If you own a home coffee maker you have probably noticed white mineral deposits growing on the inside of your machine in the areas where water is stored or passes through. These minerals are called lime scale, and while they're aren't harmful to your health, if left for too long they can grow enough to clog up your coffee maker and adversely affect its ability to function. So every few months or so, or even once a year, you should get rid of that lime scale buildup.

People who are serious about their coffee use a solution called a descaler. You can read more about descaler solutions here, and I might recommend a descaler solution if you have an expensive coffee maker or an espresso maker (which tend to be pricier), because descalers are the most gentle way to clean your machine while preserving it for the long term. But the average joe who has a cheap coffee maker he isn't in love with has another simple homemade option: to clean the coffee maker with vinegar.

The process is simple, if you have an automatic drip machine.

First, you fill the coffee carafe (that is, the coffee pot) with half vinegar and half water.

Next, you pour the vinegar-water solution into the coffeemaker's resevoir and put a filter paper into the filter as usual.

Next, after about half of the solution have run through the machine and into the carafe, turn off the machine and let it sit for an hour.

After that, turn the machine back on and run the rest of the solution through.

Lastly, dump the vinegar-water solution out and run plain water through the coffee maker once or twice. Don't forget to use a new filter paper for this! Or wash your filter, if you are using a gold-tone filter.

And there you have it! A clean coffee maker free of mineral deposits.

Just remember that some hardcore coffee afficionados argue that vinegar can damage their expensive machines. Some also claim that a vinegar solution will leave behind a taste that is impossible to get rid of completely. But most coffee drinkers get along just fine by using vinegar and don't report any reduced coffee maker performance or bad taste.

Learn more about coffee makers and accessories at Coffee Addict.