When a kettle needs to be ‘descaled’, that means that there’s been a buildup of minerals (called ‘lime’) inside the kettle that not only
| looks bad but also makes the kettle take longer to boil and wastes electricity in the process because the lime build-up prevents the heating element inside the kettle from conducting heat to the water properly. If you don’t descale it then the element will eventually burn out, and then you’ll end up having to throw away what would have been |
a perfectly good kettle had you taken proper care of it and go out and spend money on a new one. You don’t want that, do you? Of course not, nobody wants that, not even George Bush wants that.
When you descale your kettle, you can use vinegar or citric acid, I recommend vinegar because it not only works better but it’s much easier than juicing a couple of lemons. If you’re using vinegar, mix it with some water in a roughly 50/50 ratio. As an added tip, you can also use this method to get rid of lime in your bathtub–just mix half water and half vinegar, leave it overnight, then pull the plug to let it drain the next morning. Here’s an excellent video that shows you precisely what to do: