Kettles are Britain’s most used kitchen appliance but many people can neglect to clean them regularly which can cause limescale to build up. 

Limescale is a hard crusty residue made up of minerals from tap water, and while it is completely harmless, it will reduce how effective a kettle is over time.

If limescale is left to build up in a kettle, it can form over the heating element which means it will take much longer to boil water, plus, it can also make a cup of tea taste bitter or metallic. 

Luckily, Florie Malapit, a cleaning expert from Sparkle and Shine, has shared a quick way to remove limescale from a kettle using cheap ingredients you likely already have in your cupboard. 

She said: “Descaling the inside of your stainless steel kettle is simple and easy, as everything you need to clean an electric kettle can be found inside your kitchen.” 

How to properly clean and descale a kettle 

Limescale can be tricky to remove as it bonds surfaces and is resistant to many common household cleaners so will stubbornly stick to a kettle no matter how much you scrub at it. 

However, it turns out one of the most effective ways to clean a kettle is lemon juice, as it contains citric acid which can naturally dissolve limescale. 

When citric acid comes into contact with limescale, it will begin to fizz and bubble due to the acidity which will break apart the limescale and detach it from the surface it is clinging to. 

Florie said: “To clean an electric kettle with lemon, cut it into two and squeeze the juice inside. You can also opt to scrub the kettle's interior with the lemon halves to clean the appliance and eliminate hard water stains and limescale build-up.” 

All you need to do is add the lemon juice to the kettle then cut the lemon into small pieces and add that to the kettle as well. 

Pour cold water into the kettle and boil it. Leave the boiled kettle to sit for 20 minutes and the solution should begin dissolving the limescale. 

Once the time is up, simply wipe the bottom of the kettle with a clean cloth, rinse it with cold water and your kettle should be sparkling clean once again. 

If you do not have lemon juice in your home then you can also clean a kettle with critic acid powder, a crystallised version of the acid found in lemon juice that can be found in the cleaning aisle of most supermarkets. 

The citric acid powder is a more concentrated form of the acid found in lemons and is just as efficient at removing limescale. 

Florie said: “If lemons are unavailable, you can use citric acid powder to clean the inside of the electric kettle. Fill the kettle with cold water until it is half-full, then mix two tablespoons of citric acid powder.

“Turn the kettle on to heat and bring the solution to a boil, then turn it off. Let the boiling water solution sit for around 20 minutes or more before you discard the water.”