Shea Simmons
While it might not look like it, your coffee maker’s interior needs a routine cleaning. Often, the recommendation is to do this with vinegar for an easy DIY solution.
But should you clean your coffee pot with vinegar?
The least complicated answer to this question is yes! In fact, we’ve written about it before, and it’s an excellent, affordable way to descale your coffee maker. However, there is one instance in which you’ll want to avoid using vinegar.
If your coffee maker is under warranty, cleaning with vinegar could void it.
Many companies—like Keurig and Nespresso—sell specific descaling kits or pods. They’re created to perfectly clean the interior of the machine, and if you’re under warranty, you’re expected to use them. While the how of finding out if you used vinegar instead eludes this writer, if a brand can ascertain that you went the DIY route, your handy warranty might be voided.
Typically, you can find warranty information in your appliance’s manual. If it states that the machine is designed to only use branded accessories and items, it would be in your best interest to do so until the warranty has expired. Typically, that’s within a year or two of purchase.
If you’ve read that vinegar is the best way to descale your coffee maker, that’s still true. If you have a warranty, though, you might want to snag some branded descaler to be on the safe side.
