A teapot full of calcareous deposits is not only ugly, but also harmful. In addition, a plaque kettle requires more time to boil, since the thermal conductivity of the heating element is disrupted, and therefore more energy is wasted. Almost every housewife in her life encounters such a problem as scale in a teapot, or rather, its removal. However, also every woman has her own secrets on how to get rid of her. In addition, the question often arises of why scale is formed when using filtered water. In order to understand this, you need to figure out what this raid is.
It is well known that scale in a teapot is deposits of salts, namely, calcium and magnesium salts of carbonic acid, sulfuric or metasilicon. All of these compounds react with acids to form soluble substances that pass into water. It is their property that underlies the descaling process. However, different compounds interact with acids in different ways: carbonates are the easiest to remove, worse silicates and sulfates. In order to descale in a teapot, it is not necessary to be a professional chemist and have at your disposal a whole arsenal of chemicals. Often enough to use those simple ingredients that are in any kitchen. The folk wisdom accumulated over the years and transmitted from generation to generation knows how to remove scale from improvised means. In addition, there are a lot of industrial products for the same purpose, but many people do not want to use additional “chemistry”, given that we have to deal with a lot of harmful chemicals every day. Before descaling in a kettle, pay attention to the material from which it is made. So, many electric kettles are made of plastic, and it is not always resistant to aggressive chemicals, the same applies to the spiral, which can begin to rust.
But folk remedies for descaling almost no side effects. We list them:
The most ancient method of descaling was mechanical: plaque was cleaned using sand or other abrasive products. However, it is quite long and laborious, and therefore does not suit us.- Soda at a concentration of 10 grams per liter, boiled for 10-15 minutes, also saves from scale, but only in the most mild cases.
- Effectively removes scale in a kettle by boiling a solution of vinegar: 10-20 ml per 1 liter of water. The disadvantage of this method is the pungent smell of vinegar, which can cause a headache and various allergic reactions.
- A more gentle version of the previous method is citric acid. It must be boiled in a teapot (1 sachet per 1 liter of water) for 5-10 minutes, depending on the degree of contamination.
- Ascorbic acid (vitamin C) can also be used to clean dishes from scale. However, this tool is quite expensive.
- For lovers of natural remedies, you can offer boiling water with pieces of chopped fresh lemon (the same citric acid works ), apple (malic acid) or raw potato (citric and ascorbic acid). All of these products are also effective in light pollution.
Soda drinks are considered to be quite strong, albeit not cheap. You can use highly carbonated water, but cola, sprite and others are much more effective. They act due to the acids that make up their composition (citric, phosphoric and others), as well as due to carbon dioxide, which is also able to destroy salt deposits. When using drinks for descaling, be careful: they contain various dyes that can irreversibly stain the teapot's plastic. Drinks are most effective if you first boil them in a kettle, and then leave them to stand for several hours, then drain and thoroughly wash them.
Limescale in the teapot is formed even when using filtered water, since no filter will clean the water from salts by 100%: this can only be achieved using reverse osmosis systems , however, according to some scientists, it is undesirable to eat such water. And therefore, the means for descaling must be on the note of each mistress.