How to Clean Your Keurig

Oh hey. :)

I have slacked on my blogging but partially because I have been trying new things. I have lots to blog about in the coming weeks!

Today I am sharing some easy ways to clean your Keurig coffee maker. I also have some tips for keeping it clean and in good working condition. We bought our Keurig almost four years ago. We aren't huge coffee drinkers, a couple cups a week for each of us. It's done great but occasionally it stops working. It will fill and heat the water but it doesn't come through the nozzle to fill the cup. I searched the internet about how to fix this and you know what I found to be the most common recommendation? Bang on it. Ha! But believe it or not... that really helped. Along with banging on it to get it to work I figured I should start maintaining it better (or at all) to help it last longer.

Here's how to clean your Keurig in three easy steps:

1. Empty the reservoir. Clean it to remove hard water spots and have a fresh start. The reservoir for my unit is actually dishwasher safe! Or you can wash it by hand with hot soapy water.

2. Fill the reservoir with white vinegar. Sprinkle baking soda in the filter. Run the Keurig at least four times which will send the heated vinegar through the system. The vinegar will help remove hard water in the system (clogs) and the baking soda will clear the built up grounds in the filter. You may need to add a little more vinegar as it depends on how much your reservoir holds.

Not sure if you all can tell but that cup on the left went through my Keurig. It's cloudy and dirty! I sat it next to a cup with just vinegar for comparison. EEK!

3. Once you are finished running the vinegar through the Keurig, empty any remaining vinegar from the reservoir and fill with water. Run it through a couple of times to remove any remaining vinegar from the system.

UPDATE: I'm adding a fourth step because it is something I recently discovered!

4. See the circle where you put your k-cup? See the little white triangle on the top? Well that is actually a removable cup! You simply pull it out, clean, rinse and replace it. Make sure it clicks into place. I don't have a before picture of how grungy mine was... and that's probably a good thing so I don't gross you out! Below is a picture of mine out of my Keurig.

Now you can enjoy coffee (or tea or hot cocoa... whatever you fancy) in a nice, clean coffee maker!

Here are a couple tips to help maintain your Keurig:
- Clean your system about once a quarter (or more if you make 2+ cups a day)
- When you finish making your morning (or evening) cups, run water through without any kcups
- Use paper towels to keep the tray from getting "gunky"
- Keep the kcup filter open and clean between uses
- Use filtered water to avoid hard water buildup inside the system
- And I guess if all else fails... bang on it a few times if it stops working ;)

Any Keurig cleaning tips?? I am hoping ours holds up for another four years! :)

<-Kassy->