I have never cleaned my electric kettle as I only use filtered rainwater in it! Before I switched to rainwater, I would boil vinegar like above!
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I donāt bother as my water is very soft and I donāt really care if the kettle is slightly brown on the inside. My friends and neighbours are too polite to examine the inside of my kettle much less to comment. Anybody caught doing so will have some 'splaining to do.
The teapot must of course be rinsed in clean water but never scrubbed or soaped inside, over generations the quality of the tea made will become awesome. If you allow the fur lining to grow you get to the point that you could, in principle, make a cup of tea without leaves in an emergency. And the added insulation keeps the tea hotter. I have considered installing a glass panel in the side so it can be admired without crass lifting of the lid ā¦ but then it would need an internal wiper bladeā¦
I could start a new thread on things that donāt need to be clean and all the hand-me-down cleaning techniques and new wonder products that you consequently donāt need.
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We use a kettle on a gas cooker and donāt use an electric one (I think we still have a electric kettle somewhere from pre-gas days somewhere in the house though).
Our old enamel kettle never had any build up inside of it. We have recently replaced it with a stainless steel kettle and expect this one will be the same. Never have had the problem as outlined with the electric ones.
I wonder if the superheating of the water around the element (causing localised boiling and vaporisation) causes the minerals to crystalise out onto the element and also deposit elsewhere. Superheating doesnāt occur to the same degree in a heavy based gas top kettle.
Note; we live in Brisbane metro where the water is reasonable hard (has some mineral content) and deposition should occur if conditions are favourable.
In a previous home I owned I had a slow wood burning combustion stove which I used rather than the gas unit in the alcove beside it . I had a Noritake enamelled kettle for years and never had any problems with cleaning it . /
It was only when I moved house and started using electric kettles that I noticed a build of scale etc . Melbourneās water , City West is my supplier , would be regarded as soft by international standards . Melbourne - City West Water 15-29 mg/L Total Hardness (mg/L CaCO3) . /
The sudden burst of heat from electricity in an electric kettle may well contribute to scaling .
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ā¦ well over 200 mg/L here. For the kettle I generally go with 3 to 5 rounds of shot-blasting then soak it in CLR for a week - but seriously, scale builds up in no time and Iāve become accustomed to having the occasional up to 5c piece sized chunks of calcium exit the kettle into my coffee cup. Itās a bit crunchy, but I donāt believe it has too many adverse health implications (??). Probably once a year I do the vinegar treatment which seems to react quite well with calcium carbonate - probably takes 2 to 3 iterations of boil vinegar, soak for an hour or so, repeat - then a few water boils to get the vinegar rinsed out.
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CLR for a week sounds a bit toxicā¦ But if it works for you thatās all that matters!
In order to reduce the amount of cleaning the electric kettle needs I use filtered water, makes a big difference. When it does need cleaning I also use vinegar or lemon juice if I have lemons that need using from our tree, they are way too expensive to buy.
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Ho @Choops , welcome to the community.
CLR surprisingly isnāt toxic per say, its main ingredients are lactic acid and a common surfactant, lauramine oxide. The lactic acid will be the active ingredient which dissolves calcium (or other alkali) and rust/ iron stain deposits. While not toxic, it will be corrosive/hazardous and appropriate personal protection equipment should be worn when used. Refer to the manufacturers information for PPE requirements.
Both these ingredients are highly soluble in water and will disappear with a good rinse.
Like you have indicated, most acids at high enough concentrations should also have a similar effect as well.
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I just use white vinegar - cheap as!
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Wow thanks for enlightening me on CLR I have an ALDI alternative (same thing just heaps cheaper) and from the smell of it I figured it must be toxic but just looked at the bottle and it says it cleans tea and coffee potsā¦ Sorry about that Iāll blame it on sleep deprivation causing brain fog! 
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Hi does it matter yhe material the kettle is made out of. For example some kettles are plastic whilst some are metal. I wasnāt sure if plastic reacts with vinegar.
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It doesnāt matter. Vinegar is a dilute weak acid that has no effect on common plastic containers. You can buy vinegar and products containing it in plastic bottles.
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No worries i understand what you mean. I just looked at the instructions in the manual it mentioned to leave the boiled solution overnight in the kettle and remove the next day
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I have cleaned both plastic and metal with vinegar. If you consider that the vinegar is stored long term in plastic bottles, I donāt think there will be an issue. But it is always best to do a quick test with a small amount the first time just to be sure, to be sure. 
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