Review on ☕ De'Longhi EcoDecalk Descaler: Eco-Friendly Solution for Coffee & Espresso Machines, 16.90 oz (5 uses) by Corey Ford

De'Longhi EcoDeCalk Natural Descaler helped to descale my De'Longhi EC330 manual espresso machine but did not solve the problem of water dripping out of the Cappuccinatore steam nozzle that De'Longs caused by scaling. But it might be unfair to expect the machine to be completely descaled after a single use because I haven't descaled the machine in months (I haven't made much espresso in that time either); My machine's manual recommends descaling every 2 months or 200 espressos. EcoDeCalc's instructions are a bit vague; They say 100ml is enough, but they also say that you should follow the machine's instructions to know how much water to use to dilute. It also says to use 1 liter of water unless the amount of water to fill the water tank is specifically stated in your machine's instruction manual. I suspect that the strength of the diluted solution is very important for efficiency and the amount of water needed for descaling depends on the size of the machine. My guess is that machines that make 4 espressos at the same time probably need twice the solution volume as 2 espresso machines...? And cost. List price is $14.99 (on sale today for $12.90). This 500ml bottle is enough for 5 descaling cycles, which comes in at a descaling cost of around $3 each, or $18 per year (assuming you descale every 2 months) or more. . De'Longhi appears to have omitted this claim from the manuals for the new machines. Citric acid costs over $5 a pound. If you pay $5, the cost of descaling is about 33 cents each, or $1.99 per year, which is about 1/10th the cost of EcoDeCalc. Citric acid has other benefits as well. It's a powder, not a liquid like EcoDeCalk, so you don't have to worry about it getting in your eyes (very dangerous) or spilling (it can damage the materials it comes in contact with). And the powder takes up less storage space. The product may be good, but for the price and safety, I would try citric acid.