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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Lifestyle
Zahna Eklund

Cleaning expert says descaling your kettle with household items will make it good as new

If you live in an area with hard water, then you've probably encountered limescale before.

The product is the result of the dissolved limestone that's present in hard water, and you'll often see it building up on your taps and inside your kettle if left untreated.

Limescale isn't harmful to drink, but the build-up can clog up appliances such as the kettle and can reduce their performance and their lifespan if left for too long - so it's important to clean your kettle regularly.

And while you could splash out on descaling products to get the job done, cleaning experts have claimed you can use some common household items to solve the problem for much cheaper, The Sun reports.

You can clean your kettle using simple household items (stock photo) (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

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Lemon juice

If you don't already own lemons or bottles of lemon juice for cooking, you can pick bottles up for as little as 60p for a 250ml bottle from Sainsbury's, or 65p for the same size in Morrisons.

According to experts, you can use lemon juice to remove any traces of limescale from your kettle - and the method is super easy to do.

First, fill the kettle halfway with lemon juice before topping it up with water. Then, boil the mixture and let it sit for half an hour.

After the limescale starts to peel away from the sides of your kettle, pour out the lemon juice and water, making sure to rinse the kettle thoroughly before using as normal.

Distilled white vinegar

White vinegar is a fan-favourite among cleaning gurus, as the product seems to be a miracle worker at getting a variety of surfaces sparkling once again - kettles included.

All you need to do is fill your kettle halfway with water and top up the other half with vinegar.

Boil the kettle and pour the liquid out, before filling with water and boiling again to remove any taste of vinegar from your kettle which would otherwise ruin your next cup of tea.

Experts say this step may need to be repeated more than once to rid your kettle of all limescale, and if you have sensitive skin, it's recommended that you wear gloves, as the vinegar can be an irritant.

Bicarbonate of soda

Another home cleaning staple, bicarb can be used to remove small amounts of limescale from your kettle, but isn't suited for the big jobs that need something more heavy-duty.

Much like the other methods, you need to start by filling your kettle with water before adding a full tablespoon of bicarbonate of soda to the liquid.

Then, boil the kettle and allow the mixture to sit for an hour before pouring it out and rinsing.

And as with the vinegar method, make sure to boil again with just water to remove any residual bicarb that might make your next cuppa taste bizarre.

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