a day in the life, blogging, first world problems, fun

I dare you to try this

I did something last night that had me shudder in disgust. 😵 So naturally I have to share it with you. 🙃

I dare you to do the following:

Required: Electric kettle. Although a stove-top kettle probably has the same issue…

Instructions:

  1. Dump all the water out of your kettle
  2. Add plain white vinegar, about 1/3 full
  3. Let sit for a while. I swept and mopped the floor and put away a few things. Took about 10 minutes.
  4. Turn the kettle on and let it come to a boil
  5. When it finished boiling, let it sit for a bit
  6. Lift the lid (watch your face, the steam will be hot) and look inside
  7. Notice the floaties?

Gross. 😲🤮

The floaties in my kettle were gross, longish and kind of swirly slime-ish. I wonder if this is what affected the taste of my coffee and tea lately…

These deposits (aka floaties) are often caused by hard water I think, and can happen even if you use distilled or filtered water. They’re mineral deposits which happen over time, typically calcium, among others.

Or perhaps your pipes are old…

Point is, it’s not really harmful to ingest, but could affect taste. And, if you know it’s there, why would you want to ingest it? Ick.

Anyway I hated looking at the floaties. I use that water to make coffee in a French press in the morning… I don’t want deposits floating in my coffee water. ☕

I do this vinegar wash fairly regularly but haven’t in a while. Typically I do it twice more after the first straight vinegar boil, but diluted with water, until it runs clear. Our kettle is fairly new so it didn’t take long for the deposits to loosen. It might take longer for older kettles.

I’m aware you can use CLR or something similar for certain products to remove calcium and other deposits. But I actually read the instruction pamphlet of this kettle when we got it which said not to use chemical dissolvers.

Vinegar is safe and doesn’t harm the environment either. Plus a big jug of vinegar is cheap and available at most grocery stores and big merchandisers like Walmart and Costco.

This morning, I enjoyed a fresh cup of coffee without floaties in it, and then had two more.

🙂

33 thoughts on “I dare you to try this”

  2. I clean mine a little different. I prefer to fill the kettle with water and bring it to a boil, then switch of and add a couple table spoons of white vinegar. Let it sit for 10 – 15 minutes then rinse. Not my favourite chore but it has to be done or my tea and coffee tastes weird.

    Liked by 1 person

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  5. This is part of our regular maintenance schedule (we have hard water, though filtering it helps a lot.) Then there’s the opposite cleaning trick. We drip filter into an Alfi thermos carafe–where the opposite issue can cause residue. In the kettle, it’s minerals, in the carafe, it’s built up coffee acid solids. So the cure is the opposite, too. Set the carafe in the sink and pour in boiling water. Then add baking soda.Voila! Floaties. It may take several boil, swirl and pour repeats, until the carafe is returned to shiny clean. It can make a big difference in the taste of the coffee.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      1. I went out and forgot! So it sat there overnight till I got home & boiled it etc 😬
        Can’t honestly say much came out (I use filtered rainwater), but my tea does seem to taste a bit ‘brighter’…

        Like

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