Living with Hard Water: How I Descale a Kettle with Vinegar & Other Helpful Tips (U.S. & U.K.)

I received a great question on Tumblr from another homemaker who also lives with hard water. Here is her question and my answer: 

hearth-and-hxme asked a question:

Hi! I hope you don't mind my asking but I was reading over your dailies (so helpful!) and wanted to ask you about the descaling process you use? I live in a super hard water area and need to get into a regular descaling routine for my kettle, but due to how frequently I need to descale I need to find a cost effective method. Can I ask how you descale on a daily basis? Is there a specific product or method you use? Thank you! 

Thank you for the great question and feedback; I’m glad to know my daily list is helpful!

I use white distilled vinegar for descaling.

Here is some information about where to buy it and cost in the U.S. followed by a list of stores that carry it in the U.K.:

We buy the Four Monks brand vinegar in bulk at Costco; they sell two 1-gallon jugs in a box.

To give you an idea about cost and usage, in 2020 we bought five boxes throughout the year, making it ten gallons of vinegar for the whole year.

This month (June 2021) the cost was $4.99 for a box, so I estimate that in 2020 we spent approximately $25 the whole year on white distilled vinegar; that was with me descaling every day and using it for other cleaning tasks as needed.

I did an online search of my local grocery store chain (Kroger) and they sell 1-gallon jugs of their own brand for $2.80, just to give you an idea of how much it costs at a grocery store since it’s available there too and affordable.

• A lot of cost in a product comes from the packaging, so the more something is used in a home the better it is to buy it in bulk to cut down on paying for the packaging every time a small portion is bought; but if too much is bought and doesn’t get used, that’s a waste of money.

• White vinegar is available online as well, but due to the weight of the liquid it is more cost effective to buy it in a store rather than paying for the shipping online.

I noticed you are in the U.K., so here is a list of stores I found where white vinegar is sold:

• Asda
• Tesco
• Sainsbury’s
• Morrisons
• Waitrose
• Marks & Spencer
• Co-op
• Aldi
• Lidl
• Wilko
• B&M Bargains
• Poundland
• The Range
• Home Bargains

Here is where I found the list so you can read more about their suggestions for buying white vinegar for cleaning in the U.K.: https://inthewash.co.uk/cleaning/where-to-buy-white-vinegar-for-cleaning-in-the-uk/

How I Store Vinegar:

If you do buy the vinegar in a gallon or large size, instead of having to use the heavy jug every day I recommend storing a quart or small amount of vinegar in a jug or container that can fit in a cupboard where it’s easy to reach and not so heavy.

I keep two quart-sized jugs filled with vinegar, one in the pantry and one in a cupboard within reach of the kitchen sink where I do the descaling, and I refill them as needed; I store the gallon jugs in our food storage area where we keep all the bulk items we buy.

How I Descale with Vinegar:

When it comes to descaling our tea kettle (we use an electric one), I only pour in enough vinegar to cover the bottom of the kettle to take out the spots, so it’s not a lot of vinegar that’s needed.

I let the vinegar soak for the morning time and then in the afternoon I rinse it out with water and wipe it dry; it doesn’t have to sit that long but that’s my routine.

I also started descaling a stainless steel sauce pan that my husband uses to boil eggs in the morning; I noticed the same white spots were left behind due to the boiling water, so I descale it too when I do the tea kettle; I pour in enough vinegar to cover the bottom of the pan but only let it sit for about 10 minutes and it comes out spotless after I wash it!

I hope the information helps and thanks again!

Have a question about cleaning? Leave your questions in the comments!