Keurigs are great little machines that makes having delicious Coffee just super-convenient. In order to keep your Keurig running in tip-top condition, here are some tips to help keep your machine in near-new condition:

1. After every few K-Cup brews, run some water through your brewer. This will help flush out any coffee grounds that may get left behind, keeping your machine clean, preventing any stale grounds from contaminating your next cups of coffee. This is particularly important for any sticky brews like a hot chocolate or an iced tea.

2. Puncture your K-Cup just before use, by pushing the cup onto the lower needle before you close the Keurig’s lid. This can help prevent blockages in the upper needle, which drips directly into the grounds in the cup. Sometimes when punctured by the upper needle, the pressure in a sealed K-Cup can cause small coffee grinds to find their way into the hollow upper needle, affecting the amount of water getting into your brew. Puncturing the K-Cup before you close the lid can help prevent clogs.

3. If you are going on holiday or not using your Keurig for more than about a week, don’t leave water in the reservoir. It will evaporate and leave the mineral deposits behind, and these can clog your brewer.

4. Use distilled water when you can, as regular tap water has calcium & other minerals in it, which can leave deposits that can clog the machine’s heating coils. Filtered water is also an improvement on tap water (although it is not as good s distilled.)

5. Be careful about using a dishwasher to clean the water reservoir! Some people have reported that they have melted in the dishwasher, and that newer reservoirs are marked “Hand wash only”. When you use a dishwasher to clean this part, make sure it only goes in the top rack of your dishwasher.