Tassimo descaling tablets and water is all you need to keep your Bosch Tassimo coffee machine clean
Pod coffee machines are probably the easiest coffee machines to clean and the Bosch Tassimo coffee machines are no exception to this rule. However the good news is that they are incredibly easy to clean. Your Bosch Tassimo pod coffee machine will need regular flushing through with water to clean out the internal pipes and regular descaling with Bosch Tassimo descaling tablets to ensure that the taste of each and every drink you make is perfect.
Lets take a look at the simple steps in more detail, after all, you only need water and Bosch Tassimo descaling tablets.
- DESCALING TABLETS FOR COFFEE MACHINES: For Use With All Tassimo Coffee Machines And Espresso Makers; Pack of 4 tablets.
- EASY TO USE: Removes limescale quickly and effectively from the appliance.
- PROTECTS the appliance from harmful calcium deposits.
Contents
Do I really need to descale my Tassimo machine?
All coffee machines will build up lime scale over time, which if left, will damage your Tassimo machine. Descaling regularly (depending on hardness of water) is required to prolong the life of your machine and importantly ensuring your drinks taste great every time!
You should aim to descale your machine every three months (max) but as mentioned above, it will depend on your water hardness, if you have hard water you will need to do this more often. The great thing about your Tassimo machine is that it likes you and wants you to clean it so it tells you when it needs descaling when the red descale light comes on, so no guess work required on your part. Helpful!
How do I use Tassimo descaling tablets?
Another question we get asked is ‘How do I use Tassimo descaling tablets?’, again, the answer is nice and simple. Follow our step by step instructions below and you will be done in no time.
- Fill the water tank with clean water and put two of your descaling tablets in the water.
- Insert the reusable Service T DISC.
- Place an empty 500 ml cup or jug on the drip tray.
- Push the start button for 5 seconds to start the descaling process.
- Once complete (about 30 minutes), rinse and refill the water tank.
- Hold down the coffee button to start the rinse cycle and do this 3 times.
- Remove the reusable Service T DISC and you are all done.
Tassimo How to Descale
If you are unsure on How to Descale your Tassimo, have a look at the video which will show you each step, and how easy it is to descale your Bosch Tassimo coffee machine with Tassimo descaling tablets.
Descaling your Bosch Tassimo coffee machine with Tassimo descaling tablets.
Find best priceDescaling tablets make it very easy to clean your machine, all you need is a couple of Tassimo descaling tablets and your Service T DISC for this process.
How often do you need to clean your Tassimo?
If you are using milk and chocolate tassimo pods, it is a good idea to clean your machine at least once per week otherwise you can spoil the taste of some of your tea and espresso drinks.
It really could not be much simpler, just insert the service disc and run the cleaning cycle and you are done. We would recommend using descaling tablets once a month to keep both your drinks tasting good and your machine in tip top order.
If you are unsure of any of the above, take a look at the video below. It really is easy with a Bosch Tassimo coffee machine.
How long does it take to clean tassimo?
It literally takes 20 seconds to run the cleaning cycle to flush the tubes and perform the basic clean, so there is no reason why you would not do this at least once a week!
What can I use to clean my Tassimo?
Warning – DO NOT and I repeat, DO NOT use vinegar to clean your machine, as it will invalidate your warranty.
Only use Bosch Tassimo descaling tablets. They are cheap to buy (you can check out prices on Amazon) and work an absolute treat.
How to get the vinegar taste out of your Tassimo machine?
If you have gone ahead and used vinegar to clean/descale your Tassimo machine, you may find that you now have a smell and taste of vinegar in your drinks. Whoops. So the question is, how do you get rid of this unwanted vinegar taste? Well you have a couple of options.
- Run the cleaning cycle several times to properly flush the system.
This is the most simplistic method and works pretty well, depending on the ratio of vinegar to water you used.
- Use a descaling tablet and run the descaling process to properly clean your machine. Now run the cleaning cycle several times to thoroughly flush the system.
Lesson: Do not use vinegar. Tassimo descaling tablet kits are cheap, so the lesson to learn is that you should use descaling tablets and keep your drinks tasting great.
What is Limescale and Where does it come from?
Limescale is a layer of crystallized lime on the top of many surfaces. It usually comes from water when it is heated and the lime left in the water sits on the surface.
Usually seen in the boiling containers and hot-water pipes of heating systems, limescale can be a difficult problem to deal with.
Hard or soft water
Lime usually is formed through two kinds of waters and has different contents.
Soft water limescale, usually formed in kettles, coffee makers and hot water boilers, is the one that contains calcium carbonate. It is formed when the water in the boiling container heats and precipitates the compound. When the water is heated, the whole processes cause the water to become hard temporarily. This causes the elements in the water to become insoluble and will settle down at the bottom of heating containers such as heating systems, cylinders and kettles.
The other type of limescale is formed when the water is hard. This kind of water usually runs in pipes and heating systems. So, the limescale, consisting of calcium, magnesium and other carbonates is found in the inner surface of pipes. This will cause the evaporated water to form limescale deposits both in the pipes and heating elements of your Tassimo coffee machine. Which in turn make the heating of water more inefficient and also lead to valves, filters and pipes becoming clogged, which essentially stops your coffee machine from brewing your drinks.
Calcium carbonate limescale is found in hot water as it is not soluble in cold water. Other limescales are usually formed in cold water and are soluble.
How to remove limescale
There are two simple methods to deal with all the limescale deposits.
Method 1
As prevention is always better than cure, limescale deposits are easier to stop from forming, rather than trying to remove them. The easiest method is to make the water soft, so as to prevent it from forming limescale deposits in the first place. To make the water soft, ion exchangers are used which replace the calcium ions that are the cause of the deposits and form sodium ions. This way the water becomes soft but the whole process is expensive and has the tendency to cause corrosion in the fittings.
Method 2
The second method is to remove the deposits that have already been formed and are causing the appliances to work inefficiently, this is essentially what we do when we descale our Tassimo coffee machines with descaling tablets or other descaling solutions.
Home Remedies for Removing Limescale
For the removal, there are many techniques available. There are simple home remedies that have the acidic effect and work on the deposits to remove them.
Acid Cleaning
These include vinegar and lemon. The acids need to remain in contact with the deposits for some time to clean them from the surface.
Abrasive Cleaning
Other than acids, scrapers and abrasive can also be used to physically remove the deposits by rubbing them from the surface. However, with this kind of metals and abrasives, there’s always the danger of scratching and damaging the surface, so we absolutely would not recommend doing that!
Commercial Products
There are commercial products available in the market, which contain chemicals, that can easily and efficiently remove limescale deposits and will work well on the surface without damaging it.
The two main ways to descale your coffee machine is to either use household items to remove the various forms of limescale or you can always try the commercial products available in the stores. In house remedies, which include lemon juice and vinegar, are both effective for removing the limescale deposits. The acidic nature of these items can be quite effective and easy to use.
However, it’s not the acid availability usually but the problem of keep it soaked with the deposits to remove them. So, in that case commercial products may be more effective when it comes to stubborn deposits.
Tassimo Descaling FAQ
Q) How to clean tassimo without disc?
A) If you have lost your cleaning disc there is an easy solution to quickly clean your Tassimo machine without having to wait for a new one to arrive in the post. All you need to do is tape the barcode from the cleaning disc onto any old disc (milk for example), pop it in and run the cleaning cycle. Yes, it might not be the perfect solution, but it will get you going in a pinch.
You can download a PDF file with the barcodes ready to print from here. Either print them on to some Avery labels (5167) or just print them on paper and sellotape them on to your empty pod.
Q) How do I reset my tassimo descaling light?
A) The red light has turned on to warn you that you need to descale your Tassimo machine. Simply follow the instructions above in this article to complete the descaling cycle and the descaling red light will turn off.
If the red light still does not turn off, there may be a problem with the float in the water tank. Check to see if the float is stuck, if so dislodge it and run the cleaning cycle again. This should reset the descaling red light.
Q) How to descale tassimo without tablets?
A) You do not need to use descaling tablets or solution to descale your Tassimo machine, you can descale your Tassimo without tablets using any of these common household items.
- Vinegar – please note that Bosch warn that using vinegar to descale your machine will invalidate your warranty.
- Baking Soda
- Lemon juice
Q) How to descale a tassimo coffee maker with vinegar?
A) Firstly a warning. Vinegar is highly acidic and can damage various internal components of your Tassimo machine if not diluted properly. Because of this Bosch warn that using vinegar to clean your coffee maker will invalidate your warranty. Having said all that, and if you still want to use white vinegar to clean your machine, follow these easy steps.
- Dilute the white vinegar – Use a ratio of 1 cup of vinegar to 2 cups of water to dilute the vinegar.
- Add the vinegar water to the water tank – Simply fill up the water tank with 500ml of the vinegar water.
- Run the descaling cycle – Start the descaling cycle by pushing and holding the start button for 5 seconds.
- Rinse the water tank – Rinse the water tank several times to remove any of the vinegar solution from the water tank.
- Run the rinse cycle – Press and hold the start button to start the rinse cycle to remove any of the vinegar solution from the pipes of your coffee maker. Do this 3 times to remove the taste completely
Q) How to take apart tassimo for cleaning?
A) It is a good idea to clean each of the removable parts of your Tassimo machine on a regular basis to ensure that your hot drinks taste as good as they did when you first purchased the machine.
- Firstly unplug your machine from the electric socket.
- The water tank can be removed. This is either located at the back or side of your Tassimo.
- Filter assembly. There should be a filter assembly attached to the water tank which can also be removed for cleaning.
- Metal drip tray. You can lift out the metal drip tray to clean both the drip tray and cup holder.
- Brew head. The brew head can be removed by pulling carefully to lift and unhook the clips at the back of the brew head. The brew head should then lift out ready for cleaning.
- Dispensing spout. The dispensing spout often becomes clogged when you run hot chocolate drinks through the machine, or sometimes with coffee grinds. You can remove the dispensing spout by simply pushing the nozzle under the brew head which releases the brew head so you can remove it for cleaning.
Q) Tassimo descaling with lemon juice?
A) Descaling your Tassimo with lemon juice is really easy, just follow these easy steps and you will be enjoying a fresh coffee in no time.
- Remove the water tank.
- Add 500ml of water to the tank.
- Now add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice to the water.
- Add 1 tablespoon of baking soda to the water.
- Reattach the water tank to your Tassimo machine.
- Put a cup or jug on the cup holder to catch the cleaning water.
- Put your cleaning disc in.
- Run the descaling cycle.
- Wash out the water tank and refill.
- Run the cleaning cycle 3-4 times to fully clean out any of the lemon juice solution from the pipes.
Q) Descaling tassimo with baking soda?
A) Baking soda is a cleaner, not descaler, so it will not remove limescale from your Tassimo machine by itself. You will need to use an acidic acid like lemon juice or white vinegar mixed with baking soda to produce a home made version of the Tassimo descaling tablets and remove the limescale from your machine.
Conclusion
There are many products available in stores that can easily remove all kinds of limescale problems, without damaging the components of your coffee machine. But, given how cheap tassimo descaling tablets are, we would recommend simply buying these from your local store or online, and descaling your Tassimo machine regularly.
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