One of the toughest things to do is keep a clean coffee maker. You use your coffee maker most everyday, and are usually rushing out the door to work while pouring your last cup. The last thing you are thinking about is cleaning out the carafe, much less the internals of the coffee maker. However, as you may notice over time the carafe gets stained with coffee, the reservoir becomes cloudy and who knows what it looks like inside. Unfortunately flushing out your coffee maker with water is not going to do the trick. Even using hot water and soap wont work to get a true clean. The best way to clean your coffee maker inside and out is to use a vinegar and water solution.
The next part of this process is making the water and vinegar solution. Many people believe that doing a 1 part vinegar and 2 part water mix works, which is does, but I think for the initial cleaning you should use a 1 to 1 solution. This means pouring into your coffee carafe half vinegar and half water to the top line. Once you have measured out the right amount of vinegar and water pour the solution into your coffee makers reservoir. Be sure to carefully pour spill or over fill the reservoir. Once you have poured the solution into the reservoir put the carafe back in place and get ready for the next step.
Now that you have the vinegar and water solution in the water reservoir its time for it to work its magic. With the carafe back in place simply press start on the coffee machine just like you would if you were making a pot of coffee. Allow the process to fully complete before doing anything. The mixture of water and vinegar should be going through the internal parts of your coffee maker cleaning everything off like new again.
After the brew cycle is done and you have a full pot of water and vinegar you can remove the pot and pour the solution out. Be sure though to make sure you have allowed the entire cycle to complete.
Now that your coffee maker is clean the last thing you need to do is make sure you have gotten all the vinegar rinsed out. In order to do this, simply fill the reservoir up with just water and press start on the coffee maker. Allow the brewing cycle to take place and flush the water and vinegar solution out. You may want to do this a few times just to be safe.
And there you have it a clean and refreshed coffee maker!
