How To Descale Nespresso Vertuo Machines?

Why should you descale your Nespresso Machine?

Lime can built up in the water tank due to heating of tap water which contains a lot of minerals or impurities. This buildup can affect the heating of the water which may lead to the water not reaching the ideal water temperature for espresso extraction. When this happens, the taste of your espresso may not be optimal. This buildup of lime scale can also reduce the lifespan of your Nespresso coffee machine. Hence, it is also important to keep track of your descaling schedule and perform the descaling regularly.

How often should you descale your Nespresso?

It is a good practice to perform descaling every 3 to 6 months of use. However, how often to descale Nespresso really depends on the water hardness of your water used for brewing coffee. If it has a high hardness which means it contains a lot of minerals/impurities, then lime build up faster and you would have descale the Nespresso machine more often. If the water is very pure, then you can descale less frequently.

Should you descale Nespresso with vinegar?

No. It is not recommended to descale Nespresso with vinegar. Nespresso has specified against the use of vinegar or other household products over their descaling kits. Their descaling solution uses citric acid which can dissolve the scale buildup gently without risk of damage to the machine parts. In addition, the citric acid is non toxic and doesn’t have a odor. This means that there won’t be a residual effect on the taste of coffee from the descaling agent.

On the other hand, vinegar contains plain acetic acid which may damage the machine. In addition it may also contains other compounds with flavouring and this will have a residual effect on the coffee taste.

Nespresso descale solutions for Vertuo models

If you are looking to buy descaling solutions, here are some recommendations to consider.

Nespresso descale kit

This is the official Nespresso descaling kit. It can be used for all Nespresso Vertuo machines as well as original line models. It contains 2 descale kit.

Nespresso Descaling Kit

Nespresso descale liquid

This is another popular Nespresso descaling liquid. The nice thing about this is that it is compatible with multiple coffee maker brands.

Nespresso descale liquid

Nespresso Descale Instructions

The descale instructions differ for each model slightly. Hence, I will list the steps separately for each vertuo model.

How to descale Nespresso Vertuo Next?

Here are the steps to descale Nespresso Vertuo Next. It should take 20 minutes to complete.

1. Empty both the capsule container and the drip tray.
2. Pour 1 unit of the Nespresso descaling liquid into the water tank. Then add 0.5 litres of water into the tank.
3. Close the machine head and lock the machine. Then press the button to turn on the machine.
4. When you see your Nespresso blinking lights turn steady, it is ready.
5. Open the head and eject the vertuo capsule.
6. Close the machine head again and keep the lever in “unlocked” position.
7. Press the button for 7 seconds to activate the descaling mode. You will see the button blinking rapidly. At this point, you have to confirm entering the descaling mode within 45 seconds or the machine will go back to ready mode for brewing coffee.
8. Turn the lever left  to lock the machine. Then turn right to unlock. Then press the button for 7 seconds in this “unlocked” position.
9. Put a container with 1 liter capacity right below the coffee outlet.
10. To begin descaling, turn the lever left and press the button. Once the machine has completed the first descaling phase, it will stop automatically.
11. Empty the cup support, drip tray and water tank. Then rinse them thoroughly.
12. Pour fresh drinking water into the water tank.
13. Then press the button to start rinsing the machine. Once rinsing is done, the machine will again stop automatically.
14. Descaling is done when the rapid blinking lights on the button turn steady. Let the machine dry for 10 minutes before you continue using it.

How to descale Nespresso Vertuoplus

Here are the steps to descale Nespreso Vertuoplus

1. Press the button to turn on the machine
2. Push up the lever to open the machine head. Eject the used vertuoline capsule. Push down the lever to close the head.
3. Push down the lever for 3 seconds to turn off the machine.
4. Empty the used capsule container and cup support.
5. Pour 1 unit of the descaling liquid into the water tank, followed by at least 0.8 liters of water.
6. Press the button and push down the lever simultaneously for 3 seconds to activate the special function menu. You will see orange steady light when the menu is activated.
7. Press down the lever 1 time to enter descaling mode. This has to be done within 2 minutes or the machine will return to ready mode. Once the descaling function is selected, you will see orange blinking light 1 time every 2 seconds.
8. Put a container of 0.8 liters capacity below the coffee outlet.
9. Press the button to begin descaling. Once descaling is done, the machine will automatically stop. During the descaling process, you will see blinking orange lights.
10. Empty the cup support and water tank. Clean and rinse them thoroughly.
11. Pour fresh drinking water in the water tank and put the tank back on the machine.
12. Then press button to start rinsing the machine. Once rinsing is done, the machine will again automatically stop. When descaling is done, you will see the light blinks orange every 2 seconds.
13. Press the button and hold the lever down for 3 seconds to exit the descaling procedure.
14. When you see green steady lights, the descaling is done. Let the machine dry for 10 minutes before you use it.

How to descale Nespreso vertuoline

Here are the steps to descale Nespreso vertuoline.

1. Press the button to turn on the machine.
2. Once you see steady lights, open the head and eject used capsule.
3. Close the head and keep the lever in “unlocked” position.
4. Empty the used capsule container and cup support.
5. Pour 1 unit of descaling liquid into water tank, followed by 0.8 liters of water.
6. Press the button for 7 seconds to go into descaling mode.
7. When you see rapid blinking lights, turn lever left to lock the machine and then right to unlock. Then press the button again for 7 seconds in the unlocked position.
8. Put a container with 0.8 liters capacity below the coffee outlet.
9. To begin descaling, turn lever left to lock the machine and press the button. Once descaling is done, the machine will auto stop.
10. Empty the cup support and water tank. Clean and rinse them thoroughly.
11. Pour fresh drinking water into the water tank and put the tank back in place.
12. Press the button to start rinsing the machine. Once rinsing is done, the machine will auto stop.
13. Press button for 7 seconds to exit descaling mode.
14. When the rapid blinking lights turn steady, descaling is done. Let machine dry for 10 minutes before you use it.

How to descale Nespresso Evoluo?

Here are the steps to descale Nespresso Evoluo.

1. Press the button to turn on Nespresso Evoluo.
2. Wait for it to heat up
3. When you see your the blinking lights turn steady, it is ready.
4. Open the head and eject the used pod.
5. Close the head and keep the lever in the “unlocked” position.
6. Empty the contents in the cup support and the used capsules from the capsule container.
7. Fill up the water tank with 1 unit of the Nespresso descaling liquid and pour in 0.8 litres of water.
8. Press the button for 7 seconds to activate the descaling mode. You will see the button blinking rapidly. At this point, you have to confirm entering the descaling mode within 45 seconds or the machine will go back to ready mode for brewing coffee.
9. Turn the lever left to the “lock” symbol on the machine head to lock the machine, then turn right to unlock.
10. Then press the button for 7 seconds in the “unlocked” position
11. Put a container of at least 0.8 liters capacity under the coffee outlet.
12. To begin descaling, turn the lever left to lock the machine and press the button. The machine will automatically stop once the descaling is completed.
13. Now empty both the cup support and water tank, rinse and clean them thoroughly.
14. Pour fresh drinking water into the water tank and place the tank back in place on the machine.
15. Then press the button again to rinse the machine. The machine will again automatically stop when this is completed. But you can stop the procedure anytime by press the button again.
16. Press the button for 7 seconds to exit the descaling mode. The button will then stop blinking rapidly and turns steady.
17. At this point, descaling is done. Just allow the machine to dry for about 10 minutes before you use it to brew coffee again.

Why is Nespresso stuck in descale mode?

You may encounter Nespresso Vertuo Next getting stuck in descale mode. This happens if you unplug the machine when it is carrying out the descaling procedure. When you start the machine again, it will enter back into the descale mode. To fix this, repeat the descaling and rinsing cycles and let them complete.

Why my Nespresso won’t descale?

The Nespresso won’t descale when the machine is already completely scaled and hence the descaling program can’t start. In this scenario, the machine will stop and blink. To fix this, pause the descaling program for a few minutes after pouring in the descaling agent. These few minutes should give the descaling liquid time to penetrate through the scale build-up. Then press the button to restart the descaling again.

When to descale Nespresso Vertuo models?

It is best to descale regularly every 3 to 6 months. However, when you see your Nespresso vertuo blinking lights alternately 3 times and become steady, it is a good time to start descaling. Otherwise, the machine will stop to make coffee in a couple of times more until you performed the descaling.