Caffenu will tell you exactly why, when and how you should clean your Nespresso machine in order for you to enjoy the best cup of coffee.

Do Nespresso® machines need cleaning? The answer is, YES, on a regular basis. Just like commercial and industrial machines, Nespresso® coffee machines collect odour, tannins and old coffee oils that get stuck in the brewing chamber of the machines. Every time you make a coffee, it leaves residue behind which hardens, and is a real feast for any bacteria. If you don’t remove this residue, it leads to blockage of the machine, bitter tasting coffee, and can also be a health risk. See more studies here.

But I descale my machine

That is great, and necessary, but descaling and cleaning are two completely different things and require different cleaning agents. Usually for descaling a very safe and healthy acid is used but a CLEANER requires a detergent.

A descaler enters your machine through the water tank, the back, and removes lime scale and calcium build-up from the boiler and the pipes. Descaling does not reach inaccessible areas in the BREWING chamber, and therefor is not a solution to blocked chambers and high bacteria levels on the nozzle and washer plate (basically where your coffee is brewed).

The Caffenu® cleaning capsule contains a unique foaming agent that foams up inside the brewing chamber, and binds dirty residue, oil and bacteria in those impossible to reach areas. With the rinsing process it flushes out all the things you don’t want in your next coffee, leaving you with better tasting coffee and a clean machine. More information on what exactly is being cleaned here.

But I don’t use my machine that often

Dormant machines are a perfect playground for any type of bacteria. The coffee oils have plenty of time to harden inside the brewing chamber. If you have not used your machine in a while, do yourself a favour, and clean it with the capsule before you make your next coffee.

But my machine is brand new

That is great. Please keep it that way. The best time to start using the Caffenu® cleaning capsule is now, right after you bought the machine. Simply use a capsule after every thirty cups of coffee made and your machine will stay as good as new because you are not giving the machine a chance to build up blockages inside the brewing chamber, the pump can function properly, increasing the machine’s life span tremendously right from the get go.

But a chemical is not safe and will leave aftertaste

Your health and safety is our utmost priority, so you will be glad to hear that the agent inside the Caffenu® cleaning capsule is made from food grade, organic, and readily biodegradable ingredients commonly found in most detergents (check the ingredients here). It completely dissolves after you have carried out the cleaning cycle. If you check your capsule after use, you will see that it is completely empty, and no traces of the cleaning agent will be found inside your machine, so no aftertaste is possible. The only thing you will gain is fresh better tasting coffee.

But plastic coffee capsules will melt in my machine

The truth is, they don’t. We have tested this about a million times by now. Our Caffenu® cleaning capsules are made from a food grade BPA free material, the melting point of which is above 230 degrees Celsius. The water temperature of a Nespresso® machine typically reaches 75-80 degrees Celsius, not even close to the melting point or the softening point of our cleaning capsules. Please also remember that a cleaning capsule is inherently different to a coffee capsule. Compared to coffee capsules, our cleaning capsule contains a soluble agent, which creates much less pressure build-up than regular coffee capsules. This leads to high performance in all Nespresso® machines. Slight deformation of the capsule may occur from time to time which is perfectly normal. This is due to high pressure within the brewing chamber of up to 19 bar. However nothing is ‘melting’  and this does not affect the effectiveness of the cleaning product.

Nespresso® only sells descaler, so I don’t need a capsule to clean my machine

Nespresso® solely specializes in coffee capsules. You may have noticed that the Nespresso® doesn’t manufacture their own descaler, the descaler is manufactured by De Longhi, and so are most Nespresso® coffee machines. The pure fact that Nespresso® doesn’t have a cleaning capsule, does not mean, it is not a great product to use.

In short: the Caffenu® cleaning capsule was specifically developed to improve Nespresso® machines, and not to damage them. Most machine break downs come from blockages. The Caffenu® cleaning capsule removes those blockages, so it generally improves the life span of Nespresso® coffee machines.

How do I use the Caffenu® cleaning capsule?

The Caffenu® cleaning capsule is inserted into the brewing chamber of the Nespresso® coffee machine, just like a coffee capsule. At the press of a button, the capsule releases a unique foaming agent that gets rid of all coffee oils, odours, tannins, and bacteria in just 2 minutes. It removes dirty residue from impossible to reach areas. Once the capsule is removed, press the large button twice to rinse the machine with water and voila: your machine is clean and your next coffee will be fresh.

Please also remember to descale your machine using  Caffenu® eco descaler.

Only a clean machine makes the perfect coffee!