FAQ: Caffenu Cleaning Products

Cleaning involves the removal of old coffee oil, residue and bitter tannins, from hard-to-reach parts in your machine. This is done with either a cleaning capsule, cleaning tablet, or cleaning powder, depending on the coffee machine. See specific cleaning for your coffee machine here.

Furthermore, descaling entails removing limescale deposits from the heating element and piping from coffee machines.

Both processes are essential for the maintenance and performance of a coffee machine.

Cleaning your coffee machine and equipment is essential for keeping your machine in top performance, as well as the taste of the coffee.

Cleaning your coffee machine helps with:

• Extending machine lifespan
• Removing old coffee oil and residue
• Improvement of machine performance
• Improvement of overall coffee flow and taste

Caffenu® offers a cleaning product for just about any coffee machine or equipment on the market:

• Coffee capsule/pod machines
• Bean to cup
• Espresso (Manual & Semi-automatic)
• Fully automatic
• Filter coffee machines
• Kettles
• Milk frothers & circuits
• Urns

The Caffenu® liquid descalers are made to remove limescale and mineral build-up from the heating elements and piping in coffee machines.

Limescale is brought on by the water used in coffee machines. Additionally, the “hardness” of the water plays a big role in the pace at which limescale builds up.

Limescale is a layer of deposits which form on the heating element and piping. Once this layer begins forming, it increases the energy needed to heat the water. Therefore, the coffee machine is working harder than usual, and can lead to machine malfunction and costly repairs.

Hard water contains higher levels of mineral deposits like calcium and magnesium, which cause the build-up of limescale. Limescale is in most cases inevitable, making it critical to descale your coffee machine.

The Caffenu® Eco Descaler contains 200ml, enough for 2 doses, and 400ml, enough for 4 doses. Use one dose every 3-6 months to descale your machine.

The recommended usage increases depending on the water hardness in your area.

We recommend that you use the Caffenu® cleaning capsule after every 30 coffees made. Or at least once a month.

Please be advised that the descaling instructions we provide are general guidelines, for machines without specific instructions.

It is recommended to follow out the descaling instructions as per your machine manufacturer’s guide.

If the descaling light is still on, please try descaling according to your machine’s instructions using only water. Your machine will register this as the “proper” descaling procedure. The light should then switch off.

There could be two possible reasons for this.

1. It may be that the process you have used is not enough to descale your machine. You may need to use more liquid and a greater concentration of descaling solution and descale again. This is likely if you have very “hard” water in your area, and haven’t descaled your machine in a long time, so a bit more concentration of the solution is required.
2. If your coffee maker does not come out of descaling mode even after following this exact descaling process, try unplugging it and waiting about three to four minutes before plugging it back in again.

We don’t offer descaling pods, as the descaler must run from the water reservoir through the machine to combat limescale.

In saying that, you could use our liquid descaler in your machine’s water tank/reservoir, and run the descaling cycle according to your coffee machine’s user manual instructions.

No, theCaffenu® cleaning capsuleworks in the front of the coffee machine. It is not designed to enter through the back, the water tank of your capsule coffee machine, nor is it made of the right ingredients. Please use theCaffenu® Eco descalerto descale your machine.

All Caffenu® products dissolve easily and leave no residue behind. Using our products can however result in better tasting coffee. Cleaning and Descaling your coffee equipment regularly is an important factor for the taste of your coffee.

NO! Please follow the instructions carefully. Just because the product is food safe does not mean it is safe to drink. Please make sure you dispose of the water in your cup after running the cleaning capsule through the machine. You can however store the cleaning capsules next to your normal coffee capsules. No cross contamination will occur.

Yes, the cleaning capsule will fit exactly and will not damage your coffee capsule machine. It might feel slightly harder to close the lever/chamber, this is to ensure correct sealing and seating of the cleaning capsule.

Yes, a little bit of water leakage out the front first or out the rear is normal.

Sometimes, due to the pressure and the fact that there is no more material left inside the capsule (unlike a coffee inside a coffee capsule to hold its shape) it can collapse. This is ok and will not damage your machine.

Yes, if your machine is designed for Nespresso® Original capsules. The Nespresso® compatible cleaning capsule will work in your compatible coffee machine.

Furthermore, the cleaning capsule works in Nespresso® U machines. However, you need to follow specific instructions because these machines eject capsules automatically. Should the capsule for whatever reason not eject automatically, you can push it down manually to eject.

Specific instructions for Nespresso® U and U Milk®: Because the U® is an automatic machine, it drops the capsule automatically after the first cleaning cycle. Simply reinsert the cleaning capsule and press the button again for best results, then rinse.

It could be that there’s blockage on your machine’s washer plate.

We recommend the below:

• Check that there’s no capsule foil lodged against the washer plate.
• Running another cleaning capsule in your machine.
• Use an unfolded paperclip to scrape coffee build-up from the washer plate, as seen in the attached image.

Your machine likely needs to be descaled.

You could also make sure of the below:

• The machine is closed/locked properly
• Make sure the water tank is full and placed properly

No. This capsule is only designed for the Nespresso® Grand Crus Range of machines, see Machine Compatibility.

Yes, we have cleaning capsules for several types of coffee capsule and pod machines. Find the correct cleaning capsule for your machine here.