Seeing your to-do list slowly piling up is a painful feeling, but as a working mum, that is one sad reality. There’s the cooking and cleaning, plus remembering to check on the washing basket every few days, the list is endless and pure chaos.
Of course the basic cleaning jobs, like hoovering and mopping will never be forgotten because my OCD couldn’t take it anyway, but the ones which are ‘out of sight, out of mind’, sure I’ll leave them for weeks. I’m obviously talking about the cleaning jobs which aren’t so time-sensitive but need to be done, quite like descaling the kettle.
Now if you’re anything like me, multi-tasking has become my new best friend. I turned to social media – my other friend – to look at the best cleaning hacks for my kettle which require very little time, and just my luck, I found the best one.
All it took was boiling my kettle, adding a few teaspoons of citric acid and letting the magic happen. It went down so well that I even managed knocking a few more tasks off my to-do list. Sorry if you’re a friend reading this, I will reply to your text soon.
How to Descale a Kettle Fast Using Citric Acid
I began my filling the kettle about halfway, adding a couple of spoons of citric acid, then switching on my appliance. Once the boil was complete, I let it sit for about 15 to 20 minutes at most to let it all soak in.
Once I decided enough was enough, I rinsed my kettle a few times and put it on another boil – simply because I couldn’t risk citric acid-flavoured tea.
And just like that, my appliance was good as new, it’s like it came out the box. The best thing is the hack is completely safe as citric acid is a natural, non-toxic and food-grade acid.
It’s basically the alternative to vinegar – just without the pungent smell.
The Benefits of Removing Limescale with Natural Cleaning Products
Citric acid descales a kettle through a simple, safe chemical reaction. Limescale, which is made up of alkaline minerals, is harmless but over time can make your drinks taste chalky and force your kettle to use more energy.
As citric acid is an organic acid, it neutralises and breaks down these hard minerals, making them easy to wash away.
Best Way To Remove Limescale Using Citric Acid:
Fill the kettle: Pour water straight from the tap – about halfway – and bring it to boil.
Add the citric acid: You can switch the kettle off, then sprinkle in a couple of spoons of the acid. It will begin to fizz, almost immediately, which is usually a good sign it’s working.
Sit back and relax: Leave the citric acid to do its job, perhaps for 15 to 20 minutes. If the limescale is a little worse, then leave it in longer and you can repeat the process again.
Rinse: Don’t forget to pour the solution down the sink and rinse the kettle thoroughly with fresh water. To be really sure the mixture is gone, boil a full kettle of water on its own to discard any extra residue.
Enjoy: Now once your kettle is clean, pour yourself a cuppa. You deserve it.