Owning a glass tea kettle is a combination of perfection and irritation all wrapped up in one super breakable vessel. My Chemex glass kettle is beautiful and it produces clean and taste-free water time and again, which is crucial for water, but my kettle has a dirty secret: it collects hard water deposits.
This is my kettle after two weeks of daily use.
The water at Fairfield is hard. It’s so hard that when we had it tested we were told it was off the charts. We have super water. My kettle does not enjoy our super water. The hard water limescale that builds is everywhere in our home, but we have learned simple ways to combat it and the best way is with vinegar. Let me show you how.
First, I take out the steam diverter and because the kettle was still hot from a recent pot of water, I used a towel to grab the stem and then I fill the kettle with hot water.
Next, I add the vinegar. Honestly, I just pour in the vinegar until it feels right. If you need to measure something, put in about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of vinegar. Now, swish the mixture around a few times.
The kettle has two openings, a spout and a stem and I cover both so our entire kitchen doesn’t smell like vinegar, then I let everything sit for 30 to 60 minutes.
One hour later, like magic, the vinegar dissolved all of the buildup and my kettle is looking sparkly again, so I empty out the vinegar and water and rinse out my kettle twice.
I like to fill my kettle about 3/4 full of hot water and then I take one drop of biokleen Dish Liquid and our OXO brush and I clean the stem:
Usually I shake the whole mixture up making sure to empty soapy water both out of the spout and out of the stem. Then I rinse the kettle thoroughly with clean hot water.
After just one hour and using just vinegar and water my glass kettle’s secret is once again safely hidden away. At least for the next couple of weeks.
About The Author
Nicole
Member of Team VP, knitter and Mama to Blue and Franks. Life, is bloody good.
Huge thank you. I have the same problem with my kettle and our “super water”!!!
I’m so happy this worked for you Sam! Chemex sells a cleaning product that will descale your kettle and carafe, but vinegar is way less expensive.
i tried this but nothing happend..help
I’m really not certain why white vinegar would not work on your Chemex Kettle. I’ve been descaling my kettle successfully for a number of years. I do know that Chemex sells a product to clean and descale their kettles and coffee carafes that might be helpful.