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Prolong the life of your electric kettle by cleaning it properly

With daily and continuous use, it is inevitable that the kettle will accumulate limescale on its resistance, which could cause damage to the device. For this reason, if you want your appliance to offer optimal performance, you must remove limescale and keep it in optimal use.

An electric kettle is a device that makes life easier at a culinary level, especially if you are a person who loves coffee, tea and infusions in general. Likewise, it is the great ally of parents who are in the child-rearing stage and need to prepare several bottles a day.

Because it is an appliance designed primarily to boil water, many may think that it does not need a deep cleaning, since as it does not have direct contact with food it is always kept clean. But the truth is that being always with water, a whitish layer of lime is formed that requires cleaning and maintenance.

In this sense, the accumulation of lime in this appliance, regardless of whether it is a sophisticated model or one of the best kettles of the moment, could hinder its performance, such as slowing down the boiling process and therefore generating higher power consumption. For this reason, it is essential to carry out frequent cleaning of the walls of the jug and periodic and deep cleaning of the resistance, in order to eliminate the lime embedded inside.

Learn how to clean your kettle using natural products

In this task, white vinegar is the key to help clean your kettle thoroughly. Start by adding water to the kettle in about ¾ parts and add white vinegar to make up the rest; You can also use the juice of a lemon. Then, once the two liquids are mixed, you put them to boil for a few minutes.

Then, turn off the appliance and let the mixture rest for 3 hours so that the vinegar does its job, with this you will get the layer of lime to soften and be able to come off by itself. After this time, empty the kettle, fill it only with water and put it to boil again to clarify. Repeat this process as many times as necessary until the vinegar smell disappears.

In the case of a kettle that has never been cleaned or that has been stored for a long time without being used, the best option to make it look like new and free of limescale is to carry out the aforementioned cleaning with vinegar; but instead of letting it rest for 3 hours, you should leave the mixture for 6 hours, since the lime could be more embedded.

Although it is an effective cleaning process, it is best to do it at least once a month in the case of heavy use of the kettle; or, every two months if you use it sporadically.

 

Know what lime is and its negative effect at home

Hard water is generally present in mountainous regions where there are high concentrations of minerals, such as magnesium and calcium. Once this type of water is heated, the excess minerals it contains create a whitish substance called lime. This lime can accumulate in appliances such as washing machines, thermoses, heaters and kettles, drastically reducing their useful life and causing breakdowns in their operating mechanisms.

Similarly, lime can also spoil the performance of bathroom and kitchen faucets and pipes. The effectiveness of detergents, soaps and fabric softeners can also be affected by the presence of lime, as these elements find it difficult to dissolve in hard water. However, hard water not only affects household appliances, but could also affect our body.

To what extent could lime harm our health?

The effect of lime on our health is a controversial issue, since there are conflicting opinions stating that lime does indeed affect the body, while others totally deny this statement. 

Hard water also affects the skin and hair, since contact with this type of water loses its natural moisture and dries it out alarmingly, causing the appearance of atopic skin, generally in young children. Likewise, its use is not advisable to prepare some foods such as legumes, since it tends to harden them. However, for some people with diets low in calcium and magnesium, drinking hard water may be beneficial and help prevent heart problems.

On the other hand, we have the opinion of some experts who claim that it is a myth that lime can cause any negative impact on health. For this, Mauricio Rebolledo, director of the Sustainability Center of the University of Aconcagua in Chile, mentions that in relation to the appearance of kidney stones in some people, this condition is more associated with the diet they consume than with the presence of hard water..

Likewise, Ricardo C. Barteau Anwandter, general manager of Scalewatcher, a Chilean company dedicated to the treatment of hard water, agricultural and industrial irrigation, states that this controversy is still under discussion; since the formation of stones in the kidneys would be more related to the calcium present in food and he alleges that this condition is another of the mysteries of medicine that have not been fully resolved.

Similarly, Barteau Anwandter provides a useful and simple advice to keep the kettle in good working order. To do this, this businessman recommends avoiding leaving hot water inside the kettle and emphasizes that once used, it is best to leave it empty and open, so that all the steam comes out.

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