How To Descale a Keurig K-Express (Step By Step)

Like with every other coffee maker, you have to descale your Keurig K-Express every now and then.

But with other coffee makers, you might just throw some vinegar in, rinse it a couple of times and call it a day. But with the Keurig K-Express, you have to follow a whole descaling procedure before the descaling light will come off.

In this article, I will tell you exactly how to descale a Keurig K-Express coffee maker.

How To Descale a Keurig K-Express Coffee Maker?

To descale your Keurig K-Express you first want to add a bottle of Keurig descale solution and the same amount of water to the tank. Then hold the 6 and 10oz buttons until the 8oz and descale lights start blinking. Press the 8oz button two or three times until the add water light comes on. After that clean the water tank and fill it with fresh water. Press the 8oz button two or three times until the descale light comes off and you’re done.

Scroll down to get some more detail on this process!

how to descale keurig k express

Table of Contents

Things To Know Before Descaling Your Keurig K-Express

When your Keurig coffee maker starts making some more noise or the coffee starts tasting different, you know it’s time to descale it. You really want to descale it at least every three months, especially when you’re using unfiltered water.

Your coffee maker has a descale light, that indicates it needs descaling after 250 brews. You don’t necessarily have to wait for the light to come on before you can descale your coffee maker.

With older Keurig models you could just put some vinegar or descale solution in the coffee maker and run some brews and rinses and the descale light would come off.

With the Keurig K Express, you need to put it in “descale mode” and go through the whole process before the light goes out and you can make a cup of coffee again.

The descaling procedure to follow did come with the original manual when you first bought your Keurig machine.

Put Descaling Solution In The Water Tank

The first thing you need to do is to put the descaling solution in the water tank.

If you’re using the Keurig descaling solution, pour the entire contents of the bottle into the water tank. Top up the rest with water until you have about a 1/1 ratio of water to descaling solution.

An easy way to get the exact one-to-one ratio is to fill the descale solution bottle you just used with water and pour that into the tank.

Once you’ve done that you notice that the tank is not filled to the max. That doesn’t matter because you want to keep that one-to-one ratio of water to descale solution.

Put Your Coffee Maker In Descale Mode

Now that you got the water tank filled up with the descaling solution and water, you want to put the water reservoir back in the coffee maker. Make sure that there is no K-cup in your Keurig express. The K-cup holder can stay in there. Now let’s put it in descaling mode.

To put your Keurig K-Express into descaling mode, first, turn off your coffee maker but keep it plugged in. Next, press the 6 and 10 oz buttons simultaneously for three seconds until the 8 oz button light comes on.

Now you’ve put your coffee maker in descaling mode. The 8 oz and descale light should be blinking.

Start The Descaling Process

Once your Keurig K-Express is in descaling mode, do not lift the lid or unplug it.

All you need to do now is place a container under the coffee maker and press the 8 oz button until the “add water” light begins to flash. This will probably happen after you press the 8 oz button twice, but in some cases, you may need to press it a third time.

It is important that you do not press the 8oz button again if the “add water” light begins to flash. Even if there is still some descaling solution in the tank.

Doing this can mess up the descaling mode resulting in the descale light staying on even when you just descaled it.

Now you want to take out the water reservoir and clean it out with some soap and water. Then fill it up with fresh water without descaling the solution in it.

Put the water reservoir back in the coffee maker, the “add water” light should go off and the descale and 8oz lights should still be blinking.

Then you want to push the 8oz button again until the descale and 8oz lights come off. Now your Keurig is out of descaling mode again and you can brew a cup of coffee like you normally would!

keurig cup coffee

What To Do When The Descaling Light Stays On?

In some cases, the descale light still stays on after this whole procedure. This can happen if you made one little mistake in the process.

The easiest way to fix this is to do the whole descale procedure again. But this time you can just use water for all the steps since you’ve actually already descaled your coffee maker.

Can I Use Vinegar For Descaling My Keurig K-Express?

Using white vinegar for descaling your Keurig K-Express is fine. You’ll probably save some money compared to using the official Keurig descaling solution.

If you’re going to use vinegar make sure to do some extra water rinses afterward, just to make sure that your coffee maker is clean.

Conclusion

Unlike with other Keurig models, descaling your Keurig K-express can be a little confusing. To recap here are all the steps to take:

  1. Add a bottle of Keurig descale solution and water to the tank
  2. Hold the 6 and 10oz buttons until the 8oz and descale lights start blinking
  3. Press the 8oz button two or three times until the add water light comes on
  4. Clean the water tank and fill it with fresh water
  5. Press the 8oz button two or three times until the descale light comes off

And then you’re all done and you can enjoy a fresh cup of coffee again!

Thanks for reading!