What is coffee machine descaler? Well, “scale” or “lime scale” refers to the build up of minerals in areas of your coffee maker where water passes through. Sometimes you can look inside the water boiler of a coffee maker and see some crusty white scale attached to the walls of the boiler. This buildup also occurs in the pumps and any other araes where ot water travels or sits.

Don’t worry, that lime scale is not harmful to your health. It is not fungus or bacteria, it is simply a buildup of minerals that became isolated from the water when it was hot. But lime scale can cause some functional problems for your coffee machine if you leave it for too long, which is why a coffee machine descaler is required from time to time.

A descaler is a solution that removes this lime scale from your machine. Most commercial descalers are made from citric acid, which is powerful enough to remove the scale but not so much that it will damage your machine. Some people improvise with a vinegar solution, but that can damage your machine. The descaler solution is run through the machine instead of water and coffee, and the lime scale is dissolved. The details of procedures varies from product to product, so please see the instructions for the descaler that you buy.

A few popular coffee descaler products are:

Gaggia descaler

Urnex Descaler

Durgol 0296 Express Multipurpose Decalcifier

Saeco 52400 Dezcal Descaler

Lime scale isn’t an emergency so don’t panic. But every year or so running a coffee descaler through your machine will keep everything functioning efficiently.