Limescale?

[natty23]

I heard that you can boil a white vinegar and water mixture in a kettle to remove limescale, is it possible to use regular brown vinegar? if so what are the amounts of water and vinegar needed?

[shaneystar]

I use a teacupful of white vinegar in the kettle then fill it up with water (about three quarters full) boil it up and let it stand overnight.Rinse it out and then boil it up again a couple of times with fresh water.This works well on my stainless steel kettle.I don't know how it would effect a plastic one.

[barender]

Coca Cola is good for removing limescale. (Just think what it does for your stomach lining!) A Plumber friend of mine told me this - good for shower heads too.

[Gemm85]

Apparently Coca Cola is good for cleaning the toilet as well... makes you not want to drink it anymore! lol

[natty23]

shaneystar do you think brown vinegar would work?

[shaneystar]

I don't see why not.It's just that white vinegar is distilled and has no colouring flavouring or preservatives whereas brown vinegar has malt added.This may cause a taint in the kettle.But ..if you wash it out throughly and boil it up a few times it should be O.K.
Failing this Boots the Chemist sell Ataka a kettle descaler which is very good.
We have to descale our kettle all the time as we live in a very hard water area.And there is nothing worse than a cuppa with bits of limescale floating about in it!!

[mystress]

natty,

I use Malt Vinegar,it works just the same as the others,and if you can get the LARGE container is very cheap(and ecological!)

[Jules001]

I buy citric acid from the chemist and use a teaspoon of it in my glass kettle. I also live in a hard water area and this is very effective and doesn't leave a taste or smell. The only drawback is you can only buy it in small quantities at a time due to it being able to be used for illegal purposes.

[Personica]

The vinegar is great for removing limescale from the ends of chrome taps too. Put some tissue into a small plastic bag (or cut a corner off a carrier if you're really stingy like me). Soak the tissue in vinegar and secure the bag to the tap with an elastic band. (be sure the tissue / vinegar is in contact with the limescale). Leave this overnight then rinse off. It may need to be repeated a few times in bad cases.