In this article, we tell you how to clean kettle with lemon!
If you’re a true Brit then no doubt your kettle is overworked with making cups of tea. On the other hand, winter is quickly approaching so you’ll be needing your kettle more than ever for hot chocolates and Lemsip drinks. To keep your kettle working at maximum capacity throughout the cold season, you’ll need to look after it as much as you can.
For us, this means regular cleaning but not with chemicals. Every time you use an overload of chemicals to clean your kettle, you need to create a whole new process to ensure it’s still safe to drink from. Therefore, wasting a lot of water, so we recommend you use natural products to clean your kettle.
Using a lemon to clean the kettle
The lemon is potentially the most diverse natural ingredient for cleaning you could ever use. Plus, they’re great for when you get that inevitable winter sore throat and need some hot water, lemon and honey.
The soft acidic properties of lemon are great for cleaning kettles and more importantly, limescale. One thing you cannot get away from is having to clean limescale from your kettle. It naturally occurs whenever water regularly comes into contact with items. If you want to reduce your limescale, always leave your kettle empty and ventilated.
For the days when the limescale builds up too much, reach for your lemons.
Method - slice, dip and boil
Depending on how bad the limescale is will determine how many lemons you need for this job. That being said, you won’t need more than three for a complete process.
Slice up your lemons as thin as possible and pop them in your empty kettle. Then fill your kettle to the maximum capacity and turn it on.
Once the kettle has boiled, empty the water, slice another lemon and pop it in the kettle. Repeat the boiling process and then empty the water again.
Remove the lemons from the kettle and set them to the side to cool down for a little while. Once they are warm enough to touch, use them and rub at any other areas of your kettle that need cleaning. Perhaps the spout or event the rim of the lid?
Once you’ve scrubbed with your lemon slices, you’ll notice that the majority of the stains are gone. For anything that remains, use your final lemon, chop it in half and use the lemon juice directly on the problem area.
Now that all your limescale stains are gone, you can wipe the area with a dry or damp cloth to remove any residue. Fill your kettle one last time and boil the water. This should remove any remaining lemon flavours and will prevent you from having a funny tasting coffee the next morning.
Quick tip: If you’re struggling to remove any limescale from the lid on your kettle, trap a damp cloth that has been soaked in lemon juice in the lid and boil. This way, the cloth will do a lot of the work and all you’ll need to do is scrub with it afterwards.
What other natural products can you clean a kettle with?
If you’re considering other natural ingredients to clean your kettle, you can always use citric acid. This is like a concentrated version of lemon juice. Simply add half a teaspoon to a full kettle and then set it to boil.
Repeat if necessary but always ensure you boil your kettle with just water at the end so that it’s safe to use the next day.
Another great use of natural products for cleaning your kettle is white vinegar. Use it with an equal part of water for a gentle cleaning process. The process for using white vinegar is the same as lemon, add in a little bit and boil a full kettle. Repeat and then use it with a cloth to scrub at any hard parts.
While we prefer using lemon, be sure that if you use vinegar, you rinse it out thoroughly. That’s certainly not a flavour you want lingering around!
Now you know how to clean your kettle using lemons and a variety of other natural products, how often should you be doing it? Well, that all depends on how often you’re boiling your kettle. If you’re making 3/4 cups of tea a day you’ll quickly notice limescale and stain build up in which case, weekly is preferential. On the other hand, if you use it once or twice a week, you can get away with monthly. It’s a case of looking in your kettle and making a judgement call.
More about Purdy & Figg
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