Limescale is a harmless chalky white residue that accumulates in appliances that use water, such as kettles, coffee machines, dishwashers, and washing machines.
The problem with limescale in your kettle is that it can spoil your tea and coffee a little.
However, its greater problem is the effects of limescale on appliances. Limescale can shorten the lifespan of your kettle because it can corrode the elements.
Limescale deposits also negatively impact the energy efficiency of your kettle. This means it takes longer, and uses more energy and therefore money, to heat up the water, and also reduces your kettle’s lifespan.
While white vinegar is great for cleaning a range of areas around the home, when it comes to kettle limescale it may not always work the best.
Taking to her TikTok cleaning account @b_cleans, Nancy shared how she descales her kettle – and it’s not with vinegar.
She uses two tablespoons of the Elbow Grease Citric Acid, although any citric acid can be used for the task.
To descale the appliance, Nancy starts by putting her kettle on to boil then adds in two scoops of the citric acid powder before leaving it to sit for 10 minutes.
Then she just gives the kettle a good rinse out and the job’s done. Citric acid won’t leave an aftertaste, so there is no need to reboil the kettle again.
She said: “Obviously you can use other methods to clean your kettle, but believe me, I’ve tried that all and nothing beats citric acid for me. It [the kettle] went from bogging to beautiful in just 10 minutes.”
A 250g tub of citric acid can be picked up from the Online Pound Store for just £1.75. This works out as 44p per use as you only need two tablespoons of product.
One TikTok user argued that white vinegar is “good too”. However, Nancy replied: “I’ve tried this, but it doesn’t give me great results.”
Other users were keen to test this product out for themselves. @reh.isl said: “@reh.isl: I’m gonna try this, never heard of citric acid before. I used the kettle cleaner from Home Bargains.”
Nancy replied: “Citric acid never fails.” @cheryl-nails wrote: “Citric acid has been super hard to find. I was so happy to find it other say in Home Bargains.”
