How To Descale Nespresso Machine With Vinegar? (Cleaning Nespresso Machines)

Each morning you make your Nespresso machine work hard making you that first morning cup of coffee.

But overtime, minerals in your water cause limescale buildup in the water reservoir of your machine.

The worst thing about this buildup is that it affects the taste of the coffee that you brew in your Nespresso machine.

Fortunately, there is an easy way to clean your Nespresso machine – with vinegar.

Below we’ll give you the steps needed to descale your Nespresso machine and get back to making awesome tasting coffee.

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Prep By Making A Vinegar Solution

For the most effective way to clean your Nespresso machine, you need to mix together a solution of water and vinegar.

It should be 50% water and 50% white vinegar.

I like to mix mine together in a pitcher, but you can use whatever you prefer to mix these two liquids together.

Once you have this concoction ready to go, set it aside to prepare the Nespresso machine for descaling.

Tip: Nespresso actually recommends that you do not use vinegar because they sell their own descaling solution. (but we still use vinegar in ours)

Prep The Nespresso Machine For Descaling

We recommend that you consult the user manual for your specific Nespresso machine model, just to see the manufacturer recommendations before starting.

The directions we’re giving you below should work for any machine, but it’s still best to confirm that with the user manual.

Remove any Nespresso capsules that may be in the machine.
Empty the capsule container.
Pour the vinegar mixture into the water container.
Top it off with more water, as needed.

Nespresso Machine Descaling: Step-By-Step

Ready to start cleaning that machine?

Good! Here’s the steps to follow –

Step 1

Depending on the model of your Nespresso machine, you have between one and three buttons to press to power on the machine.

It’s one button for 7 seconds with a VertuoLine machine.
It’s two flashing buttons for 3 seconds with a Citiz, Inissia, or Pixie machine.
It’s all three buttons for 3 seconds with a Prodigio machine.

Step 2

Let the cycle run now.

If your machine requires a refilling of the water container, then we recommend using just water for this refilling.

The length of time it takes for the cycle to run varies by machine, but it will be the normal wait time you experience when making coffee.

Step 3

Rinse out the water container once the cycle has completed.

Fill the water container with fresh water and run the cycle again – no vinegar required this time.

The purpose of this second cycle is to clean out any remaining vinegar residue, otherwise your next coffee would have a vinegar taste.

Step 4

Empty and rinse the drip tray.

You can dry it with a clean cloth, if you prefer.

Step 5

Exit the descaling program by pressing the same buttons that you did in step #1.

If you want to make coffee, then we recommend waiting at least 10 minutes for the machine to dry out a bit.

Video: Descaling An Inissia Machine

Here’s a short video that takes you through the entire process of descaling an Inissia coffee machine.

Final Word

As you can see, descaling a Nespresso machine with vinegar is a really simple process that doesn’t take that long.

If you follow our tips above, then you should be able to get your Nespresso machine clean so you can get back to enjoying the perfect cup of coffee.