Keurig and Coffee Makers

So you may have seen that nasty article going around where they show the Keurig with the nasty hard water and mold build up in the tanks. Well here's something to help you not throw away your 150$ appliance!

Cleaning out water tanks-

First you start by emptying the tank and letting it open air dry. Everything I'm describing here goes for the coffee maker as well. After everything is dry, take a paper towel (or a baby bottle scrub brush if you can't fit your hand in) and scrub it as well as you can by hand. Most of the flakes will come off.

Next, rinse out the tank well with clean water again then add 1 cup of white distilled vinegar to the tank then fill the rest up with HOT water. Let this sit for about an hour. After an hour use the paper towel or brush again and scrub. Most if not all the hard water and mold will come off. Repeat as many times as necessary.

After the tank is clean, pour a cup of vinegar into the tank, and lukewarm/cold water. Turn the appliance on and use the Keurig to allow the water to go through without a flavor cup in it. Empty through the whole thing. If it's a coffee maker don't put a filter in and let the water go through. Let the water sit in the cup/pot for a few minutes and turn off after completely emptied. Run through this cycle around 2-3 times then allow to completely air dry. Wipe parts you can get to with a paper towel. The vinegar will disinfect the tubes and kill any mold/hard water in the lines if there is any. Run the cycle one more time with just clean water.

You can use these steps once or twice a month to prevent mold as well. Just add the vinegar twice a month to the water and run it through then rinse, This will prevent any buildup, and keep your coffee tasting great!

Thanks for reading!

Tiffany-

How to Clean Your Washing Mashine

How to Clean a Top-Loading Washing Machine

-Experts recommend cleaning your washing machine once a month. This helps to get rid of the mold, mildew, and bacteria that grow inside your machine- Yuk! Nothing like getting your clothes “clean” than washing them in a germ-infested machine, am I right? There are several things you can use to clean your machines. You can buy special washing machine cleaners, or you can use either white vinegar or bleach if you are cheap like me.

Step 1: Fill your machine with hot water.

Step2: Dispense 3-4 cups of bleach OR vinegar (do NOT combine!) into the dispenser. I used my favorite lavendar scented bleach. (Vinegar works very well if your washing machine has hard water build-up)

Step 3: Let it soak for up to an hour, but no less than 20 minutes.

Step 4: Continue the machine on wash cycle and let it complete.

Step 5: Using a rag and a gentle cleaner wipe out the machine to remove any last residue. Clean off the strip, dispensers and removable parts, all the nooks & crannies under the lid, as well as the outside of the machine.

Along with deep cleaning your washing machine regularly, here are a couple of other tips to help keep that dingy mildew smell from invading your washer:

-Don’t let your wet clothes sit in the washing machine for hours or days at a time. Life gets busy and we forget about laundry, but leaving wet clothes in your washer is a main contributor to mold and mildew build up. Also, your clothes will smell funny so you just wasted a whole load of laundry.

-Let your washer air out. Leave the lid open for an hour after your last load of laundry. Closing in a damp washer only promotes bacteria growth. If you have removable dispensers, place them in a nearby sink until they are dry. 

-Carrie