I’m hesitant on how many cycles I’ll need to do with clean water afterwards to make sure it’s clean, without any residue or taste.
Might try this and see what happens.
Linday @ Crazy Organized says
I have the same type of coffee machine and was worried about that too! So far this has been working great with me and I don’t see or taste any of the residue! Good luck 🙂
Jenny says
I have a few coffee makers and they are tough to clean for sure. I am pinning this for later. Thank you so much for linking up to Share With Me. #sharewithme
Elaine says
I’m not a coffee drinker but my husband is…I’ll remember this trick! Thanks for linking up on My 2 Favorite Things on Thursday. Hope to see you again! Pinned!
Aveline says
Thank you for cleaning my coffee maker, Lindsay! Oh, sure – you just blogged these instructions and I did the physical part of carrying them out, but that’s one clean coffee maker – all thanks to you!
Maybe not 100% clean, but one more cleaning cycle and it will be like new! (it’s old!) Mine is a 4-cup since I’m the only one drinking it, so I reduced the baking soda and lemon juice but will add some more next time. Thanks again!
Margy says
Great tip. I’ve had a lot of luck cleaning with vinegar and baking soda lately as well. – Margy
Amanda says
This is awesome! I’m going to go do it right now–I can’t wait! Thank you so very much for sharing! Visiting you from the Making Your Home Sing link up. http://www.ruckusandrubies.com. Have a blessed day!
Claire says
I never thought of this, such a great idea 🙂
Thanks for sharing at Creative Mondays and thank you so much for the lovely email, you made my Monday!
Melanie Redd says
What a great idea, Linday!
I hadn’t thought to clean the coffee pot the way you shared. I’ll have to try this~
Came over on Titus 2. Glad to find your site.
Hope you have a blessed day today~
Melanie
Fanny says
I always do this too! Great post!!
Long Ladies says
We’ve been using vinegar rinses all these years. My family is full of coffee addicts! I can’t wait to try this method! Thanks for this awesome tutorial!
~Haley
Steph says
I’m trying this right now! Thanks for sharing your success.
Cheryl says
This is awesome! Vinegar doesn’t clean my coffee pot so hopefully this is better, thanks for sharing!!
Katie says
Hi Lindsay – ah he’s the vinegar coffee pot cleaning method. I’ve got to try yours, sounds like it would smell much nicer 🙂 Thanks for sharing this, I’m sure I’ll be doing this soon our poor coffee pot is probably the most used appliance in our house 🙂
Lowanda J says
Great idea! This is for a drip cup correct? I will have to try it if so. Thanks for sharing over at Making Memories Monday.
Kristin Cook says
I’ve been telling myself for weeks that I need to clean my coffee pot. Thanks for the reminder and the tips!
Marie at The Interior Frugalista says
Hmmm, I’ve used this method to clean a coffee carafe but never the actual coffee maker. I’m going to give this a try because ours is due for a clean. Mine is a Kurig, but I’m thinking that shouldn’t matter. Thanks for the tip – Pinning to share and refer back to when time permits.
Jessica says
I definitely need to try this. A clean coffee maker makes a much better cup of coffee.
Emily says
Read the bit about the vinegar and laughed so hard. I was JUST going to pour vinegar in my machine! Just finished the first cycle with BS. Thanks for this post!!!
Lindsay @ Crazy Organized says
hahaha love it! Vinegar works for some people, but I can never get the smell out! thanks so much for visiting!
Jennifer says
THANK YOU so much for offering a way to clean the coffee pot without vinegar! I’ve had the same problem with never quite getting the smell out of the coffee maker. This worked like a charm!
Lindsay @ Crazy Organized says
So glad it worked well! Yeah, I totally hate that vinegar smell!
Susan says
I don’t think my coffee pot was this clean when I bought it! (But, I’m still going to Starbucks bc I’m in love with their coffee. So much so, I always recieve gift cards for every occasion.)
Lindsay @ Crazy Organized says
Starbucks gift cards are one of my FAVORITE things ever!!
Allan B. says
Thanks for this! I also never have used vinegar to clean my coffee maker just because of the fear that my coffee would smell and taste like vinegar. Will definitely try your advice instead!