Customer Reviews

Cleancaf Cleaner and Descaler for Home Coffee and Espresso Equipment (3 x 0.33 oz)

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Just my TWO CENTS:

Expensive to use? Bitter taste after usage? Not Recommended by OEM's? Use lemon juice? Maybe it's just me, but I really don't get it!

Unless you're using your machine commercially to make hundreds of shots per week, you're wasting your money, not to mention killing your machine by decalcifying constantly. I have nearly 6,000 shots (!) on my one year-old Saeco Incanto Sirius machine and I just finished my FIRST 3-package Cleancaf box. In all this time, the machine has only prompted me to decalcify ONCE. It bases this on a water pH test you perform at the time of new machine commissioning and the coresponding water hardness setting of the machine resulting from the set-up test. I ignore the prompt and just decalc every THREE months or so (i.e, like the package instructions recommend, LOL!) I've never noticed a decrease in water flow (during coffee or steam/hot water wand usage), nor has there been any decrease in coffee temperature. FWIW, I fill the machine reservoir (I have spare reservoir that I use for decalcifying only) all the way up with warm water and one packet of Cleancaf...it has a two-litre capacity. Then I rinse with TWO reservoirs full of clean warm water. It DOES take a while....the machine is next to the sink, so I aim the wand at the drain, let the thing go and walk away to do other things. I NEVER have an issue with taste after cleaning and I am anal about coffee taste, freshness and machine cleanliness. FWIW, the machine uses the Aqua Prima in-reservoir micropore and charcoal filter, and I use supermarket-brand spring water (loaded with mineral and micro-organisms, LOL) in the one-gallon jug (lots of them, with the amt. of espresso I brew, LOL!).

For those of you thinking of using a non-authorized acidic solution (lemon juice, vinegar, etc.) for decalcifying, think again. SAECO USA as well as Whole Latte Love (authorized SAECO sales/service) will tell you to use SAECO Dezcal (it's also made by Urnex)or Urnex Cleancaf ONLY for decalcification. They're non-toxic, bio-degradeable, chelation-process cleaners (Dezcal is weak sulfonic acid, Cleancaf is classified "non-hazardous" per their respective MSDS hazardous sheets). If you use lemon juice or white vinegar you will very likely cause water circuit damage and VOID your warrantee. Don't believe me, call the manufacturer and ask yourself...it's in the owner's manual as well. BTW, most Starbucks Barrista espresso machines are OEM'ed by SAECO in Bologna, Italia.

My machine has been in to the local factory authorized repair center (broken grinder...fixed FOC under the OEM warrantee), and they remarked on how spotless the machine was, inside, outside, in the brew circuit and in the hot water circuit...especially considering the amount of shots I make!

SAECO, WLL and the local warrantee station (The Repair Shack) also recommend Urnex Cafiza (I use the Tablets, you can also buy it in powder form) to keep the COFFEE circuit as spotless as the HOT WATER circuit. You can see it work as it "peels" the layers of stuck-on coffee residue that even constant rinsing on my part (remember, I am anal, LOL!) does not remove and flushes it out. That, my friends, DEFINITELY results in me being able to fully appreciate my Lavazza Super Crema-based espresso, caffe lungo (caffe crema) and capuccino with NO bitterness caused by a dirty machine! If you're going to spend the money on an expensive machine, and use expensive coffee, you might as well get great tasting caffe, right?

My vote: HIGHLY Recommended. Just use it sparingly and enjoy your coffee!

I've been using this product for two years on my Starbucks Barista espresso machine and I think its been doing a good job.

Lately my espresso has been off, so I called Starbucks tech support. While the problem was unrelated, they asked how and how often I descale my machine. I told them Cleancaf and that I do it monthly.

The nice support agent said to stop using CleanCaf and use pulp-free lemon juice instead, or I'd risk voiding my warranty. She also said don't bother descaling but once every 3 months at most.

No more cleancaf for me!

Product is fine. The coffee shop says it will clean up anything having to do with coffee....but... I thought I was getting a bigger size box than I saw down at the coffee shop that would make it more economical to use. This box is the same small size though. (about 2 1/2 by 6 inches) Has 3 envelopes for 3 uses. Says to use once per week. The price for 1 box with shipping is about 11 dollars. That is around 100 dollars per year! Good if they made a bigger size. Maybe they do but I can't find it. If needed I will buy this at the coffee shop and skip the high shipping cost. I may be missing something here (buy in bulk?) but thought I'd pass on the warning.
Update: Funny....I was at the super market the other day and saw the same box for about 3.50 as in the coffee shop. It is that shipping cost that is the real surprise. Where there is a will there is a way!

This product renewed my espresso maker to "new" condition. The beverage tastes fresh like it did when the machine was new. And the seller was a pleasure to deal with....Quick to ship.

I love Urnex. Love love love. I first used the product line while working as a professional coffee slinger, aka barista. We cleaned our drip urns and espresso machines with it nightly. I never thought of using it for home machines, favoring the time-tested vinegar technique. Now that I've used this product on my home machine, I will never go back.
Our coffee maker is about 18 months old. It's a Cuisinart all-in-one model, with the burr grinder. The carafe is difficult to clean, and was pretty mucky by the time I used the Urnex. One rinse through, and it was shining like a beacon. The "Wow Factor" is amazing. But can I tell you about how much better the entire coffee maker works? Urnex frees huge amounts of deposits from the inner workings of your machine. The gunk that comes out through your maker... It's incredible. We noticed immediately that the coffee maker worked faster and produced tastier coffee.
You only need to use this product in your machine every 6 months or so. It is worth every penny of investment and it is crazy easy to use. Do yourself a favor if you really like coffee. Clean your coffee maker.

This product is simply awesome. Not much work involved and the cleaning that this little packet does is unbelievable. Thanks for bringing it to the public.

I didn't know what to get to clean my coffee maker (the coffee was starting to taste really gross), but I'm glad I found this stuff. It worked really well, it's easy to use, and it works for both my drip coffee maker and my espresso machine.

I purchased enough to stock up for my espresso machine because I seem to have to descale it quite often.... It was inexpensive and works well!

Way better than Durgol! I had been paying 7 times more for expensive descalers for my Delonghi Magnifica cappucino/espresso machine for several years. I was afraid to use anything other than what was recommended by the manufacturer. However, our machine would never get very clean, and in a couple of months I would need to descale again. Recently, I thought our machine was getting old and no longer working properly because we were barely getting any steamed milk out of it, even after descaling with the expensive Durgol. It was barely even a latte on the cappucino setting, and we'd have to select the milk several times to get enough for 1 cup of coffee instead of just once like we used to. After descaling one time with the Cleancaf, our machine is just like new! The milk foamed up like I have not seen it do in years, and all I needed was 1 hit of it!!! I cannot believe how clean our machine is at 1/7 of the cost!! I am totally sold on Cleancaf and will be a customer for life. Right now, I am enjoying the best cup of coffee I have had in a very long time...no bitter taste like some reviewers experienced. Thank you Cleancaf!!

I bought this a while back because I saw it in Warehouse Deals for a really silly price and thought I'd give it a show. I live in Kyle, TX where the water is so awful and full of calcium that in less than one year my coffee maker was taking FOREVER to brew a pot and by the time it finished about 1/8 of the water had evaporated. I normally use CLR which does the trick but it's pricey and then takes about 4-5 runs of clean water to finally stop smelling like CLR. I finally used this today and WOW WOW WOW! I mixed the powder with water as directed (it turns a really light blue). I then ran it through the coffee maker and the water that came out was GROSS!! This stuff cleans out EVERYTHING from the inside that even CLR didn't. I'm in the process of doing the 2 rinses and I cannot be happier with how much cleaner the machine is and how much better it even sounds! AWESOME PRODUCT, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!!