A hot cup of coffee straight from your coffee maker is the best way to get your day off to a great start. Make your morning cup as delicious as possible by avoiding weak and bitter coffee—brew your coffee in a clean coffee maker.
While coffee makers may look clean on the outside, a study completed in 2011 by NSF International found coffee reservoirs to be among the top 10 germiest places in the home. In fact, about 50% of homes identified in the study were found to have coffee reservoirs with yeast and mold.
To make sure your next cup of coffee is free of yeast and mold (and free of calcium and other mineral deposits that can build up over time), our experts in the Test Kitchen put together a guide on how to clean your coffee maker. The results will be a better tasting cup of coffee and a better performing coffee maker.
Whether you want to know how to clean a drip coffee maker, how to descale any coffee maker, or how to clean a specific model like our FlexBrew® coffee maker, these tips will have you brewing a fresh pot of coffee in no time.
How to Clean an Automatic Drip Coffee Maker with Vinegar
Mineral deposits from water and coffee residue can build up when you use your coffee maker over time. Both the flavor of your coffee and the performance of your coffee maker can be affected by this build-up. The best way to restore your coffee maker’s performance and descale your coffee reservoir is to regularly clean your brewer using a vinegar and water solution following these steps:
- To clean and descale (remove calcium deposits) standard coffee makers, 2 cups (1 pint) of plain white vinegar into the water reservoir.
- Press the ON or BREW button. After 30 seconds, press OFF (or if you are cleaning a single serve FlexBrew press BREW again) to stop the brewing process— this ensures the vinegar is in the components of the coffee maker and can get to work on descaling. Wait 30 minutes.
- Press ON again and complete the brewing process with the vinegar. Press OFF when finished. If you are cleaning your FlexBrew single serve, brewing will stop automatically when cycle is complete.
- Run 2-3 more brew cycles with clean water only, allowing the machine to cool between cycles. This will ensure the vinegar is fully purged from the system. If you are cleaning a coffee maker with a removable reservoir, rinse the reservoir a couple of times before continuing with water.
How to Clean a Coffee Maker’s Hot Plate
If there are stubborn stains on the hot plate of your coffee maker, it’s easy to clean! Just lay a wet paper towel over the cooled plate to soak until any stains are softened. Then, remove the paper towel and wipe clean.
How to Clean a Coffee Maker’s Stainless Steel Exterior
Keep your coffee maker clean and shining like new with a quick wipe of a damp cloth in the direction of the metal grain. Then, buff it with a dry, soft cloth to achieve a brilliant shine.
How to Clean the 2-Way FlexBrew® Coffee Maker
From single-serve to a full pot of coffee, the 2-Way FlexBrew Coffee Maker is an incredible machine that offers the ultimate brewing flexibility at home. But how do you clean your FlexBrew? Each side has its own easy-fill water reservoir to clean—use these easy instructions to easily clean the components of your coffee maker.
How to Clean the Carafe Side of Your FlexBrew Coffee Maker:
- Press the carafe button on the front panel of the FlexBrew coffee maker to select the carafe side.
- Pour 2 cups (1 pint) of plain white vinegar into the carafe water reservoir. Be sure to place the carafe on the hot plate to catch the vinegar.
- Press the BREW NOW I/O button once. After 30 seconds, press the BREW NOW I/O button again to stop the brewing and allow the vinegar to clean.
- After 30 minutes, press BREW NOW I/O again and allow the coffee maker to finish the brewing cycle.
- When the brew cycle is finished, empty the carafe and rinse.
- Run 2 to 3 more cycles of cold tap water through the machine.
- The carafe side of your coffee maker is now clean and ready to brew coffee!
How to Clean the Single-Serve Side of Your FlexBrew:
- Press the single-serve button on the front panel of the FlexBrew coffee maker to select the single-serve side.
- Pour 1 cup (273 ml) of plain white vinegar into the single-serve water reservoir. Be sure to place a 14-oz. (414-ml) or larger cup or travel mug underneath to catch the vinegar.
- Press the BREW NOW I/O button once. After 30 seconds, press the BREW NOW I/O button again to stop the brewing and allow the vinegar to clean.
- After 30 minutes, press BREW NOW I/O again and allow the coffee maker to finish the brewing cycle.
- When the brew cycle is finished, empty the carafe and rinse.
- Run 2 to 3 more cycles of cold tap water through the machine.
- The single-serve side of your coffee maker is now clean and ready to brew coffee!
Note: Flexbrew components can be hand washed or washed in the top rack of your dishwasher. However, avoid using the “SANI” setting as the temperatures in this cycle can damage your product. Always check your coffee maker’s Use and Care to confirm which parts are dishwasher safe!
I loved to take this one for my house, it’s a nice one.
This information of this article is great and it helps us to get rid of the problems that we face to clean our coffee maker in home.
Thanks for your informative article about cleaning coffee maker. Its very helpful for me. I was just searching this kind of article. Thanks.
Is it possible to purchase the brew basket for the single setting – my basket seems to be clogger I’ve run it through the dishwasher and right now I’m doing the white vinegar flush – not confident this will do the trick on the brew baskets’ screens -as I’ve used white vinegar in the past -but never run it through the entire system -I do want to know how /where to order a replacement brew basket please
Hi there! You can find available parts and accessories for your FlexBrew by entering the model number here: https://hamiltonbeach.com/parts
Hi,
We have the Flex brew coffee maker and use it daily. It was working great up to a week ago where now it cycles between the brew cycle and keep warm cycle making a lot of noise and taking triple the time to brew.
Do you have any suggestions on what is going on or suggestions to fix problem? What is the warranty on the coffee maker ?
Let me know and thanks for your reply in advance?
Paul Keats
Hi there, we’re sorry to hear that you are experiencing issues with your FlexBrew. Please send an email to customer.care@hamilotnbeach.com and a member of our Customer Care team will be happy to assist you. Thanks!
This is a very good article. Thank you for sharing. I look forward to publishing more such works. There are not many such articles in this field.
I have cleaned both sides as recommended but it still says clean on the display.
Hi Tammi! Please send an email to customer.care@hamiltonbeach.com for additional assistance. Thanks!
My flex brew pot on the single serve side is giving me fits..I do everything correct as I have been for 6months and today it keeps telling me to add h2o and its full so I did the vinegar flush and still the same message..I can not get the single serve to brew….PLEASE HELP!
I loved my Flex Brew until after cleaning single serve side 4 times and doing the needles, it will still not brew a cup of coffee. Water sits in the machine and machine reads needle. I have only had this a couple months, and can’t return it to the store because it’s been opened and used.
Hi Jennifer, we’re sorry you’re having issues with your FlexBrew. Please send an email to customer.care@hamiltonbeach.com for additional assistance. Thanks!
I was gifted the Hamilton beach flex brew. We primarily use the carafe side. I went to make a single cup of coffee and the water somehow siphoned into the carafe instead of the coffee mug. I don’t understand this. My children spent a lot for this and I don’t know why this is going this. Please advise. Thank you.
Hi Ruth! Sorry to hear you are having issues with your coffee maker. Please fill out this form and a member of our Customer Service Team will be happy to help you. Thanks! https://hamiltonbeach.com/customer-service
I just got my Hamilton beach flex brew and it won’t make coffee in the carafe what should I do?
Hi Karl! Sorry to hear you are having issues with your coffee maker. Please fill out this form and a member of our Customer Service Team will be happy to help you. Thanks! https://hamiltonbeach.com/customer-service
It won’t even run water through it