Cleaning Coffee Pots, Makers, & K-Cup Machines

The Public Health and Safety Organization (NSF) held a study in 2011 that revealed coffee pots were the fifth worst "germiest" hot spot, right behind dish rags and kitchen sinks. As a hospitality property owner or manager, ensuring your guests safety is important. While it isn't practical to completely de-germ your guest rooms, knowing tips on how to take care of places that attract germs, bacteria, and mold will help limit health risks.

Things You'll Need For Cleaning

1. Vinegar
2. Sponge
3. Dish Detergent
4. Warm Water

How Often Should You Be Washing Coffee Machines?

Every Day: We recommend washing the removable parts of your coffeemakers after every day to remove coffee, grinds, oil, bacteria build up, yeast, and mold. This can be easily done by the housekeeping staff with hand washing the removable parts with warm water and soap/detergent. Guests will always look for spills and stains around the coffee maker, so don't forget to wipe down the outside around the warming plate. Leaving the reservoir's lid open to allow for natural drying will help eliminate germ growth from moisture! Every 3-4 Weeks: Have your guests been complaining the coffee drips out at a snail's pace? Over time, hard water minerals build up in the machine which causes problems with efficiency and quality of the coffee. See below for tips on how to cleanse and "decalcify" the machine. 1. Fill your reservoir with 50-50 vinegar to water 2. Place a paper filter in the empty machine's basket 3. Make sure the pot is located on the warming plate and "brew" the vinegar/water solution halfway. Turn off the machine and let it sit for 30 minutes. 4. After 30 minutes, let the rest of the solution brew. Rinse and clean the full pot of vinegar and water. 5. Last step is to rinse everything out once more by simply brewing a pot of clean water. Brew cycles until the vinegar smell is gone! Following these five easy steps will help clean your coffee machines inside to improve functionality, cleanliness, and quality of coffee. Expert tips brought to you by housekeeping.com, Lauren Piro.

Leave Your Decanters & Carafes Looking Brand New

The best solution for getting rid of stains on glass decanters and carafes is a sponge with dish detergent. Solid pressure from the sponge will help to loosen tough debris, grime, and stains.

Video Tutorial Recap

While the video below is for a household coffee machine, it is applicable for any coffee maker. Be sure to run enough brews until the vinegar smell is gone. Your guests will certainly write about that in the comments! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4y52DCrkLeU&rel=0