How to Clean a Coffee Pot Without Vinegar

Today you’re going to learn how to clean a coffee pot without vinegar.

If you don’t like the smell of vinegar or if you’re currently out of vinegar, we’ve got just the right alternative.

How to clean a coffee pot without vinegar in 6 steps

If you want to clean your coffee pot (like this one) with a natural cleaner that gets the job done, and vinegar is not an option, we’ve got two words for you:

Baking soda.

Good ol’ baking soda can already be found in most households. It’s also very affordable, and it works great as a natural coffee pot cleaner.

Here’s how to clean a coffee pot with baking soda in 6 steps:

1. Rinse your coffee pot to get rid of any coffee residue.

2. Lather up the pot with some natural dish soap to get out more stubborn dirt and rinse with clean water.

Why natural dish soap?

Here's why:

Learn more here.

3. Now it’s time to sanitize the pot. Prepare a mix of one part baking soda (we recommend this one) to 9 parts water.

4. Use the baking soda mixture to wash the outside of the pot, including the handle.

5. Fill the pot with the water and baking soda mix. Let sit for 30 minutes.

6. After 30 minutes, dump out the mixture and rinse the pot with clean water.

Done – that’s how to clean a coffee pot without vinegar!

Now that you’re armed for victory, we’re going to share a secret for you.

While most people think of coffee-pot dirtiness as primarily a matter of stains, there’s an even more important reason why you should be cleaning your coffee pot with baking soda.

Why sanitizing your coffee pot is important

We hate to break it to you, but coffee is not the only thing that ends up inside your coffee pot.

In fact, the moist environment inside coffee makers causes them to become packed with microbes.

Journalists from CBS News sent their coffee makers to a lab to study what’s inside their favorite morning brew.

The results shocked them.

One of their coffee makers harbored a whopping 4.6 million bacteria colonies.

If you’re wondering how that could be, then anther study might intrigue you.

Researchers discovered that humans are not the only ones who get energized by drinking coffee. Bacteria find caffeine just as invigorating as we do, causing them to spread fast in coffee makers.

Now you know why sanitizing your coffee pot is important.

Can baking soda really clean a coffee pot?

You bet!

A group of researchers at the University of North Carolina tested the antimicrobial powers of baking soda and confirmed that it was just as effective at killing bacteria as most chemical-laden household cleaners.

In fact, they found baking soda works great for killing such bacteria as Staphylococcus aureus, salmonella, and E. coli, all of which are common in kitchen.

Exposing these bacteria to baking soda for just 5 minutes was enough to get the job done.

But it gets even better.

A different study confirmed that baking soda kills 99.99% of viruses within the first minute of contact.

Way to go, baking soda!

That's how to clean a coffee pot without vinegar

No more excuses for having a dirty coffee pot. With the six-step method in this post, you’ve got all the tools you need to bring the microbial expansion inside your coffee pot to an end.

And if you want to do a perfect job, we recommend cleaning your entire coffee maker rather than just the pot.

Here’s an all-natural 9 step guide on how to do exactly that.

If you want to learn more about keeping your kitchen clean, check out these posts to learn how to sanitize your dishes, and why you urgently need to sanitize your kitchen sink.

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