You should give your whole coffeemaker, (including the inside!) a good cleaning every month. Water deposits build up inside of it, not to mention coffee residue, and other things. It can really affect the taste of your coffee after a while. Here is what I do every month:
1. Wash the entire outside of the machine to remove dust, grime, and drips of coffee. Use a toothbrush to get into nooks and crannies, warm water should remove the rest. If you need a little bit of extra cleaning power, add some vinegar to your wash water.
2. Clean the carafe and any other removable, washable parts really well with soap and warm water. While these parts are out, take a look at the machine again and see if there is any residue you can wipe off before you put the parts back in.
3. Fill the carafe 1/2 with water and 1/2 with vinegar. (You can use less if you really hate the smell of vinegar, maybe try 1/4 vinegar and 3/4 water).
4. Run the brew cycle.
5.When the cycle is finished, dump the vinegar water (now it's a great sink/drain cleaner and deodorizer!) and run a cycle with just water. Sometimes I will run 2 cycles of plain water, just to make sure I got all of the vinegar out.
6. Make a pot of coffee and taste the difference!
7. Repeat monthly. It helps me to pick the same day every month to clean it.
This should only take a few minutes of your time (not including waiting for the brew cycle), but the first time you do this you might find yourself spending a lot of time scrubbing. Just remember, if you continue to do this monthly, it should take less time the next time you clean it.
