Can I Descale My Espresso Machine With Vinegar?

If you’ve had an automatic espresso machine and you want to keep it working in the best condition possible, you should descale regularly to prevent a buildup of minerals inside the machine.

When it comes to descaling, you’ll need a descaling solution to help you out. There are a lot of descale solutions you can purchase.

You may be tempted to use vinegar instead of purchasing the suggested manufactures descale solution. I personally have many years of servicing and descaling coffee makers, so I’ll be the first to tell you never to use vinegar to descale your Automatic Espresso Machine.

The problem with vinegar is that it contains acetic acid, which over time can clog and wear down the pipes within your Espresso machine’s internal mechanisms. It can potentially cause leaks, effectively hurting the performance of  your machine over time.

If you want to properly clean your Espresso machine it’s recommended to use the manufacturer descale suggested product. 

What Descaler should I use?

• Phillips Saeco liquid descaler
• Delonghi liquid descaler
• Durgol Swiss Espresso descaler 

These are excellent products and work very well.

I personally would stay with liquid descaler vs a powder that you need to premix. The powder requires to be fully diluted and unfortunately users are impatient and cause clogging in the pipes and boiler.

 Unfortunately, as a professional espresso machine technician, I have had to repair many machines that used Vinegar/ or powder versions, in most cases replacing the boiler.