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De scaling kettle
Hello,
We live in a very hard water area and the kettle scales up very very quickly, I have always used de scaler tablets or powder to de scale the kettle however I was wondering if there was another way of doing it as the price of de scaler is working out to be quite expensive. I have Googled it and most people suggest vinegar, bicarbonate of soda or lemon juice, somehow I don't have any faith in those things. |
De scaling kettle
David wrote:
We live in a very hard water area and the kettle scales up very very quickly, I have always used de scaler tablets or powder to de scale the kettle however I was wondering if there was another way of doing it as the price of de scaler is working out to be quite expensive. We find running the water through a Brita water filter before putting it in the kettle works. The Brita filters have an ion exchange resin which removes the hardness. |
De scaling kettle
David wrote:
Hello, We live in a very hard water area and the kettle scales up very very quickly, I have always used de scaler tablets or powder to de scale the kettle however I was wondering if there was another way of doing it as the price of de scaler is working out to be quite expensive. I have Googled it and most people suggest vinegar, bicarbonate of soda or lemon juice, somehow I don't have any faith in those things. Citric acid was 69p for 150 gms last time I looked. A tablespoon should be plenty |
De scaling kettle
On 16 Feb, 17:29, Stuart Noble wrote:
David wrote: Hello, We live in a very hard water area and the kettle scales up very very quickly, I have always used de scaler tablets or powder to de scale the kettle however I was wondering if there was another way of doing it as the price of de scaler is working out to be quite expensive. I have Googled it and most people suggest vinegar, bicarbonate of soda or lemon juice, somehow I don't have any faith in those things. Citric acid was 69p for 150 gms last time I looked. A tablespoon should be plenty Thanks for the replies Jim and Stuart, I'll give the citric acid a whirl |
De scaling kettle
Jim wrote:
David wrote: We live in a very hard water area and the kettle scales up very very quickly, I have always used de scaler tablets or powder to de scale the kettle however I was wondering if there was another way of doing it as the price of de scaler is working out to be quite expensive. We find running the water through a Brita water filter before putting it in the kettle works. The Brita filters have an ion exchange resin which removes the hardness. B&Q does a liquid descaler called Kilrock-K at about two quid which is brilliant. Peter Scott |
De scaling kettle
In message
, David writes Hello, We live in a very hard water area and the kettle scales up very very quickly, I have always used de scaler tablets or powder to de scale the kettle however I was wondering if there was another way of doing it as the price of de scaler is working out to be quite expensive. I have Googled it and most people suggest vinegar, bicarbonate of soda or lemon juice, somehow I don't have any faith in those things. Anything acidic will work. So vinegar will work, but it needs rinsing well afterwards, and it will need leaving for a while as it's not that strong an acid. Ditto lemon juice I guess. Bicarb won't work. Buying some citric acid powder from a chemist, or hardware shop is probably cheapest -- Chris French |
De scaling kettle
On 16 Feb, 17:29, Stuart Noble wrote:
Citric acid was 69p for 150 gms last time I looked. A tablespoon should be plenty So long as you use it in time. Citric acid won't shift really thick scale once it's built up - then you're back to the sulphamic and the formic. Personally I didn't mind thick scale so much, as it stayed where it was and I could descale it from time to time. The stuff that really annoyed was thin scale that was brittle enough to flake off the element end up in my tea. |
De scaling kettle
On Mon, 16 Feb 2009 09:04:44 -0800 (PST), David
wrote: Hello, We live in a very hard water area and the kettle scales up very very quickly, I have always used de scaler tablets or powder to de scale the kettle however I was wondering if there was another way of doing it as the price of de scaler is working out to be quite expensive. I have Googled it and most people suggest vinegar, bicarbonate of soda or lemon juice, somehow I don't have any faith in those things. Vinegar works a treat - a 50/50 mix with water is usually sufficient, just bung in enough to cover the element plus a bit more for luck, then pop the kettle on. You might have to turn it off just before the boil to prevent foaming. You can vary the mix if you have a lot of scale to remove - even use neat vinegar. I've always used it in my kettles and dishwashers - never been tempted to try anything harsher. Regards. -- Stephen Howard Woodwind repairs & period restorations http://www.shwoodwind.co.uk |
De scaling kettle
chris French wrote:
Buying some citric acid powder from a chemist, or hardware shop is probably cheapest Under the NuLabr rule of terror, asking for citric acid sees one branded as a drug dealer. The correct acid to use for descaling is sulphamic acid. This has the advantage that it's impossible to make a strong solution of sulphamic acid because it's not very soluble. You can buy it he http://www.mistralni.co.uk/ for £14 a Kg, and a kilo will last a good long time. |
De scaling kettle
(Steve Firth) wrote:
chris French wrote: Buying some citric acid powder from a chemist, or hardware shop is probably cheapest Under the NuLabr rule of terror, asking for citric acid sees one branded as a drug dealer. You may be able to get it in bulk from a homebrew supplier or commercial coffee supplier. |
De scaling kettle
Stuart Noble wrote:
David wrote: Hello, We live in a very hard water area and the kettle scales up very very quickly, I have always used de scaler tablets or powder to de scale the kettle however I was wondering if there was another way of doing it as the price of de scaler is working out to be quite expensive. I have Googled it and most people suggest vinegar, bicarbonate of soda or lemon juice, somehow I don't have any faith in those things. Citric acid was 69p for 150 gms last time I looked. A tablespoon should be plenty Where can you buy it Stuart? -- Dave - The Medway Handyman www.medwayhandyman.co.uk |
De scaling kettle
On 16 Feb, 17:04, David wrote:
Hello, We live in a very hard water area and the kettle scales up very very quickly, I have always used de scaler tablets or powder to de scale the kettle however I was wondering if there was another way of doing it as the price of de scaler is working out to be quite expensive. I have Googled it and most people suggest vinegar, bicarbonate of soda or lemon juice, somehow I don't have any faith in those things. +1 for a Brita filter and don't leave your kettle standing with water in it. |
De scaling kettle
Lino expert wrote:
On 16 Feb, 17:04, David wrote: Hello, We live in a very hard water area and the kettle scales up very very quickly, I have always used de scaler tablets or powder to de scale the kettle however I was wondering if there was another way of doing it as the price of de scaler is working out to be quite expensive. I have Googled it and most people suggest vinegar, bicarbonate of soda or lemon juice, somehow I don't have any faith in those things. +1 for a Brita filter and don't leave your kettle standing with water in it. Should it be sitting down than? -- Dave - The Medway Handyman www.medwayhandyman.co.uk |
De scaling kettle
On Mon, 16 Feb 2009 19:16:46 UTC, Jim wrote:
(Steve Firth) wrote: chris French wrote: Buying some citric acid powder from a chemist, or hardware shop is probably cheapest Under the NuLabr rule of terror, asking for citric acid sees one branded as a drug dealer. You may be able to get it in bulk from a homebrew supplier or commercial coffee supplier. I get ours from the local vegetarian food shop - strangely named "Veggie Perrin's"! -- The information contained in this post is copyright the poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by http://www.diybanter.com |
De scaling kettle
"David" wrote in message ... Hello, We live in a very hard water area and the kettle scales up very very quickly, I have always used de scaler tablets or powder to de scale the kettle however I was wondering if there was another way of doing it as the price of de scaler is working out to be quite expensive. I have Googled it and most people suggest vinegar, bicarbonate of soda or lemon juice, somehow I don't have any faith in those things. We always use Waitrose descaler and find that it works perfectly well. You can also slow the build up of scale if you empty he kettle fully after each use. David - Milton Keynes |
De scaling kettle
The Medway Handyman wrote:
Stuart Noble wrote: David wrote: Hello, We live in a very hard water area and the kettle scales up very very quickly, I have always used de scaler tablets or powder to de scale the kettle however I was wondering if there was another way of doing it as the price of de scaler is working out to be quite expensive. I have Googled it and most people suggest vinegar, bicarbonate of soda or lemon juice, somehow I don't have any faith in those things. Citric acid was 69p for 150 gms last time I looked. A tablespoon should be plenty Where can you buy it Stuart? Local chemist has it, and so do any of the big supermarket pharmacies. I was asked in Sainsburys what I wanted it for, and I said for drug refining. She said I didn't look the type and handed it over. Silly business |
De scaling kettle
Stuart Noble wrote in message om... Citric acid was 69p for 150 gms last time I looked. A tablespoon should be plenty Where can you buy it Stuart? Local chemist has it, and so do any of the big supermarket pharmacies. I was asked in Sainsburys what I wanted it for, and I said for drug refining. She said I didn't look the type and handed it over. Silly business I went into 3 pharmacies last week to buy some isopropyl alcohol, got the same response in each. Oh no we don't keep anything like that anymore and we would not be allowed to sell it anyway thank god for the internet,I bought 5 litres just in case it gets banned completely. - |
De scaling kettle
On 16 Feb, 20:48, "David Klyne"
wrote: "David" wrote in message ... Hello, We live in a very hard water area and the kettle scales up very very quickly, I have always used de scaler tablets or powder to de scale the kettle however I was wondering if there was another way of doing it as the price of de scaler is working out to be quite expensive. I have Googled it and most people suggest vinegar, bicarbonate of soda or lemon juice, somehow I don't have any faith in those things. We always use Waitrose descaler and find that it works perfectly well. You can also slow the build up of scale if you empty he kettle fully after each use. David - Milton Keynes I used the de scaler from Aldi and it works a treat, so does the cheap one pound one you get in Asda named Keep it handy. I was just wondering if there was an alternative to using chemicals. |
De scaling kettle
David wrote:
Hello, We live in a very hard water area and the kettle scales up very very quickly, I have always used de scaler tablets or powder to de scale the kettle however I was wondering if there was another way of doing it as the price of de scaler is working out to be quite expensive. I have Googled it and most people suggest vinegar, bicarbonate of soda or lemon juice, somehow I don't have any faith in those things. Get a tub of Fernox DS3 - costs about £15 but will make over 100 gallons of descaler (literally). Works fast (best in hot water). -- Cheers, John. /================================================== ===============\ | Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk | |-----------------------------------------------------------------| | John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk | \================================================= ================/ |
De scaling kettle
On Mon, 16 Feb 2009 19:49:39 GMT, "The Medway Handyman"
wrote: Citric acid was 69p for 150 gms last time I looked. A tablespoon should be plenty Where can you buy it Stuart? Cheapest place is usually your local Indian food shop. Last I bought was about £3 a Kilo. |
De scaling kettle
Peter Parry wrote:
On Mon, 16 Feb 2009 19:49:39 GMT, "The Medway Handyman" wrote: Citric acid was 69p for 150 gms last time I looked. A tablespoon should be plenty Where can you buy it Stuart? Cheapest place is usually your local Indian food shop. Last I bought was about £3 a Kilo. What do they use it for then? -- Dave - The Medway Handyman www.medwayhandyman.co.uk |
De scaling kettle
David wrote:
On 16 Feb, 20:48, "David Klyne" wrote: "David" wrote in message ... Hello, We live in a very hard water area and the kettle scales up very very quickly, I have always used de scaler tablets or powder to de scale the kettle however I was wondering if there was another way of doing it as the price of de scaler is working out to be quite expensive. I have Googled it and most people suggest vinegar, bicarbonate of soda or lemon juice, somehow I don't have any faith in those things. We always use Waitrose descaler and find that it works perfectly well. You can also slow the build up of scale if you empty he kettle fully after each use. David - Milton Keynes I used the de scaler from Aldi and it works a treat, so does the cheap one pound one you get in Asda named Keep it handy. I was just wondering if there was an alternative to using chemicals. Water is a chemical, as is scale :-) -- Dave - The Medway Handyman www.medwayhandyman.co.uk |
De scaling kettle
"David" wrote in message ... I was just wondering if there was an alternative to using chemicals. Dremel and wire brush. |
De scaling kettle
"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message m... Peter Parry wrote: On Mon, 16 Feb 2009 19:49:39 GMT, "The Medway Handyman" wrote: Citric acid was 69p for 150 gms last time I looked. A tablespoon should be plenty Where can you buy it Stuart? Cheapest place is usually your local Indian food shop. Last I bought was about £3 a Kilo. What do they use it for then? Citric acid is a natural preservative and can be used as a disinfectant and is MAF approved for the prevention of foot and mouth Des |
De scaling kettle
Dieseldes wrote:
"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message m... Peter Parry wrote: On Mon, 16 Feb 2009 19:49:39 GMT, "The Medway Handyman" wrote: Citric acid was 69p for 150 gms last time I looked. A tablespoon should be plenty Where can you buy it Stuart? Cheapest place is usually your local Indian food shop. Last I bought was about £3 a Kilo. What do they use it for then? Citric acid is a natural preservative and can be used as a disinfectant and is MAF approved for the prevention of foot and mouth I knew it was a food additive, but I never knew that. Is the preservative effect the reason for its use in Indian cooking then? -- Dave - The Medway Handyman www.medwayhandyman.co.uk |
De scaling kettle
On Mon, 16 Feb 2009 22:24:41 GMT, "Mark" wrote:
Stuart Noble wrote in message . com... Citric acid was 69p for 150 gms last time I looked. A tablespoon should be plenty Where can you buy it Stuart? Local chemist has it, and so do any of the big supermarket pharmacies. I was asked in Sainsburys what I wanted it for, and I said for drug refining. She said I didn't look the type and handed it over. Silly business I went into 3 pharmacies last week to buy some isopropyl alcohol, got the same response in each. Oh no we don't keep anything like that anymore and we would not be allowed to sell it anyway I've had similar problems trying to buy both citric acid and bor(ac)ic acid. Once upon a time (not that long ago) you could go into almost any proper 'chemist shop' and buy almost any useful chemicals, such as carbon tetrachloride, saltpetre, chloroform, ether, even litmus paper - I had no problem buying any of the above as an obvious youngster. Nowadays it seems that the dreaded guvmint thinks that anybody trying to purchase such things must be either a druggie or a terrorist. Little wonder that this country is now short of scientists/technologists. ps - the chloroform and ether I used to mix with turnings/filings/scraps of Perspex to make Perspex adhesive. -- Frank Erskine |
De scaling kettle
David wrote:
Hello, We live in a very hard water area and the kettle scales up very very quickly, I have always used de scaler tablets or powder to de scale the kettle however I was wondering if there was another way of doing it as the price of de scaler is working out to be quite expensive. I have Googled it and most people suggest vinegar, bicarbonate of soda or lemon juice, somehow I don't have any faith in those things. Any acid will attack the scale. Citric is the one that's safe in all appliances, others can attack parts of the appliance. Also citric is food, many of the others aren't. Its also very cheap, think I paid 40p a pop last time, from chemists'. Expect them to ask if you want it for heroin though, that seems to be its main use. Add citric, boil kettle, leave it overnight. Rinse well before using the water. NT |
De scaling kettle
On Mon, 16 Feb 2009 09:04:44 -0800 (PST)
David wrote: Hello, We live in a very hard water area and the kettle scales up very very quickly, I have always used de scaler tablets or powder to de scale the kettle however I was wondering if there was another way of doing it as the price of de scaler is working out to be quite expensive. I have Googled it and most people suggest vinegar, bicarbonate of soda or lemon juice, somehow I don't have any faith in those things. Long long ago I bought a house with badly fured pipes in a hard water area. It took an age to run a bath. My Dad, who was an industrial chemist, 'obtained' from work about five kilos of citric acid powder which we dissolved in the cold tank one day before a holiday (having drained the hot tank first). Refilled the hot tank, and ran all the taps for a bit until the lemon juice came out. Then went away for two weeks. (I think he poped in from time to time to run the taps again actually). When we got back the problem was cured. It took a while for the lemons to disappear from the bath water though. R. |
De scaling kettle
On Mon, 16 Feb 2009 22:57:56 GMT, "The Medway Handyman"
wrote: Peter Parry wrote: Cheapest place is usually your local Indian food shop. Last I bought was about £3 a Kilo. What do they use it for then? As a bittering agent and as a cheaper alternative to lemon juice or tamarind in making things like spiced fish. Citric Acid (Tartri or Saji (na) phool or Nimboo ka Sat) is also used in making lemonade, curdling milk to make chenna (Indian cottage cheese) and as an alternative to vinegar. It's also used as a cleaning agent. |
De scaling kettle
Frank Erskine wrote:
On Mon, 16 Feb 2009 22:24:41 GMT, "Mark" wrote: Stuart Noble wrote in message om... Citric acid was 69p for 150 gms last time I looked. A tablespoon should be plenty Where can you buy it Stuart? Local chemist has it, and so do any of the big supermarket pharmacies. I was asked in Sainsburys what I wanted it for, and I said for drug refining. She said I didn't look the type and handed it over. Silly business I went into 3 pharmacies last week to buy some isopropyl alcohol, got the same response in each. Oh no we don't keep anything like that anymore and we would not be allowed to sell it anyway I've had similar problems trying to buy both citric acid and bor(ac)ic acid. Once upon a time (not that long ago) you could go into almost any proper 'chemist shop' and buy almost any useful chemicals, such as carbon tetrachloride, saltpetre, chloroform, ether, even litmus paper - I had no problem buying any of the above as an obvious youngster. Nowadays it seems that the dreaded guvmint thinks that anybody trying to purchase such things must be either a druggie or a terrorist. Little wonder that this country is now short of scientists/technologists. ps - the chloroform and ether I used to mix with turnings/filings/scraps of Perspex to make Perspex adhesive. A likely story... -- Dave - The Medway Handyman www.medwayhandyman.co.uk |
De scaling kettle
On Tue, 17 Feb 2009 00:58:11 +0000, Anne Welsh Jackson wrote
(in article ): Or, better still, just boil the amount of water you actually need, in the first place! Saves on the electricity bill... I've often read or heard that advice but when I attempt that, half the time I find I've not boiled quite enough - which ends up being even more wasteful. -- Mike Lane UK North Yorkshire |
De scaling kettle
Mike Lane wrote:
On Tue, 17 Feb 2009 00:58:11 +0000, Anne Welsh Jackson wrote (in article ): Or, better still, just boil the amount of water you actually need, in the first place! Saves on the electricity bill... I've often read or heard that advice but when I attempt that, half the time I find I've not boiled quite enough - which ends up being even more wasteful. Our kettle has quite a decent scale (on the outside, not lumps inside!). Makes filling to the right level quite easy - most of the time. Just need to remember - pot of coffee = 1; pot of tea = 1.5. And we fill it while it is standing flat on a surface - so it reads properly. (The first kettle I used with a scale had a tube up the side - which within weeks scaled up and didn't properly reflect the contents. This one is an integral 'window'.) -- Rod Hypothyroidism is a seriously debilitating condition with an insidious onset. Although common it frequently goes undiagnosed. www.thyromind.info www.thyroiduk.org www.altsupportthyroid.org |
De scaling kettle
On Tue, 17 Feb 2009 08:30:27 +0000, Mike Lane wrote:
On Tue, 17 Feb 2009 00:58:11 +0000, Anne Welsh Jackson wrote (in article ): Or, better still, just boil the amount of water you actually need, in the first place! Saves on the electricity bill... I've often read or heard that advice but when I attempt that, half the time I find I've not boiled quite enough - which ends up being even more wasteful. I can judge it to about +-20ml (sad). -- Peter. You don't understand Newton's Third Law of Motion? It's not rocket science, you know. |
De scaling kettle
Anne Welsh Jackson wrote:
"David Klyne" wrote: "David" wrote: Hello, We live in a very hard water area and the kettle scales up very very quickly, I have always used de scaler tablets or powder to de scale the kettle however I was wondering if there was another way of doing it as the price of de scaler is working out to be quite expensive. I have Googled it and most people suggest vinegar, bicarbonate of soda or lemon juice, somehow I don't have any faith in those things. We always use Waitrose descaler and find that it works perfectly well. You can also slow the build up of scale if you empty he kettle fully after each use. Or, better still, just boil the amount of water you actually need, in the first place! Saves on the electricity bill... But not a lot, is it really worth the hassle (and the nuisance when you miscalculate)? Not to mention that the 'wasted' heat isn't wasted but warms up your kitchen a bit. A 3kw kettle (they're mostly only 2.5kw I think) running for five minutes will consume 3/12 kwh, that'll cost around 5p I think at current prices. So if I manage to save even 30% of that by careful filling I've saved 1.5p per boil. Even three times a day for the whole year that only makes £15 or so, and, as I said it'll heat the kitchen so you'll save a bit on heating. Now calculate how much you save turning off the standby on the TV in the kitchen as well and you'll realise how stupid most of these 'energy saving' ideas are. Boiling kettles and standby are not big energy consumers so trying to minimise them is next to pointless. -- Chris Green |
De scaling kettle
wrote in message ... A 3kw kettle (they're mostly only 2.5kw I think) running for five minutes will consume 3/12 kwh, that'll cost around 5p I think at current prices. So if I manage to save even 30% of that by careful filling I've saved 1.5p per boil. Even three times a day for the whole year that only makes £15 or so, and, as I said it'll heat the kitchen so you'll save a bit on heating. Now calculate how much you save turning off the standby on the TV in the kitchen as well and you'll realise how stupid most of these 'energy saving' ideas are. Boiling kettles and standby are not big energy consumers so trying to minimise them is next to pointless. Look after the pennies, and the pounds will look after themselves ;-) |
De scaling kettle
On 17 Feb, 09:50, "Harry Stottle" wrote:
Look after the pennies, and the pounds will look after themselves ;-) Look after the pounds and you can employ someone to count the pennies for you. |
De scaling kettle
Harry Stottle wrote:
wrote in message ... A 3kw kettle (they're mostly only 2.5kw I think) running for five minutes will consume 3/12 kwh, that'll cost around 5p I think at current prices. So if I manage to save even 30% of that by careful filling I've saved 1.5p per boil. Even three times a day for the whole year that only makes £15 or so, and, as I said it'll heat the kitchen so you'll save a bit on heating. Now calculate how much you save turning off the standby on the TV in the kitchen as well and you'll realise how stupid most of these 'energy saving' ideas are. Boiling kettles and standby are not big energy consumers so trying to minimise them is next to pointless. Look after the pennies, and the pounds will look after themselves ;-) A little of a little makes a very little |
De scaling kettle
On 17 Feb, 09:50, "Harry Stottle" wrote:
filling I've saved 1.5p per boil. *Even three times a day for the whole year that only makes £15 or so, And that is more than equal to the cost of a week and half's holiday with the Sun newspaper... You rich bar stewards might be able to afford £15 a year but some of us actually live in the real world! |
De scaling kettle
In article ,
Frank Erskine writes: ps - the chloroform and ether I used to mix with turnings/filings/scraps of Perspex to make Perspex adhesive. Used to be able to buy that as, IIRC, "Tensol Cement". My dad has a can of it, which still worked fine when I last needed a bit a couple of years ago, in spite of the label saying "Use by Aug 1968". I found Superglue also works well on perspex by means of making a solvent weld. -- Andrew Gabriel [email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup] |
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