You know that flaky white stuff that sometimes collects at the bottom of the kettle (I think the technical term is limescale)? Well, I’ve always boiled way more water than I actually need because the thought of dandruff floating around in my tea isn’t particularly enticing.
But then I realized that keeping it full of water wasn’t helping the problem; nor was it helping my electricity bills, seeing as twice the amount of energy is required to boil a whole kettle of water as opposed to just a cup’s worth. So I decided to keep it empty, and from now on will only boil the exact amount of water I plan on drinking.
When it came to cleaning out the bottom, I knew if I asked all of you dear readers for suggestions, you’d say what you say every time: Baking soda and vinegar, for crying out loud! (Insert face slap and/or vigorous shaking.) The thing is, I’ve kept both of these natural cleaning products at the very back of my cupboard until now because I feared that once I started using them for household chores, I would have officially crossed the line and become a card-carrying hippie.
Well, I guess I should start parting my hair in the middle and wearing Birkenstocks because just a splash of vinegar did the trick and I was so amazed, my eyes immediately began darting around the kitchen trying to find something else I could clean (I held back, though, lest I show up to work and my cubicle neighbours ask if I’ve been loitering around a chip truck all morning).
This change should be pretty easy. It’ll require a couple more seconds in my coffee and tea preparation each day and I doubt I’ll notice a huge drop in my electricity bills, but it’s another small step toward heightening my green awareness.
I think you’ll find you don’t need to clean it every time. The limescale builds up gradually. Boiling twice as much water was probably making it build up twice as fast.
If vinegar does that to minerals, what do you think it is doing to your insides?
. I have always thought vinegar is not a food, rather it is a cleaning product akin to Lysol, and have refused to eat it from a young age.
That’s so funny, I hate the taste of vinegar but when I saw how well it cleaned my kettle I actually wanted to drink some! Maybe it would clean out my intestines and make them function better.
Vinegar, Shminegar! I just want one of those retro Rice Krispy mugs! Is it one of a set? Very cool…
While vinegar is useful for cleaning the kettle, have you considered just microwaving a mug of tea? I’m pretty sure the microwave uses less energy than the stovetop. /just sayin’.
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