This post contains affiliate links. For more information, see my disclosures here.

Whooa, in the area of deep cleaning I definitely am a dab hand! Firstly – to see the stains and dirt disappearing. . . Sometimes old things can take on a whole new look if they just get thoroughly washed 😀 . Secondly – to see the astonished and delighted smile of my clients with the “after” comparing to “before”. And, of course the astonished by my chicky-shiny taps faces of the very welcomed guests in my house.

Easily remove Limescale from a Teapot

Descaling is my favourite part of cleaning, because if you do it right, limescale literally disappears in front of your eyes, like an aspirin tablet dissolving in water. . . No more scrubbing and damaging the surface of the kettle as well as your gentle hands and fresh manicure.

Why do we need descaling of the teapot anyway?

For me, as a clean freak, the aesthetic is at the top of the chart 😉 . Clean is delightful.

For gourmands, of course the taste makes difference. When the teapot is full of scale deposits, drinking a cup of tea feels like someone poured sand instead of sugar in it.

An extremely important issue is that even stainless steel (which usually is not supposed to) rusts under limescale deposits.

Here are some pictures of our old stovetop stainless steel kettle – before – during – after descaling:

And, an issue that becomes popular nowadays is saving on electric/gas (whether it`s an electric or a stovetop kettle) bills. The more scale deposits remain in the kettle, the more time the water needs to be boiled.

I`ve made this descaling trick a thousand of times. Showed it on the taps, on a coffee machine descaling, repairing a water valve and even removing rust from corroding stainless steel (it really works!).

Now I`m going to show some magic in the kitchen. Unfortunately, it has nothing to do with food (cooking is NOT one of my knacks, but creating an enjoyable environment for that activity, definitely IS 😉 ).

I`ve been using citric acid for descaling for years. Googling for other methods I`ve discovered people using vinegar for descaling. First, it doesn`t work. Second, have you ever tried to heat vinegar?! The whole house became a huge gas chamber! Save your lungs – never use vinegar descaling method with tea pots. Third, IT DOESN`T WORK!

Here`s a video of descaling an electric kettle. It works with gooseneck and stovetop kettles as well.

How to easily descale any kettle. The process.

So, first, if it`s an electric kettle, it has a little filter on the spout. Remove it.

Then remove the big scale particles floating in the water by simply rinsing the kettle.

Depending on the scale of the disaster (the amount of the deposits in the kettle) add a couple of tablespoons of citric acid. For my 1.5l (50 Oz) electric kettle I used two tablespoons of citric acid. The situation was not that catastrophic 🙂 . The water should cover all the surface of the limescale. Turn the electric teapot on for several times, so to let the water boil for a while.

The citric acid works to a certain extent. It`s simple chemistry. When the citric acid components are exhausted and cannot react with Calcium and Magnesium (components of the limescale) anymore, pour the water out of the kettle and boil a new solution.

*Tip: As there`s no use of filling the kettle fully with the citric acid solution (there might a disaster happen if you do), I made a citric acid solution in a spray bottle that is convenient to use throughout your whole household. And also apply for the spout and the parts of the kettle, which are not covered with the citric acid solution. It is more effective when the kettle is hot, so you can apply it during the process of descaling the bowl itself.

Drop the spout filter into the kettle with the citric acid solution and boil it again to descale the filter.

Rinse the kettle and the filter a couple of times under the tap water.

Put the spout filter back into its place.

Enjoy the neat view and the pure taste of the tea.

Aww, and while writing this post, I stumbled upon the most charming gooseneck and stovetop kettles. Hope you share my enthusiasm for them 😀

This post contains affiliate links. For more information, see my disclosures here.

Descaling with citric acid is the only safe and effective way to remove the deposits of limescale from the narrow spout of the kettle.

Pin for later!