February 3rd, 2021 by Sarah Miles

What is Limescale?

Limescale is one of many near-universal problems that most of us will come across at some point. It’s the chalky substance that forms in scaly pieces or stains metallic surfaces like taps and sinks. To get technical, limescale is essentially a deposit of a mineral - calcium carbonate - that is present in hard water. When this water evaporates, as all water does eventually, the mineral gets left behind as a greyish residue. Over time, this residue builds up into large flakes. Chances are, if you peer inside your kettle, you’ll find it in there.

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In fact, you will find it in most appliances that use, or have contact with, water - especially those that also use heat. The harder the water in your area, the more limescale you’re likely to get.

Why do you need to get rid of limescale?

Limescale not only looks unpleasant and is nasty to find in the bottom of your teacup, but it’s also actually destroying your appliances. It damages the heating elements by forming a crust over the surface. The appliance then has to work harder to operate and will eventually fail.

You could just keep replacing your appliances but it’s much cheaper, and easier to prevent the build-up in the first place.

Removing limescale from appliances

Here’s how to remove the limescale from your appliances using a multi-purpose limescale remover such as our Cleenly Limescale Remover. While this kind of product will remove even heavy build-up but, in order to protect your appliances, it’s a good idea to de-scale them regularly, even if the scaling doesn’t seem that bad. This will help you keep it at bay and prevent damage to your appliances.

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The product works using a fizzing action to break the limescale down and it’s really easy to use. Below, we’ll outline the steps needed to descale a range of common appliances!

Descaling a kettle

• Half fill the kettle with water and set it to boil
• Add 80ml of de-scaler. You should see it start to fizz
• Leave until the fizzing stops, usually around 3-4 minutes
• Pour the water away, refill and boil again
• Once it’s boiled, pour this water away
• Your kettle should be beautiful and clean and ready to use again

Descaling an iron

• Create a mix of one part product with eight parts water
• Pour this into the iron
• Turn the iron on
• Holding the iron over the sink, empty the water tank by continuously pressing the steam button
• Refill with water and repeat
• Wipe the soleplate
• Your iron is ready to use again and won’t leave a chalky residue on your clothes

Descaling a showerhead

• Create a mix of 80ml of descaler and 640ml water (again, a 1:8 ratio mix) in a bucket
• Place the showerhead in the bucket so it’s completely immersed
• Leave until the fizzing stops (a few minutes)
• Remove the showerhead, rinse with water and wipe clean
• You’ll be surprised how powerful your shower becomes!

Descaling a coffee machine

• Again, create a 1:8 mix
• Add to the water reservoir
• Run the machine in the usual way
• Pour away water and refill with plain water
• Run again and discard the water
• Your coffee will taste much nicer!

Descaling a washing machine

• Add 80ml of de-scaler to the detergent drawer
• Run the empty washing machine at 40-60 degrees
• When the cycle has finished, run it again without adding anything
• It’s now clean and ready to use again

Cleenly’s Extreme Descaler comes in a 5L container which gives you around 62 treatments at 80ml a time – much cheaper than replacing your washing machine!

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