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🔧 Owner's Guides · 2026Descale every 100 brews with Urnex Dezcal or BioCaf, never vinegar: dissolve the powder first, rinse three times, hand-wash the carafe. Moccamaster's routine.
Descale every 100 brew cycles, or each time you finish a box of 100 filters. Dissolve a packet of descaling powder in 32 oz of warm water in a separate container, pour it into the reservoir, and run a brew cycle with no filter. Discard the solution, then run three cycles of clean water. Moccamaster recommends Urnex Dezcal or BioCaf and advises against vinegar and pure citric acid. Wash the carafe and brew basket by hand after each use: no Moccamaster part is dishwasher-safe.
Five steps from Moccamaster's own guide. Dissolving the powder in a separate container first is the one owners skip.
Moccamaster's support site is direct: Descale your brewer every 100 brew cycles, or after finishing a box of 100-count filters.
The filter box is the reminder, which is the point. Its manual adds a floor of every three months, and says hard water means descaling more often, without giving a figure.
This is not optional maintenance. Moccamaster's warranty lists Failure to descale or properly maintain the brewer
among its exclusions, and Moccamaster says scale building up in the copper boiling element can slow the flow of water and affect the brewing temperature. A cloudy glass tube in the reservoir is, per Moccamaster, usually mineral build-up and a sign to descale.
Moccamaster recommends Urnex products, naming Dezcal and BioCaf descaling powders. It sells both in its own store; it does not make a descaler of its own.
It advises against the two home remedies people reach for. On vinegar: We do not recommend descaling with vinegar.
Its support site says vinegar may not remove the build-up and is hard to rinse out, leaving an odour in later pots. On citric acid, it says an incorrect concentration of the pure acid may not work and could damage the brewer, and points to citric-acid-based descalers such as BioCaf or Dezcal instead.
Water matters too. Moccamaster advises against distilled and reverse-osmosis water, saying water with very low mineral content can damage the copper boiling element over time.
From Moccamaster's own descaling guide, which covers every brewer:
Do not add the powder directly to your water reservoir, because undissolved powder can clog the heating element. And never pour hot water into the brewer: if you dissolved the powder in hot water, let it cool first.
Moccamaster's 2021 manual gives two rinse cycles; its current guide gives three, which is what we follow. On a Cup-One, use the full amount of powder and water and pour it through in stages.
Descaling removes mineral scale; it does not remove coffee oils. For that, Moccamaster recommends a coffee machine cleaning powder (it names Urnex Cleancaf and BioCaf cleaners) run through the same five steps. It says you can clean as often as you like. Its own bundle pairs one cleaning packet with one descaling packet each time you open a new box of filters.
One habit helps more than any product: Moccamaster recommends filling the reservoir from a separate pitcher, not the carafe, so coffee oils are not carried into the water tank.
Moccamaster's manual asks you to hand-wash the carafe and brew basket with mild dishwashing detergent after each use, rinse them thoroughly, and wipe the brewer's exterior with a moist cloth. Unplug it and let it cool first.
The manual is explicit that Carafes are not dishwasher safe.
Its cleaning guide extends that to every removable part, saying the dishwasher's high heat can make components brittle. Avoid abrasive cleansers and steel wool on the carafes.
Stained thermal carafe: Moccamaster's guide suggests soaking it overnight in hot water with electric dishwasher detergent, then rinsing well.
Brew basket: on the automatic drip-stop models (KBGV, KBGT) the basket pauses the flow when the carafe comes out; on the manual models (KB, KBT, KBTS), turn the basket to closed after brewing before you lift it out, to stop drips. Moccamaster says the closed setting is not for pausing mid-brew.
For a week or more without use, Moccamaster's manual says to remove the outlet arm and empty the remaining water by holding the brewer upside down over the sink. When you bring it back into use, run a cycle of clean water before brewing.
Choosing a model rather than maintaining one? See which Moccamaster to buy.
Moccamaster names Urnex Dezcal and BioCaf descaling powders; no Moccamaster-branded descaler is sold in the US. The Dezcal listing below states its own compatibility with drip coffee makers. Each product fact is the listing's own statement, read on the date shown on the card.
One of the two descalers Moccamaster itself recommends. Listing states a universally compatible descaler for Keurig, Nespresso, Breville, Jura, De'Longhi and other drip coffee makers, in a 2 pack.
Check price on Amazon →
The hand-built Dutch reference brewer, in the glass-carafe Select version. Listing states a pump-free brewer that heats water to the correct extraction temperature, a 40 oz (1.25 L) pot in 4 to 6 minutes, a half or full carafe selector switch, automatic shut-off after 100 minutes and a 5-year warranty.
Check price on Amazon →Every 100 brew cycles, which Moccamaster suggests tracking by descaling each time you finish a box of 100 filters. Its manual sets a minimum of every three months, and more often with hard water.
Moccamaster says no. Its support site says vinegar may not effectively remove buildup and is difficult to rinse out, which can leave an odour in later brews. It recommends Urnex Dezcal or BioCaf descaling powder.
Not pure citric acid, according to Moccamaster: an incorrect concentration may not remove scale and could damage the brewer. It recommends a citric-acid-based descaler such as Urnex BioCaf or Dezcal instead.
No. Moccamaster's manual marks both the glass and thermal carafes as not dishwasher safe, and its cleaning guide recommends hand-washing every removable part because dishwasher heat can make them brittle.
Moccamaster suggests filling it with hot water and electric dishwasher detergent, swirling, and leaving it to soak overnight before rinsing thoroughly. Do not use abrasive cleansers or steel wool.
Not descaling does. Moccamaster's warranty excludes failure to descale or properly maintain the brewer, and its manual says regular descaling is required to maintain warranty coverage.
Sources for this page: Moccamaster support: How frequently should I descale and clean my brewer, and what should I use?; Can I use citric acid to descale my Moccamaster?; What is the warranty on my Moccamaster brewer?; What kind of water should I use?; Why is the glass tube in my water reservoir cloudy?; support.moccamaster.com, read 2026-10-30 · Moccamaster blog: How to Descale Your Moccamaster Coffee Brewer: A Step-by-Step Guide; Cleaning Your Moccamaster Brewer; us.moccamaster.com/blogs/blog/, read 2026-10-30 · Moccamaster Brewer Instruction Manual (English, 10-2021), support.moccamaster.com · Moccamaster cleaning and filters bundle product page, us.moccamaster.com/products/cleaning-4-filters-bundle, read 2026-10-30 We have not lab-tested brewers; where a figure is a manufacturer's, the page names the manufacturer, and machine capabilities come from our own published review records.
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