How to clean a kettle: Keep your kettle shiny and free of limescale

From making our morning coffee and afternoon cups of tea, to boiling up dinner time pasta and filling hot water bottles at night, our kettles see some serious action throughout the day. With this constant use, we don’t always find the time to give our kettle a proper clean. Even the best kettles will prove less effective if their interiors are afflicted with limescale. Not to mention the fact that a kettle with a grubby exterior can make an otherwise tidy kitchen look worse for wear.

To that end, we’ve put together a handy cleaning guide that will ensure your kettle stays boiling smoothly and standing shinily on your countertop, featuring comment from Georgina Shepherd, cleaning expert at Housekeep. While some specific cleaning products are recommended below, most of our cleaning advice utilises household products you’re already likely to have at hand.

Keep reading for our top methods for keeping the outside of your kettle spick and span, whether its made of glass, stainless steel or plastic. You can also find all the information you need for keeping the inside of your kettle clean and limescale-free.

General kettle cleaning tips

• Before you get to trying any of our cleaning methods below, make sure that your kettle is cooled and unplugged from the wall
• Once you’ve finished cleaning your stainless steel kettle, giving it a light rub with a microfibre cloth and some olive oil can help give it a noticeable shine
• Don’t use overly harsh products when cleaning your kettle, as Georgina notes: “Avoid abrasive cloths or scourers, as they can scratch the surface. Also, stay away from bleach and other harsh cleaners, as they can damage the finish”

How to clean the outside of your kettle

While removing limescale is important for keeping your kettle functioning correctly, cleaning the outside of it is also worthwhile. Kettles tend to sit out on the countertop in your kitchen and often draw the eye (mine is a fetching sage green), meaning that a grubby exterior can quickly turn them into a bit of an eyesore.

Cleaning the base and the spout

I’m highlighting these areas first, as they are splash-prone and easy to overlook. To clean the base and spout of your kettle, wipe the areas down with a damp cloth or sponge, taking care to avoid introducing moisture to any electrical inputs. For hard to shift stains or exterior limescale build-up, Georgina has this advice: “A soft-bristled toothbrush works really well for cleaning the spout of a kettle. Just dip it in a solution of equal parts white vinegar and water, and gently scrub away any limescale or other residue that’s built up over time.”

Cleaning the body of your kettle

How you’ll want to clean the body of your kettle can vary depending on the material it is made from. However, Georgina has this general advice to offer, saying “for everyday cleaning, a dry microfiber cloth is perfect for buffing away fingerprints and smudges.” For different surfaces and tougher stains, our advice is as follows:

• • Plastic: This is probably the easiest exterior material to clean. A plastic kettle should be cleaned with a damp cloth. Georgina adds: “If there’s a greasy build-up from cooking splatters, I’d recommend using a soft microfiber cloth with warm water and a few squirts of washing-up liquid”

• Glass: A glass kettle has its upsides and downsides, as Georgina notes “Glass tends to show smudges and dirt more easily, but the upside is that limescale buildup inside the kettle is also easier to spot.” For a general spruce-up, a wipedown with a microfibre cloth and some warm, soapy water will suffice. For specks and stains, similar methods to descaling can be employed. For limescale, a solution of water and white vinegar applied with a cloth can help break these stains down. If you’re dealing with grease or similar build-ups, a paste of bicarbonate of soda and water can be applied and allowed to dry, before being scrubbed with a non-abrasive sponge

• Stainless steel: Similarly to the materials above, stainless steel can be given a quick clean with a sponge and warm, soapy water, while a vinegar solution of bicarb paste can be used to tackle grease and other tough-to-shift stains

• Ceramic: If you have a ceramic kettle like, for example, a stove top Le Creuset kettle, a ceramic hob cleaner can help lift off stains and revive the exterior surface of your kettle

• Copper: If you have a copper kettle, you can tackle tarnished spots with this handy at-home method. Cut a lemon in half, sprinkle salt on one side, then use this half to rub the tarnished spot with a gentle, circular motion. Finally, rinse thoroughly and wipe down with a damp cloth.

How to clean the inside of your kettle

To give the inside of your kettle a general refresh, a quick wipedown with a damp cloth should suffice. However, most of the cleaning problems associated with the inside of your kettle will involve build-ups of limescale, which will require some extra attention. For more information on what limescale is, how it builds up in your kettle and how to both remove and prevent it from returning, check out our full kettle descaling guide.