Tool

Cleaning and maintenance planner

A personalised checklist rather than a schedule: which tasks apply to your equipment, what triggers each one, and which kind of product each one needs. Below it, what builds up in coffee equipment and how you would notice, for nine kinds of equipment.

What to do with the result

You want to know what builds up and how you would notice: What builds up, and how you would notice
Scale is the concern, and you do not know your water: Water: a white crust, or frequent descaling
You want cleaning and descaling explained, and where makers disagree: Cleaning and descaling equipment
The coffee tastes wrong and you are not sure cleaning is why: Make my coffee better

What builds up, and how you would notice

Seven things account for nearly all coffee maintenance. Each does something different to the cup or the equipment, shows itself in a different way and is dealt with by a different kind of product. Knowing which one you are looking at is what decides the job.

For the exact detergent, its strength, the backflush cycle, the descaling process, how far a thing comes apart and how often it is serviced, follow the manufacturer's manual for your exact model. Manufacturer manuals are the primary evidence for model-specific procedures, and they disagree with one another: what one maker specifies another forbids.

Coffee oils

Brewed coffee leaves a thin film of oil on everything it touches: baskets, shower screens, spouts, jugs, mesh filters and the inside of a grinder.

What it does to the cup: Old oil turns rancid, and gives every coffee the same stale, bitter edge whatever the beans.
What it does to the equipment: The film hardens into a brown varnish that blocks the fine holes of a basket or a mesh, so water passes unevenly.
How you would notice: A brown film that does not rinse off, a rancid smell from a dry brewer or grinder, basket holes that show no light, and a harshness that is the same in every coffee.
What deals with it: Washing after use, and a detergent made for coffee equipment when a film has formed. A descaler is not made for oil.
What the maker decides: Which detergent, how strong, whether the part may go in a dishwasher, and whether a machine can be backflushed at all.

Spent and stray grounds

Grounds lodge around a group gasket, under a shower screen, in a grinder's chute, between the layers of a press filter and in the thread of a moka pot.

What it does to the cup: Old grounds brew again into the next cup and add a stale, muddy note; grounds held in a grinder come out first the next day.
What it does to the equipment: Grounds on a sealing face stop it sealing, so a portafilter or a moka pot leaks. A packed chute makes a grinder dose short and then clog.
How you would notice: Grit in the cup, a leak at a seal, a dose that comes out short, or yesterday's taste in today's first cup.
What deals with it: Water and a brush, or a dry brush for a grinder. No chemical is needed for grounds.
What the maker decides: How far the equipment may be taken apart to reach them.
Safety: Switch a grinder off and unplug it before brushing anywhere near the burrs. Let a machine cool before working at the group.

Milk residue

Milk dries onto a steam wand within moments, is drawn a little way up inside the tip as the wand cools, and sits in the tubing of an automatic milk system.

What it does to the cup: Sour or cheesy notes in milk drinks, and foam that will not form in a jug that still carries fat or detergent.
What it does to the equipment: Dried milk blocks the holes of a steam tip, so the jet weakens or goes lopsided.
How you would notice: A crust on the wand, steam from some holes and not others, or any sour smell when the steam is opened. With an automatic system, do not wait to notice.
What deals with it: Purging and wiping after every drink; the machine's own rinse after every session; and a cleaner made for milk systems, as the maker directs.
What the maker decides: The cleaning programme for an automatic milk system, the product it takes, and how often it must run.
Safety: This is food safety and not only taste: milk is a food that spoils, and warm tubing is where it does. Treat the maker's milk-cleaning routine as a requirement. Steam scalds, so purge away from yourself and wipe with a folded damp cloth.

Scale

A hard mineral deposit that forms where hard, alkaline water is heated: on a kettle's element, and inside a boiler, a thermoblock and the pipes of a machine.

What it does to the cup: Little that can be tasted directly. Its effects reach the cup through the machine: water that is cooler or arrives more slowly than it should.
What it does to the equipment: It insulates the heating surface and narrows the water's path, so the equipment heats more slowly and flows less, and in time it blocks.
How you would notice: A white or grey crust or flakes in a kettle; slower heating, weaker steam, a thinner or spluttering flow from a machine; or the machine's own descale prompt.
What deals with it: An acid descaler, where the maker allows descaling, and water treatment to slow its return. A detergent is not made for scale.
What the maker decides: Whether the owner may descale at all, with what product, by what cycle and how often. Makers disagree, and some ask for treated water and a service visit instead.
Safety: Use only the descaler the maker permits, as its label directs, and never together with a detergent or any other cleaner.

The water system

The tank, its filter cartridge, a filter jug, and on a plumbed machine the inline cartridge: everything the water meets before it is heated.

What it does to the cup: A stale or musty taste from standing water, and a return of whatever a spent cartridge used to remove.
What it does to the equipment: An exhausted softening cartridge lets scale form as if it were not there. A machine run on water outside its maker's specification can scale or corrode.
How you would notice: A slippery film inside a tank, cloudy or smelly water, scale coming back in the kettle, or a cartridge past the life its maker states.
What deals with it: Rinsing and drying the tank, replacing cartridges on the life their maker states, and knowing your water's hardness and alkalinity.
What the maker decides: The water specification the machine must be run on. It governs for scale and for corrosion, and on a plumbed machine it is often a condition of the warranty.

Seals and gaskets

The rubber or silicone parts that hold pressure or keep liquid in: a group gasket, a moka pot's ring, an AeroPress plunger seal, the seal of a jug lid.

What it does to the cup: A leak changes the brew: water that escapes round a seal has not gone through the coffee.
What it does to the equipment: Heat hardens and flattens a seal until it no longer seals. On a moka pot the seal and the safety valve are what keep the pressure where it belongs.
How you would notice: Water or steam escaping at a join, a handle that turns further than it used to before it locks, a plunger that slides with no resistance, a ring that has gone hard or cracked.
What deals with it: Keeping the sealing faces free of grounds, and replacing the seal when it shows wear.
What the maker decides: The part, its size and how it is fitted. Where a maker gives a replacement interval for its own seal, that is the one to follow.
Safety: Let equipment cool and release its pressure before opening it. Do not use a moka pot whose safety valve is blocked or does not move freely.

Burr cleanliness and wear

Coffee oil and fine grounds coat a grinder's burrs and chamber, and over a long life the cutting edges blunt.

What it does to the cup: Rancid oil taints the grounds; a coated or blunt burr gives a dustier, less even grind.
What it does to the equipment: A coated chamber holds more coffee back and clogs sooner. Blunt burrs make the motor work harder.
How you would notice: A rancid smell or a dark greasy coating in the chute, doses that come out short, or a slow drift towards finer settings over a long time with coffees you know.
What deals with it: A dry brush, and where the maker allows it a grinder-cleaning product. Never water on steel burrs. Worn burrs are replaced, not cleaned.
What the maker decides: How the burr chamber is opened, whether cleaning products may be used, how burrs are aligned and set to zero after reassembly, and which burrs fit.
Safety: Switch off and unplug before any access to the burrs, and go no further than the manual shows.

Never mix cleaning products, and never use one in place of another. Use each as its own label directs, rinse as the label and the manual ask, and keep them away from food and out of reach of children. Do not descale a machine whose maker says not to: some do.

What to check, and what triggers the job

No interval in weeks or months is given for any of these, because the right one depends on the model, the water and the use. Each entry gives the habit that goes with every use, what to look at, and what you would find when a job is due.

Espresso machine

What builds up: coffee oils, spent and stray grounds, scale, the water system, seals and gaskets.

With every use: Knock out and rinse the basket and portafilter after each shot, and flush and brush the group at the end of the session.
What to check, and what triggers a job: Hold the empty basket to a light: holes that show none need a soak in detergent. A plain flush that runs brown, or a harsh edge on every coffee, is oil in the group. A leak round the portafilter is the gasket. Slow heating, weak steam or the machine's prompt is scale.
What the maker’s manual decides: Whether the machine can be backflushed and by what cycle; which detergent and descaler it permits; whether the owner may descale it at all; the water it must be run on.
Do not: Do not backflush a machine whose manual does not describe it, and do not put a descaler through the group as a cleaner.

Grinder

What builds up: burr cleanliness and wear, spent and stray grounds, coffee oils.

With every use: Nothing with water. Clear the chute with the grinder's own bellows or brush if it has one.
What to check, and what triggers a job: Weigh a dose in and out: a growing shortfall means the chute is filling. Smell the chute: a rancid smell means oil. A change of coffee is a natural moment to brush it out. A slow drift towards finer settings over a long time points to wear.
What the maker’s manual decides: How the chamber opens, whether a cleaning product may go through it, and how the burrs are aligned and zeroed afterwards.
Do not: Never wash steel burrs, and never reach into a grinder that is plugged in.

Pour-over and other manual filter brewers

What builds up: coffee oils, spent and stray grounds.

With every use: Rinse the brewer and the server with hot water once the filter is out.
What to check, and what triggers a job: Look at the inside of the server and the brewer's ribs: a brown film that does not rinse away is the trigger for a wash with detergent. A metal filter needs its fines brushed out; a cloth filter is kept as its maker says.
What the maker’s manual decides: Whether it may go in a dishwasher, and how a cloth or metal filter is kept.
Do not: Do not wash a cloth filter with detergent.

Kettle

What builds up: scale, the water system.

With every use: Fill it with fresh water for the brew in hand instead of reboiling what stood in it.
What to check, and what triggers a job: Look inside. A white or grey crust on the base or element, or flakes in the water, is the trigger to descale. How soon it returns tells you about your water.
What the maker’s manual decides: What may be used to descale it. Kettle makers name products, and some rule others out.

Steam wand and milk system

What builds up: milk residue.

With every use: Wipe and purge a steam wand after every single drink. Run an automatic system's rinse after every session and wash the jug.
What to check, and what triggers a job: Open the steam and look at the jet: a lopsided one means a hole is blocked and the tip needs soaking. For an automatic milk system there is no sign to wait for: its cleaning programme runs when the manual says.
What the maker’s manual decides: The cleaning programme, the cleaner and its strength, and how the tip or the milk parts come off.
Do not: Never leave milk standing in a system between sessions, and never use a descaler as a milk cleaner.

AeroPress

What builds up: coffee oils, seals and gaskets, spent and stray grounds.

With every use: Push the puck out and rinse the plunger seal and the cap straight after brewing.
What to check, and what triggers a job: Press an empty chamber with a finger over the end: a plunger that slides without resistance has a worn seal. A film inside the chamber or on a metal filter is the trigger for a wash.
What the maker’s manual decides: Whether parts may go in a dishwasher, and the replacement seal.

Moka pot

What builds up: seals and gaskets, coffee oils, spent and stray grounds, scale.

With every use: Let it cool before opening it, then take it apart, rinse every part and dry it.
What to check, and what triggers a job: Look at the ring and the filter plate: a hard, cracked or flattened ring, or steam escaping at the join, is the trigger to replace it. Check that the safety valve moves as the manual describes. A white deposit in the base is scale.
What the maker’s manual decides: Whether detergent or a dishwasher may be used, the ring for your size of pot, how the valve is checked and how the base is descaled.
Do not: Do not use a pot whose safety valve is blocked or does not move freely until you have followed the maker's instructions for it.

French press

What builds up: coffee oils, spent and stray grounds.

With every use: Empty the grounds into the bin, not the sink, and rinse the jug and the plunger.
What to check, and what triggers a job: Unscrew the filter stack and look between its layers: oil or trapped grounds there are the trigger to wash each layer. A mesh that has frayed, or lets grounds past its edge, is due for replacement.
What the maker’s manual decides: Whether the jug and the plunger may go in a dishwasher, and the replacement mesh.

Batch brewer

What builds up: coffee oils, scale, the water system, spent and stray grounds.

With every use: Wash the basket and the jug or flask after each brew, and do not leave brewed coffee or wet grounds in the machine.
What to check, and what triggers a job: Look inside the jug or flask for a brown film, which is the trigger for detergent. A brew that takes longer than it did, more steam and noise, or the machine's own light, is scale.
What the maker’s manual decides: The descaling cycle and product, and whether the spray head or the water tank comes off for cleaning.
Do not: Do not descale it with another machine's method: makers disagree on what may be used.

For the two deposits and the two chemicals in full, makers’ own statements and when to stop and call someone, read cleaning and descaling equipment.

How it works

Your equipment, how much you use it and how hard your water is select which tasks apply. Each task says when it falls due in terms you can observe, such as after every drink, at the end of a session, when a named sign appears or at the interval your machine's manual gives, and states which kind of product it uses: an alkaline detergent for coffee residue, an acid for mineral scale, a milk cleaner for milk. No interval in weeks or months is given, because the right one depends on the model, the water and the use. Beneath the checklist the page explains seven things that build up or wear (coffee oils, grounds, milk residue, scale, the water system, seals and burrs), what each does to the cup or the machine and how you would notice, and then for nine kinds of equipment what to check and what triggers a job. For the exact detergent, strength, backflush cycle, descaling process and service interval, the manufacturer's manual for your model is the authority.

What the inputs mean

Backflushing: Flushing the group head using a solid basket. Only works on machines with a three-way valve; if your manual does not describe it, your machine cannot do it.
Water hardness: How much calcium and magnesium your water carries. It sets how quickly scale forms, which is the main thing behind how often descaling is needed.
Signs it is due: What the equipment does when a task is overdue. A sign is true for your machine whatever a calendar says, which is why the checklist goes by signs.
When: What triggers the task: every drink, the end of a session, a sign, or the interval in your machine's manual. It is never a number of weeks or months.
Parts that wear: Burrs and the group gasket are listed separately with no interval at all. They are replaced when they show wear, and the checklist says what wear looks like.

Worked examples

Espresso machine, milk drinks daily, hard water
- Espresso machine with steam wand
- 3 drinks a day
- Hard water
Result: Start with purging and wiping the wand after every drink. Brush the group at the end of each session; soak baskets when the holes stop showing light; backflush with detergent by the cycle and interval in the manual, if the machine supports it; and because hard water forms scale soonest, read what the maker says about descaling first, including whether it permits it.

Common mistakes

Using a descaler to clean coffee residue, or a detergent to remove scale
They are an acid and an alkali made for different deposits: a descaler is not made for coffee oil, nor a detergent for scale. Use each only where the machine's manual and the product's label direct, and do not put a descaler through the group as a cleaner.
Descaling on a fixed schedule regardless of water
Scale forms at a rate set by the water. Soft water needs it far less often; hard water far more, and some makers ask owners not to descale at all.
Following another machine's descaling method
Makers contradict one another on what may be used. What one specifies, another forbids, so only your own model's manual applies.
Skipping the rinse
Under-rinsing is the reason a machine tastes of soap or acid afterwards.

What the result does not mean

This is a checklist, not a schedule for your machine. Your manufacturer's instructions take precedence over everything here, including whether descaling is permitted at all.
A sign listed here is what equipment of that kind generally does. It is not evidence about your specific model, and CoffeeHQ has none: manufacturer manuals are the primary evidence for model-specific procedures.
The place to start is the task that does harm soonest if skipped, not the most important task overall.

What this does not account for

It gives no interval in weeks or months. Where a task is the maker's to schedule, it says so and leaves the figure to the manual.
Milk-system cleaning is treated as food safety. The checklist gives no figure for it and tells you to follow the machine's own routine without stretching it.
Assumes nothing about your specific model. Machines differ in whether they can be backflushed, which descaler they permit, and whether they may be descaled at all.

Where to go next

Learn the technique

Background reading

Cleaning, descaling and machine ownership

Equipment involved

When it goes wrong

Compare the options

Cleaning vs. descaling

Other tools

Practise this in a lesson

Become a Barista · Level 6
Workflow
Doing the same things in the same order, so quality does not depend on having a good day.
- At the machine: Close, and leave a note
Become a Barista · Level 8
Maintenance
The task: Tick the equipment you have, and enter how many drinks you make a day, where the machine gets its water and how hard that water is. For each task in the checklist, read what triggers it and note when you last did it. Write down the one whose trigger you have already passed.
- At the machine: Make the every-drink habits automatic
- At the machine: Find four answers in your manual
Become a Coffee Expert · Level 9
Water
Hardness, alkalinity and what the minerals in your water do to extraction and taste.

Cleaning and maintenance planner

Cleaning — removes coffee, milk and oils

Descaling — removes mineral scale

Parts that wear — replaced on signs, not on a date

What to do with the result

What builds up, and how you would notice

What to check, and what triggers the job

How it works

What the inputs mean

Worked examples

Common mistakes

What the result does not mean

What this does not account for

Where to go next

Learn the technique

Background reading

Equipment involved

When it goes wrong

Compare the options

Other tools

Practise this in a lesson

Cleaning and maintenance planner

Cleaning — removes coffee, milk and oils

Descaling — removes mineral scale

Parts that wear — replaced on signs, not on a date

What to do with the result

What builds up, and how you would notice

What to check, and what triggers the job

How it works

What the inputs mean

Worked examples

Common mistakes

What the result does not mean

What this does not account for

Where to go next

Learn the technique

Background reading

Equipment involved

When it goes wrong

Compare the options

Other tools

Practise this in a lesson

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