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How to Descale a Dolce Gusto Coffee Machine

Mary Smith
By Mary Smith. Updated: July 14, 2019
How to Descale a Dolce Gusto Coffee Machine
Image: you tube.

Automatic or capsule-based coffee machines, such as a Dolce Gusto machine, are very handy and practical for everyday use, whether at home or at work. One of their main advantages of this coffee machine is that they don't get dirty easily or need thorough daily cleaning. In addition, this method of making coffee is quicker than other methods such as instant coffee or a Moka pot.

The one thing about Dolce Gusto machines is that they do require descaling. Luckily for you, this process is easy! For more, keep reading here at oneHOWTO where we offer a detailed step-by-step of how to descale a Dolce Gusto machine.

You'll need:
  • Dolce Gusto coffee machine
  • Product for cleaning coffee machines
  • Water
  • Disposable container
You may also be interested in: How to Clean a Washing Machine With Baking Soda

Descaling Dolce Gusto

Are you wondering how to descale a Dolce Gusto machine? If so, follow these simple steps on how to descale a Nescafe Dolce Gusto machine:

Descaling Dolce Gusto: option 1

  1. The first step on our simply Dolce Gusto coffee machine manual is to get rid of capsules. In order to descale a Dolce Gusto machine, you should first remove any coffee capsules, if left inside.
  2. Next,check the Dolce Gusto capsule dispenser to make sure it’s empty. Once you’ve made sure it’s empty, put it back.
  3. Next, fill the water tank in your Dolce Gusto coffee machine up to about 500ml.
  4. Open the coffee machine descaler product (Liquid water descaling kit). You can find this product in supermarkets and hardware stores. If you can't find any, then you can descale Dolce Gusto with vinegar, but we don’t recommend this for automatic coffee machines. Read how can I clean my coffee make with vinegar.
  5. Pour the liquid contents of the Dolce Gusto descaling product into the tank with water. Make sure to follow the instructions on the packaging. Replace the tank onto the machine and turn it on.
  6. Place a container under the coffee spout, ideally something that you can easily discard or clean afterwards, as the descaler product can be toxic.
  7. Press the coffee machine button. Activate the water outlet as if you were going to whip up a coffee, emptying the tank and cleaning the Dolce Gusto machine. It is normal that the water appears cloudy at first. Repeat the process as many times as is necessary, emptying all of the liquid in the coffee machine.
  8. Then, fill the tank with clean water. Immediately refill the tank with clean fresh water to rinse out the Dolce Gusto descaling product properly. Once the water runs completely clear in color, your Dolce Gusto coffee machine has officially been descaled and cleaned properly, you can then use it as your normally would.

Descaling Dolce Gusto: option 2

  1. Fill the tank with water, descaling solution or vinegar.
  2. Make sure the pod is empty and arm is lowered.
  3. Press and hold down on the on/off button until it blinks.

Additionally, if you don’t have descaling solution or vinegar, you can also opt for citric acid to descale your coffee machine.

How to Descale a Dolce Gusto Coffee Machine - Descaling Dolce Gusto

Descaling solution: homemade

So, you don’t have any descaler at home and are looking for an alternative descaler. Here are your two best options:

Citric acid

When using citric acid as a descaler we recommend using 1 part acid to 20 part water.

Vinegar

When using vinegar to descale a coffee machine, we recommend using a 50/50 ratio.

With both of the above methods, we recommend running water cycles 4-5 times to make sure all leftover taste and smell is well removed.

Red light flashing - Dolce Gusto machine

Have you noticed that your red light is flashing on your Dolce Gusto machine and are not sure why? In this case, after descaling it and cleaning it, the first thing you should do is turn it off and then on again (by pushing on/off button). If this doesn’t work, unplug it from the socket and then plug it back in.

Descaling coffee machine

If you’re a coffee lover, you may find these following coffee tip articles useful:

If you want to read similar articles to How to Descale a Dolce Gusto Coffee Machine, we recommend you visit our Maintenance and home security category.

Write a comment

What did you think of this article?
9 comments
Rating:
gail anderson
after i descaled my machine i still have a yellow light showing
Rating:
Gillian S
I have descaled my machine twice but the orange light remains. How do I reset it to show the green light again? Thanks
OneHowTo Editor
Hi Gillian,

Is there much scale on the machine? It is perhaps a faulty light, but it could also not have worked due to a very heavy scale or even not using enough product?
jacqueline jones
I have descaled my coffee machine twice but the orange light remains what do i do now.
Rating:
H. Judd
Is it possible to buy descaling liquid online? If so, please let me know the website address which I should visit.

Thank you.
Peter James Croft
Can I buy descaler on line
OneHowTo Editor
Yes, Amazon or various retailers will stock it.
Patricia Smith
I think the mathod to de-scale your machines would be helpfull to users if the instructions were
issued with the machine
Janette Pullan
Just rerun another descale still orange descale showing no green ready light
Janette Pullan
I have descaled my coffee machine it is still showing orange for descaling did again same thing won't go back to green as in ready. HELP
Rating:
David Ball
Thanks you have saved me paying over the odds for the Dolce Gusto descale pack.
edward
We have completed the descaling as instructed. How do we get rid of the little red warning light?
OneHowTo Editor
Pressing the on/off button again should get rid of the light.
Hope this helps
Rating:
CHERYL MASSEY
I believe you missed telling that to descale, once you've done all the prep to begin the descaling process, you press AND HOLD the on/off button until it starts flashing - then it does it's thing to descale through the cleaning process. You fill the tank with the water/vinegar/descaling solution, you make sure the pod portion is empty and that the arm is down, you set the strength to as high as possible, then you PRESS & HOLD DOWN the on/off button until it blinks - the machine does the rest. After doing above, you do it all over again with plain water.
OneHowTo Editor
Thank you for the tip Cheryl!
malc
thank you so much for this Cheryl I started to pull my hair out as the light would not go off. but did follow the above with no go win until I saw your post thank you so much for your very important piece of information all is well and now done...
How to Descale a Dolce Gusto Coffee Machine
Image: you tube.
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How to Descale a Dolce Gusto Coffee Machine

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