Cleaning fan shares perfect way to descale kettle – you only need one ingredient

Limescale-lime-scale-in-old-kettle-in-kitchen
-Credit: (Image: Getty Images)


While us Brits love a cup of tea or coffee, you may find that frequent kettle use leads to a build-up of limescale.

Although this residue isn't harmful, the unsightly white grime and the taste of calcium in your morning brew could dampen your enthusiasm for the daily tea ritual.

Plus, limescale doesn't just look bad; it can also destroy your kettle. However, before you consider buying a new one, there's an easy and natural solution to eliminate even the most stubborn limescale.

In celebration of National Vinegar Day, a cleaning aficionado has revealed her quick method to restore a grimy kettle to its shiny state in mere minutes. On her TikTok account @cleanupwithjo, she demonstrated the effectiveness of her approach on her own kettle, advising: "If you live in a hard water area you need this quick hack for descaling your kettle."

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Jo advocates for the use of white vinegar, stating her preference for a natural remedy and praising it as a "hero" against limescale.

She instructs to fill the kettle a quarter full with water, add an equal measure of white vinegar, then boil and let it sit for an hour. For limescale in the spout, Jo recommends soaking a cloth in white vinegar, placing it in the spout for an hour.

She concluded by showing the clear difference, remarking: "You'll see that the water has completely transformed."

She suggests using a toothbrush to scrub off any lingering limescale on the outside of your appliance. She then sprays Cif multi-purpose lavender and blue fern spray to clean the kettle's exterior and handle, which is available at Tesco for £2.

After her method was shared, some expressed concerns about the water tasting odd post-clean. Jo reassured: "As long as you rinse it well it's all good - sometimes I do a couple of full boils and pour away if I can still smell it."

Enthusiasts lauded her vinegar technique as "perfect", while others shared their own suggestions, including one who proposed citric acid.

"Citric acid, works a dream," another concurred. "Citric acid is my bestie," a third added.

"I use lemon juice," someone else contributed. " Lemon juice does exactly the same thing," another remarked.

Have you tried this trick? Let us know in the comments below.