Most home espresso machines that "stop working properly" are not broken. They are dirty. Coffee oils go rancid inside the group head, limescale narrows the boiler pipes, and the coffee slowly turns bitter while the owner cycles through three different bags of beans trying to work out what changed.
Cleaning is the least glamorous part of making good coffee and the one with the biggest payoff.
Cleaning and descaling are not the same thing
People use these interchangeably. They solve completely different problems, and doing one does not do the other.
Cleaning removes coffee oils and grounds from the parts coffee touches — group head, shower screen, portafilter, baskets. Old oils turn rancid and make every shot taste stale and bitter. This is frequent work.
Descaling removes mineral scale from the parts water touches — boiler, pipes, heating element. Scale insulates the element, chokes water flow, and eventually kills the machine. This is occasional work.
Daily
Sixty seconds, and it prevents most problems.
- Knock out the puck and wipe the basket dry after every shot.
- Run a short flush of water through the group head to clear loose grounds.
- Wipe the steam wand immediately after use and purge it. Milk that dries inside the wand is genuinely unpleasant and very hard to remove later.
- Leave the portafilter out of the group when not in use so the seal is not permanently compressed.
Weekly: backflushing
If your machine has a three-way solenoid valve — most pump machines with a proper group head do — you can backflush. This forces water and detergent backwards through the group to clear oils out of places you cannot reach.
- Put the blind basket (the one with no holes) into your portafilter.
- Add roughly half a teaspoon of Cafetto Evo cleaner.
- Lock in and run the pump for about ten seconds, then stop for ten. Repeat five times.
- Remove the portafilter, rinse it thoroughly, then repeat the cycle five more times with no detergent to flush all residue out.
- Pull one shot and discard it.
Also worth doing weekly: pop the shower screen off if yours is removable and scrub it, and clean the group gasket with a group head brush. The build-up under a shower screen after a month is usually a shock the first time you look.
Soak your portafilter and baskets in a cleaner solution while you are at it.
Every one to three months: descaling
How often depends entirely on your water. Sydney water is moderately soft by Australian standards, so every three months is reasonable for most households here. If you are on tank water or in a hard-water area, go more often.
Signs you have left it too long: the machine takes longer to heat, flow rate has dropped, or you hear more noise than usual from the pump.
- Empty the water tank and fill it with Cafetto Renew descaler mixed as directed.
- Run roughly a third of the tank through the group head.
- Run some through the steam wand and hot water tap if you have them.
- Let it sit for around twenty minutes so the solution works on the scale.
- Run the rest through.
- Rinse the tank thoroughly and run two full tanks of fresh water through to clear every trace. Descaler residue in your first shot is memorable for the wrong reasons.
A note on vinegar: it does technically dissolve scale, but it is harsh on seals and internal components, and the smell lingers for weeks. A purpose-made descaler is formulated to protect the machine while it works.
Prevention beats descaling
Use filtered water. It slows scale build-up dramatically and it also makes the coffee taste better, since water is around 98% of what is in your cup. Never use distilled or fully de-ionised water though — espresso machines need some mineral content to read water levels correctly, and completely stripped water tastes flat.
Common questions
My espresso suddenly tastes bitter. Is it the beans? Check the machine first. Rancid oils in the group head are the most common cause, and it comes on gradually enough that people blame their beans. Backflush, then taste again.
Can I backflush a machine without a solenoid valve? No — there is nowhere for the water to go and you risk damage. Most single-boiler machines with pressurised baskets fall into this group. Clean the parts manually instead.
Is organic cleaner as effective? Yes. Cafetto Evo is OMRI-certified organic and is used in commercial cafés, including ours.
How do I clean my grinder? Brush the burrs and chamber every few weeks. Old grounds go stale in there and drift your grind setting — more on that in our grind size guide.
We use the same cleaning products across the Chambers café network. Shop maintenance gear, or restock your beans — free shipping over $100.