Coffee Pot Cleaning Tips And Home Remedies For Sparkling Carafes

Below I've gathered up some coffee pot cleaning tips and home remedies, using common household items, to keep your carafes sparkling clean.


As you can see from the all the tips listed there is more than one right way to go about cleaning these pots, so find one you think will work for you, with stuff you already have on hand, and get to work!

I've tried to focus on natural recipes below, since they do work quite well for this cleaning task.

However, there are also some product recommendations from readers that they've found quite effective as well.

So it's always your choice what you will use to clean items in your home.

In addition, if you have another method you've used successfully that you don't already see listed, I would love for you to tell me about it. You can share your tips here.

Also, based on some questions I've been receiving, this page is about cleaning the pot -- not the machine itself, which is a different cleaning project all together.

If you're interested in cleaning your coffee machine itself check out this page about how to clean your coffee maker here.

Clean Stains From Coffee Pot With Salt

The video below demonstrates how to clean stains from your coffee pot with salt.

As you know if you are an avid coffee drinker as you use your coffee pot daily it can begin to get stained, both with the coffee itself and also burn marks from the coffee maker on the bottom of the pot.

You don't want to use harsh chemicals on something you are then going to get a drink out of, so salt is a great stain remover for this purpose.

You add salt to the bottom of the pot and use a damp sponge to rub the salt around.

The salt acts as an abrasive and removes the coffee stains and burn marks from the bottom of the pot.

Helpful hint: You can also use baking soda for this task, because it can also be used as a mild abrasive.

Here is the video demonstrating how to clean your coffee pot with salt:

Turbo Charge This Recipe By Adding Ice

It can be difficult to stick your hand down in certain pots to scrub the abrasive salt around. So what's the solution? Add ice.

The ice cubes will do a lot of the scrubbing for you if you add them, the ice, and some water and swirl it all around vigorously. Check out the comments below where lots of readers agree, adding ice makes this suggestion with the salt work even better!

Please note that this home remedy, and the one below using Oxiclean, are best for coffee pot cleaning when it is dirty from coffee stains or burn marks. If the coffee pot has hard water build up instead, see the final tip at the bottom of the page instead!

Photo by D'Arcy Norman, from Flickr CC

Clean Your Coffee Pot With Dishwasher Detergent Powder

by Sandra Thermen
(Rolling Meadows, IL )

Many readers, including Sandra, have sent in similar recipes for cleaning a coffee pot by using dishwasher detergent powder.

Sandra's instructions said, "Fill the pot with very hot water, add 3 tablespoons of Cascade dishwasher powder. Then, let soak for 15 minutes, or longer if needed.

Swish solution with a paper towel or cloth, rinse and let dry.

OR put the pot in your dishwasher with other dishes and it will come out darling clean."

Other readers have provided similar suggestions in the comments below suggesting dishwasher powder, with some soaking and others making a paste from the powder.

There are actually quite a few cleaning and stain removal uses for dishwasher detergent beside just for cleaning dishes. You can read more uses for dishwasher detergent here, or share your own use.

Use Oxiclean For Cleaning Your Coffee Pot

by Phyllis
(Las Vegas)

I got this quick tip from Phyllis, who shared how she cleans her pot with Oxiclean.

Phyllis says:

Put a half scoop of Oxiclean in your stained coffee pot.. pour on the hot water....let sit for a minute... it's pristine!

Taylor says:

Thanks Phyllis! I love to collect ways to use Oxiclean for cleaning and stain removal.

If other readers have more Oxiclean uses around your home please share them here.

How To Clean Coffee Pot With Lemon

You can also clean your coffee pot with lemon and other natural ingredients. This particular method works best to remove hard water build up from the bottom of your pot.

You want to, if at all possible, use only natural ingredients when cleaning items like a coffee pot that you will later eat or drink from.

That is because, obviously, you do not want to ingest any residual chemicals from the cleaners the next time you use the item.

A natural way to clean your coffee pot is to use the following ingredients:

• 2 lemons, cut into wedges


• 2 tablespoons of salt


• 2 cups ice


• 1-2 cups cold water

Add all of these ingredients together into the coffee pot and swirl everything around for about a minute.

So basically, this is the same method as above, but adding the lemon wedges (or lemon juice if you prefer) you can also remove hard water deposits.

In addition, the lemons also helps deodorize old coffee smells.

You can submit your own tip about cleaning with lemon juice here, or read other tips already submitted.

In addition, if you have additional tips for coffee pot cleaning, please share your tips here.

Photo by Pink Sherbet Photography

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