Kettle Descaler Sticks

100% food grade citric acid

A safe and easy way to descale your kettle

Kettle Descaler Sticks

There are many ways to descale a kettle

...Some more successful than others

The limescale in your kettle is mostly chalk, calcium carbonate (CaCO3), which is a base. To remove a base you ideally need an acid. Agreed, you could use a stronger base to remove the limescale.

  • Bicarbonate of soda, aka sodium bicarbonate, sodium hydrogen carbonate (NaHCO3) is a base that is commonly claimed as being useful for descaling a kettle. It may eventually do the job, but then again you could scrub your garden path with a toothbrush. Its not ideal, there are better products.

You could also use a base/acid combination

  • Baking powder is a usually a mix of sodium bicarbonate (a base) and cream of tartar (tartaric acid). The two when added to water fizz away producing carbon dioxide. When added to limescale the baking powder will fizz away removing the limescale, but as its also reacting with the bicarbonate of soda it will be a slow old job.

So, its best to use an acid, and there are several available.

  • Hydrochloric acid, this stuff is just dangerous, its not suitable for a domestic enviroment. Avoid!
  • Phosphoric acid, is a powerful descaler, but its not a nice chemical to work with:
    • It is a highly corrosive chemical which can irritate and burn the eyes as well as the nose, throat and lungs.
    • Phosphoric acid also has some rather complicated handling and storage requirements.
    All in all phosphoric acid is best avoided.
  • Vinegar, which contains acetic acid. Its safe and is a common item in most kitchens, but vinegar has a few drawbacks:
    • Its a faily weak acid. A teaspoon of vinigar is mostly water, so it is going to take a while to work.
    • Vinegar is known for its strong flavour which is going to be difficult to get rid of. Vinegar flavour tea? No thanks! 🤣
  • Lemons, which contain citric acid. They're safe and also another common kitchen item, but lemons also have a few drawbacks:
    • Like vinegar, lemon juice is mostly water, so it too will be slow.
    • And again, lemon juice has a strong flavour which will take some getting rid of. Lemon coffee? It might catch on. 🙄

However, when purified and concentrated Citric Acid has some useful properties...

Citric Acid Advantages

we're talking '100% food grade citric acid' here

Safe

No nasty chemicals. Its a food grade, edible product.

Tasteless

Althought sour, citric acid has little taste; a quick rinse is all it needs.

Fast

It only takes a few minutes to descale a typical kettle.

Cheap

You can descale your kettle for less than the cost of a lemon.

How to use

As its a food grade product there are no complex precautions making it nice and easy to use

Give your kettle a thorough rinse to get rid of any loose limescale

No point wasting descaler when you can simply rinse the loose stuff away for free

The RichClean Team

Fill your kettle to the max with water and add a few sticks of descaler

2-3 sticks is enough for average scaling, use more for heavy scaling.

The RichClean Team

Switch it your kettle and allow it to boil

Then sit back and watch as the scale gently fizzes away

The RichClean Team

Discard the kettle contents, give it a final rinse, and you're all done!

If you kettle has extremly heavy scaling it might be neccesary to repeat a second time.

Clean kettle

FAQs

No, the sticks are 100% food grade citric acid - its often used in sweets to give them a sour taste.

Not at all. Its a bit like lemon juice, it'll sting a bit if you get it into a cut, but other than that its harmless.

Not really, it gently bubbles and fizzes away the limescale.

Citric acid is a totally natural product which occors in oranges, lemons, grapefruit, etc. The word 'citric' is where citrus fruit gets the name.

You can use this descaler in all types of kettle. Electric, stove top, glass, metal, plastic, it's safe in them all

A layer of scale acts like an insulator preventing the heat getting to the water. A scale free kettle is more efficient and will use less electricity. A few pence worth of descaler can save pounds off your energy bill; use descaler whenever you see limescale starting to build up in your kettle.

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