How to Clean a Coffee Maker With Vinegar and Water

Step by step

1
Wash the removable parts
Unplug the machine. Wash the carafe, filter basket and lid in hot soapy water, or in the dishwasher if the booklet allows, then rinse and dry.

Why: Coffee oils coat these parts and taste stale, and hot soapy water dissolves them. Vinegar alone does little against oil.
2
Fill the reservoir with vinegar
Empty the carafe and put it back. Fill the reservoir with white vinegar at your maker's ratio, with no coffee and no filter. Ratios vary: one maker uses about 1 part vinegar to 2 parts water, one manual 1 cup of plain vinegar, and Illinois Extension 4 cups of vinegar.

Why: Vinegar is acetic acid, which dissolves the calcium carbonate scale that hard water deposits in the heating tube.
3
Start brewing, then pause
Start a brew cycle. Partway through, turn it off and let it stand: Illinois Extension and one manual say 30 minutes, another maker 15-30 minutes. Then turn it back on and let the cycle finish.

Why: The pause gives the warm vinegar time in contact with the scale inside the tube, where most of the buildup is.
4
Run two or three water-only cycles
Discard the vinegar, rinse the carafe, refill the reservoir with fresh water and brew. Let it cool, then repeat once or twice more.

Why: This flushes out loosened scale and the vinegar taste. Skipping it leaves the next pot tasting sour.
5
Wipe the outside and warming plate
Once the machine is cool, wipe the housing and the warming plate with a soft damp cloth and dry them. No abrasive cleaners.

Why: The warming plate stays hot after the machine is off, and abrasives scratch the finish.

What builds up inside a coffee maker

A drip coffee maker has a plastic reservoir and housing, a heating element and tube, a glass or thermal carafe and a filter basket. Two different kinds of dirt build up. Mineral scale: hard water leaves calcium carbonate in the heating tube every time it boils, which slows brewing. That's acid-soluble, which is why the U.S. Geological Survey mentions people running vinegar through coffee makers. Coffee oils: these coat the carafe and basket and taste stale; they need hot soapy water.

How often: wash the carafe, basket and removable parts after each use. Descale about monthly, as two coffee-maker makers suggest, or every 40 to 80 brew cycles per Illinois Extension. If your water is hard, lean toward more often. Models with a Clean button or indicator have their own cycle that pauses between cups to give the descaler time; follow the booklet for those.

Citric acid, lemon juice or baking soda instead of vinegar

Citric acid is a weak acid that, like vinegar, dissolves calcium deposits by binding the calcium. It's the active ingredient in many coffee-maker descalers and has no vinegar smell. None of this page's sources gives a home ratio for citric acid powder, so use a descaler product per its label rather than guessing. Lemon juice works on the same principle: one coffee-maker maker suggests equal parts lemon juice and water, followed by two water-only brews.

Baking soda is not a descaler, because it's a mild alkali rather than an acid. The same maker mentions 1 part baking soda to 4 parts warm water as a cleaning brew, again followed by two plain-water cycles, but it won't dissolve scale. Vinegar and baking soda together cancel each other out: the fizz is carbon dioxide from the acid and base neutralizing, and what's left is weaker than either. Use them in separate cycles if at all. More on vinegar and citric acid.

By situation

Coffee maker with a Clean button

Machines with a self-clean or Clean indicator run a special cycle that pauses between cups. Fill with the vinegar solution or descaler the booklet specifies, press Clean, and follow with the water rinses it calls for.

Burnt-on coffee on the hot plate

Let the warming plate cool completely, since it stays hot after the machine is off. Wipe it with a soft damp cloth, using a little dish soap on the sponge for dried-on coffee, and dry it. Don't use abrasive pads, which scratch the finish.

Brewing is still slow after one cycle

Heavy scale may need a second vinegar cycle. Repeat the whole process, including the rinses, until the flow returns to normal.

Single-serve pod brewers

Pod machines have their own descaling procedures and descaler recommendations. Follow the manual; the drip-machine ratios here don't necessarily apply.

What not to do

Don't immerse the base, cord or plug in water. The electrical parts aren't washable and it's a shock hazard.
Don't use abrasive cleaners, steel wool or scouring pads on the housing or carafe. They scratch the finish, and scratched glass carafes are more likely to break.
Don't skip the water-only rinse cycles. Leftover vinegar flavors your coffee.
Don't put a hot carafe on a cold or wet surface or fill it with cold water while hot. The sudden temperature change can crack the glass.

Other methods that work

Commercial descaler

Usually citric acid based, odorless and measured for you. Follow the label and your booklet.

Caution: If your booklet names a descaler or a ratio, use that.

Lemon juice and water

Equal parts lemon juice and water, run like the vinegar cycle and followed by two water-only brews, per one coffee-maker maker.

Caution: Strength varies from lemon to lemon, so it may need repeating.

Stain still there?

Coffee tastes like vinegar

Run another one or two full cycles of fresh water, and wash the carafe and basket with hot soapy water.

White flakes in the coffee after descaling

That's loosened scale. Run more water-only cycles until the water comes out clear.

Safety

Unplug the coffee maker before washing parts or wiping the warming plate, and let it cool first.

Never mix cleaning products; see chemicals you must never combine.

Questions

What is the ratio of vinegar to water to clean a coffee maker?

Makers differ: about 1 part vinegar to 2 parts water is common, while some manuals use 1 cup of straight vinegar and Illinois Extension uses 4 cups. Follow your own booklet if it gives one.

How often should you clean a coffee maker with vinegar?

About once a month, or every 40 to 80 brew cycles. Wash the carafe and basket after every use.

Can you clean a coffee maker with baking soda?

It can freshen it, but it isn't an acid, so it won't dissolve mineral scale. Use vinegar, lemon juice or a citric acid descaler for that.

Can I use vinegar and baking soda together?

It's pointless. The acid and base neutralize each other into carbon dioxide, water and sodium acetate, leaving a weaker solution than either alone.

How many times do you run water through after vinegar?

Two or three full cycles of fresh water, or until there's no vinegar smell.

More guides for this room

Sources

Clean and Sanitize the Kitchen, University of Illinois Extension
How To Clean A Coffee Maker The Easy Way, Mr. Coffee (manufacturer)
Coffee maker Use & Care (840342001) - Care and Cleaning, Monthly Cleaning, Hamilton Beach (manufacturer manual)
Hardness of Water, U.S. Geological Survey, Water Science School
Citric acid, Wikipedia
Sodium bicarbonate, Wikipedia

Last updated October 26, 2026. Methods are drawn from the sources above; how we research and check our guides.