Tool
Cleaning and maintenance planner
A personalised checklist rather than a schedule: which tasks apply to your equipment, roughly how often each is usually done, and which product each one needs.
Your checklist
10 tasks
Every interval here is a convention for typical home use, not a specification for your machine. Where your manufacturer's instructions differ — including on whether descaling is permitted at all — theirs take precedence over anything on this page.
Your water hardness is the only thing that sets how often descaling is needed, and it is not entered. Your water supplier publishes a figure for your area, or a test kit gives one in a minute.
Cleaning — removes coffee, milk and oils
Purge and wipe the steam wand
No product — water and a brushWipe with a dedicated damp cloth, then purge steam briefly into the drip tray.
After every single drink. Three seconds, and not optional.
Soak the steam wand tip
Milk-system cleanerSoak in a milk-system cleaner to remove what wiping cannot reach inside the tip.
Commonly weekly under normal home use.
Note: Never clear blocked holes with a pin — an enlarged hole permanently changes the steam pattern.
Brush the group head
No product — water and a brushFlush briefly and brush around and under the shower screen.
At the end of every session of use.
Check whether your machine can be backflushed
No product — water and a brushLook for backflushing in the manual. It needs a three-way valve; without one the procedure does nothing.
A one-off check rather than a recurring task.
Note: If the manual does not describe backflushing, do not attempt it.
Soak baskets and portafilter
Alkaline detergent (coffee residue)Remove the basket and soak both in an espresso cleaning detergent.
Commonly weekly. Blocked basket holes flow unevenly long before they look dirty.
Empty and clean the water tank
No product — water and a brushRinse the tank and let it dry rather than leaving standing water in it.
Weekly, and always before leaving the machine unused for more than a few days — a machine left full over a holiday is worse than one left empty.
Brush out the grinder
No product — water and a brushBrush the chute and accessible burr surfaces dry, and clear the chute with a bellows.
Weekly under daily use, or whenever you change coffee.
Note: Dry only. Water on steel burrs rusts them, and rusted burrs are finished.
Remove built-up oils from the grinder
Grinder-cleaning productRun a grinder-cleaning product through, then purge with a little coffee.
Commonly monthly, and sooner with oily dark-roasted coffee.
Note: Unplug before any access to the burrs.
Descaling — removes mineral scale
Descale the espresso machine
Acid descaler (mineral scale)Dissolve mineral scale from the boiler and water paths with an acid descaler, then rinse thoroughly.
Cannot be estimated without knowing your water hardness, which is the only thing that sets the rate scale forms.
Note: Some manufacturers forbid descaling their machines and specify treated water instead. Check the manual before doing this at all, and use only a descaler they permit.
Descale the kettle
Acid descaler (mineral scale)An acid descaler intended for kettles, followed by a rinse and a discarded boil.
Cannot be estimated without knowing your water hardness, which is the only thing that sets the rate scale forms.
Note: Scale on the element slows heating and eventually damages it.
These are two different jobs with two different chemicals. Never mix a descaler with a cleaning detergent, and never substitute one for the other — an acid in a group head can damage seals, and a detergent does nothing at all to scale.
Ranked guidance, not a diagnosis
How it works
Your equipment, how much you use it and how hard your water is select which tasks apply. Each task carries an indicative interval and a plain statement of which kind of product it uses — an alkaline detergent for coffee residue, an acid for mineral scale, a milk cleaner for milk. The intervals are conventions, and the tool says so every time it shows one.
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 only thing that sets a descaling interval.
Worked examples
Espresso machine, milk drinks daily, hard water
- Espresso machine with steam wand
- 3 drinks a day
- Hard water
Result: Purge and wipe the wand after every drink, brush the group daily, detergent backflush weekly if the machine supports it, soak baskets weekly, and descale on a short interval — checking first that the manufacturer permits it.
Common mistakes
Using a descaler to clean coffee residue, or a detergent to remove scale
They are an acid and an alkali addressing different deposits. Each does nothing for the other's job, and descaler in a group head can damage seals.
Descaling on a fixed schedule regardless of water
Scale forms at a rate set by hardness. Soft water needs it far less often; hard water far more.
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.
- An interval shown here is a convention. It is not evidence about your specific model, and CoffeeHQ has none.
What this does not account for
- Intervals are conventions for typical home use, not manufacturer specifications.
- 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.