I picked up two relatively cheap descaling products from Waitrose and decided to put them to the test on my limescale-ridden kettle, and one was the winner by miles.
Living in an area of the UK that has very hard water, I’m constantly battling with limescale across a range of appliances and fixtures in my home. The washing machine, the toilet, the shower and the taps are hotspots for limescale to form. However, the one thing that I find myself having to descale twice a week is my kettle.
While white vinegar is typically hailed as the best kettle descaler, the smell of it puts me off. Instead, I like to use the Dri-Pak Citric Acid, and it’s been my go-to product for descaling my kettle.
However, I decided to pick up another kettle-descaling item that I’ve noticed a few cleaning influencers use and see how it fares against citric acid.
Both items were relatively inexpensive; the citric acid retails for £2.75 at Waitrose, and the Quickshine Descaler Bag costs £1.75.
To properly test out both of them, I left the kettle to sit for a week before cleaning it with the first product, and then I tested out the second product a week later. The kettle was covered in a similar amount of limescale before testing out each product.
Quickshine Descaler Bag
As I was already aware of how well the Dri-Pak Citric Acid works, I wanted to give the Quickshine Descaler Bag a go first.
Upon opening the box, I was surprised to find that there was only one sachet inside. I thought that the one sachet for £1.75 was quite pricey; however, the bag was filled with a lot of descaling powder.
It was straightforward enough to use; I just had to boil half a kettle of water, unplug the kettle and then drop in the descaler bag. The instructions advised leaving the bag to sit for 25 minutes, so that’s what I did.
After half the time had gone by, I did take a sneak peek in the kettle to see how it was looking, a lot of the limescale had vanished but that was some still left behind.
Once the full 25 minutes were up, I emptied the water and gave the kettle a rinse. While most of the limescale had gone, this descaler seemed to cause some brown staining.
Dri-Pak Citric Acid
A week later, I put my trusty kettle cleaning solution to the test. To descale my kettle with this citric acid, I tend to add one to two tablespoons depending on how much limescale there is. This time around, I opted for two tablespoons.
After adding the citric acid, I then fill up the kettle a quarter way before putting it onto boil. Once boiled, there was no need to leave the descaler to sit as all the limescale had disappeared. From start to finish, this process took no more than three minutes.
Just like with the other product, I emptied out the water and gave the kettle a rinse; no limescale or stains were left behind.
Verdict
Overall, the Dri-Pak Citric Acid was the clear winner here. It worked over 20 minutes faster than the Quickshine Descaler Bag and left no stains or limescale behind.
While the Quickshine Descaler Bag is initially cheaper, retailing at £1.75 at Waitrose, the £2.75 Dri-Pak Citric Acid actually works out cheaper in the long run. A 250g box of the citric acid gives you a minimum of eight uses; however, the QuickShine Descaler Bag is a one-use product.
What’s more, I prefer that with the box of citric acid you can alter the amount you use depending on the severity of limescale; however, with the descaler bag you have to use a set amount, and there’s quite a lot in them.
