To stay healthy, you should drink enough water every day. If you don’t like the taste of tap water but don’t want to lug around heavy crates of water, a water bubbler (e.g. from SodaStream) is a good choice. It can already be found in more and more kitchens and ensures that sparkling water is available at any time of day or night. To ensure that the sparkling water really tastes good, the sparkling water maker should be cleaned regularly. Find out the best way to do this here.

Sparkling water at the touch of a button

A sparkling water maker is a really clever device: at the touch of a button, it transforms boring tap water into a sparkling thirst quencher. Perhaps you have a SodaStream at home and fill your own sparkling water. However, you should not forget how important it is to clean the sparkling water maker thoroughly. Impurities are often hard to detect, so many just keep on sparkling. But at some point, the rude awakening comes and the sparkling water maker stops working or becomes moldy.

Why should you clean your sparkling water maker?

Even if you only use water with your SodaStream, limescale and germs collect in the appliance and bottles over time. Wet areas are an ideal breeding ground for bacteria and mold spores. However, because these are invisible to the human eye, they can enter the body unnoticed and, in the worst case, make you ill. The seals and nozzles in particular should therefore be cleaned regularly.

How often should the SodaStream be cleaned?

How often your soda maker should be cleaned depends on how often you use it and how calcareous your tap water is. In areas with more calcareous water, you should clean your sparkling water maker every week. If you have soft water, a 2-week cycle is sufficient. The main focus should be on the nozzle.

The bottles, on the other hand, should be cleaned thoroughly at least once a week. If you drink directly from the bottle, it should be rinsed out with water after each use. If you use syrups, you should rinse the bottle thoroughly after each use to prevent syrup residue from sticking to the bottom of the bottle.

Cleaning the bottles

There are usually three different types of bottles for sparkling water makers, which need to be cleaned in different ways:

Glass carafes

Glass bottles require relatively little cleaning as they can easily be put in the dishwasher. However, if you want to use them again straight away, you can of course also clean them manually.

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PET bottles

PET bottles require a little more effort. As they are not dishwasher-safe, they have to be cleaned by hand. Make sure that the water is not too hot, as the bottles do not tolerate temperatures above 50 °C. The bottle caps, on the other hand, can withstand higher temperatures, which is very helpful as mold and germs tend to accumulate in them.

PEN bottles

At first glance, PEN bottles are almost indistinguishable from PET bottles, but they do have one major advantage: they can be put in the dishwasher because they are made of heat-resistant plastic. These bottles are often sold under the name “Tritan”.

Cleaning by hand

1. Fill the bottle 2/3 full with lukewarm water and add a little washing-up liquid.
2. Use a bottle cleaning brush to thoroughly clean the inside of the bottle. (AttentionDon’t forget to clean the bottle cap as well!)
3. Then rinse the bottle with clear water and let it dry upside down.

Tip: You can find special holders in stores that make drying easier and prevent dust from getting in.

For cleaning with special cleaning tabs, which many manufacturers recommend, you should fill the bottle with water up to the fill line and add a tab. Leave it to work for about 15 minutes while you turn the bottle upside down and then rinse with clean water.

Cleaning the nozzle and housing

You should also clean the nozzle regularly to prevent it from becoming clogged with limescale. Citric acid or vinegar are best suited for this.

• Fill the bottle up to the fill line with water and add 2 tablespoons of citric acid or vinegar.
• Now place the bottle in the water bubbler as usual and press the button for a second.
• Leave the liquid to work for about 15 minutes without removing the bottle.
• Then remove the bottle from the bubbler and rinse it thoroughly.
• Fill it with clear water, put the bottle back into the sparkling water maker and press the button again.
• Remove the bottle from the sparkling water maker and leave both to dry.

Tip: Other home remedies that are suitable for cleaning are denture cleaner tabs, baking powder and baking soda.

For severe calcification

If the sparkling water maker does not work despite cleaning, take a look at the proof of purchase. If you still have a warranty on the appliance, send it in to have it repaired by the manufacturer. If the warranty has expired, you can try to take the sparkling water maker apart yourself.

Then place the calcified individual parts in a vinegar solution and leave them to soak for fifteen minutes. If limescale and dirt still do not come off, repeat the process or use a descaler from the drugstore. They often dissolve even stubborn deposits.

Clean the housing

The housing of sparkling water makers can be easily cleaned with a soft cloth and a little washing-up liquid. Also remove any carafe holders and clean them with citric acid or vinegar.

Sometimes you can tell by the taste of the water or the lack of carbon dioxide that something is wrong with the appliance. To keep your sparkling water maker functional and free from germs for a long time, you should clean it regularly.

Sources: otto, gofeminin

Where there’s wood, there are chips, and where there’s baking, there’s bound to be stains. If you use your oven regularly and don’t immediately reach for the cleaning cloth afterwards, residues will inevitably remain on the inside of the oven. This burns in more and more each time the oven is heated up – you won’t get any further with a cleaning cloth. But with an ingenious trick, you can declare war on the stuck-on residue! Find out here how you can easily clean your burnt-on oven with tabs.

Baked-on oven: why dishwasher tabs are the first choice

Anyone who owns a dishwasher probably has them at home. We’re talking about dishwasher tabs 🛒. They usually do their job in the dishwasher and turn dirty dishes into clean ones. But did you know that you can use dishwasher tabs in a variety of ways throughout the household? One option, for example, is to clean the baked-on oven with tabs. The surfactants contained in the tabs dissolve greasy residues and stubborn incrustations.

The steam method

If your oven is only slightly dirty, the gentle steam method is often sufficient:

• Preheat the oven to 50 degrees – As soon as the temperature is reached, switch the oven off again.
• Dishwasher tabs in the water bath: Grab an ovenproof dish, fill it with about 200 milliliters of hot water and throw in one or two dishwasher tabs. The tabs will now slowly dissolve.
• Off to the oven: Place the tin in the switched-off, still warm oven and close the door. Now allow the tabs to steam out like in a sauna.
• Leave to take effect: Leave the mixture to work for one to two hours, the vapor will settle on the inside walls.
• Wipe out as a finishing touch: Wipe out the inside of the oven with a damp cloth and allow everything to dry thoroughly.

Tip: Make sure you use tabs with a water-soluble film or remove the film beforehand – you definitely don’t want to clean up any melted plastic residue. Make sure you wear gloves!

The paste method

If your oven is really burnt in, you need to bring out the big guns. With a homemade dishwasher paste, even old encrustations become history:

• Crumble dishwasher tabs: Crush two to three tabs in a kitchen towel and grind them into powder.
• Mix the paste: Mix the powder with a little warm water until you have a creamy paste. It should be nice and smooth – coarse grains could damage your oven.
• Off to the oven: Apply the paste generously to the soiled areas.
• Wait and see: Leave the paste on for three to four hours or preferably overnight.
• Scrub and wipe: Remove the paste with circular movements and a damp sponge. Finally, wipe everything with clean water and leave to dry.

Caution: The paste must not get onto the heating rods and seals! These could be damaged on contact

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The advantages and disadvantages of cleaning a baked-on oven with tabs

Cleaning your baked-on oven with tabs has some advantages and disadvantages. On the positive side, you probably already have dishwasher tabs at home and don’t need to buy extra expensive special cleaning agents for your oven 🛒. In addition, even stubborn stains are dissolved due to the cleaning agents contained in the tab.

However, make sure that you remove all residue from the dishwasher tabs from your oven! Failure to do so can lead to unpleasant odors the next time you use it. Another disadvantage is that the tabs are not suitable for all areas of the oven. Seals and heating elements can be damaged by the aggressive chemicals in the tabs.

Conclusion: A real insider tip for savers

Cleaning your baked-on oven with tabs is practical, inexpensive and surprisingly effective. Perfect if you want a clean oven but don’t want expensive special products. Try it out, you’ll be amazed!

Cleaning a burnt-on oven with tabs: A quick look

Source: mediamarkt.de

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It has been raining heavily in Germany for weeks now, making the humidity sometimes feel unbearably high. Many people don’t even want to ventilate in the humid outdoor air. Read here why this could become a problem.

To prevent mold from forming in your home, you should ventilate regularly. When we exhale, shower or cook, small droplets are created in the air, which slowly increase the humidity. This moisture must escape to the outside: So open the windows! But what if it is also damp outside due to heavy rain? Doesn’t that bring even more moisture into the rooms?

Reading tip: Ventilate properly: avoid mold and save money

Rain does not equal moisture

Just because it is raining constantly outside and the air feels humid does not automatically mean that the humidity is really high. Many factors play a role here, the most important being the temperature. Warm air holds more moisture than cold air.

It is usually warmer in living rooms than outside. This should be the case, as it is the only way to prevent mold. Cool air contains less moisture than warm air. A rule of thumb says that the maximum moisture content of the air approximately doubles when the temperature rises by 10 degrees Celsius. As the air warms up, its ability to absorb moisture increases. For this reason, a greater amount of moisture can be removed from living spaces in the cold months by ventilating with cooler outside air.

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Be sure to ventilate even when it rains

You should ventilate even when it’s raining, because a shower cools the air down to a few degrees, especially in summer. This is ideal for ventilation, as moisture collects in rooms at any time of year and needs to get out. So if you ventilate after heavy rain, the warm air full of moisture can easily escape outside.

Even if a little more moisture than usual flows into your home due to rain, fog or snow, it will be absorbed by the warmer indoor temperature.

How to ventilate properly

That’s why it’s so important to heat in winter. Only when the air inside is warm can it bind moisture. We recommend no less than 16 degrees in your own four walls. This immediately reduces the risk of mold.

But the right technique is also important: Only ever ventilate intermittently, preferably in the morning and evening. This allows the air to exchange properly. If you leave your window ajar, the interior cools down too much, especially in winter. This encourages mold growth.

The exception

If it is just as warm outside as inside, the air exchange may not be quite as successful. If the humidity outside is high, the droplets in the interior can no longer be transported. However, this rarely happens in Germany, even in summer, and when it does, it tends to be during the day. If you ventilate early in the morning and late in the evening, it is usually cooler outside than inside.

If the humid weather persists over a long period of time, a hygrometer 🛒 can also help. The device provides information about the humidity and gives you an indication of when it is appropriate to ventilate – i.e. when the humidity outdoors is lower than indoors.

If you have the feeling that your home is permanently too damp, you should consider a dehumidifier. 🛒 think about it.

Source: utopia, geo

The links marked with the shopping cart 🛒 are affiliate links. The products are researched to the best of our authors’ knowledge and some are also recommended from personal experience. If you click on such an affiliate link and buy something through it, our editorial team will receive a small commission from the online store in question. For you as a user, the price does not change and there are no additional costs. The income helps us to offer you high-quality, entertaining journalism free of charge.