Living in the South East of England, water hardness levels are predominantly high, which means limescale is inevitable. The number one place I find where limescale builds up is in the kettle, making it a pain to clean. However, ever since I started using citric acid, it’s no longer a chore I struggle with or dread.

Having had such impressive results cleaning my kettle with citric acid, I wondered if it would work just as well on my grandad’s kettle that hadn’t been descaled for at least three years. While he doesn’t use his kettle as often as I do, there was still a substantial amount of limescale lurking on the heating element of the appliance. Descaling kettles not only helps to improve your teas and coffees, but it will also prolong the lifespan of the appliance and reduce energy consumption.

Although white vinegar is a firm favourite for many when it comes to naturally descaling a kettle, I can’t stand the smell, and I find that it does not work as fast as using citric acid.

Citric acid is an amazing natural cleaning product that packs a mean punch against limescale. 

This is because it’s a highly concentrated fruit acid that can dissolve alkaline limescale, in much the same process as vinegar does.

For this method, I used the Dri-Pak Citric Acid, but any brand will do the exact same job.

I started by adding one and a half tablespoons of citric acid. I then added water to the kettle – just enough to cover all the areas of limescale buildup. 

If you add too much water, you’ll reduce the effectiveness and will require you to add more citric acid.

I then put the kettle on to boil before checking the results. It only took about two minutes for the kettle to boil.

I opened the lid of the kettle and instantly noticed that all the limescale had vanished. There was no need to leave the solution to sit for a longer period, which is the case for many kettle descaling products.

All that was left was to give the kettle a good rinse out, and the job was done. Citric acid won’t leave an aftertaste, so there was no need to boil the kettle again.