Durgol Swiss Espresso Special Decalcifier, 2-Pack 4.2 fluid ounce Bottles
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Durgol Swiss Espresso Special Decalcifier, 2-Pack 4.2 fluid ounce Bottles
Customer Review: User error
Summary: 3 Stars
I give this product 3 stars because I had to throw out my espresso machine after using. Why not 1 star, you ask? Because it's my fault for being an idiot.
Here's the deal. I owned a 5 year old steam driven espresso machine and had never descaled. I bought this product thinking it was time to start. Bad idea. I used the product according to instructions, and the water was clear but there were chunks of brown stuff in it. So I did another treatment and it was still chunky. Since my first box of product was gone, I bought another. I thought this time I'd let the liquid sit for a couple hours to loosen everything up. That was my fatal mistake. The water began running a murky gray and even after flushing with clean water a number of times I could still see the specks shimmering in the water that came through. I assume it ate away the finish inside the machine and I wasn't going to take my chances on what ingesting that could mean for my body.
So like I said, I had a bad experience but it was my fault. Although the instructions could have cautioned against leaving the product in the machine to sit. Maybe that's common sense in the barista world, but since I owned a STEAM machine and had NEVER decalcified, I was clearly starting below the average espresso IQ.
Look for me to review a new espresso machine in the near future!
Customer Review: Very strong decalcifier/descaler!
Summary: 5 Stars
My new Jura-Capresso Coffee TEAM's "decalcify!" warning displayed and the manual said to use 6oz of Durgol Descaler. Very hard to find, but Amazon had two types listed and I couldn't tell the difference, so I tried the Swiss Espresso. I used only one of the two 4oz bottles and it ran through like a charm with no aftertaste in the coffee the next morning. I used what drained out, since it was clean and poured it into my cheap, little, never descaled, old 1995 Saeco steam "espresso?" machine and my 1 year old electric water kettle. It immediately went to work with all the boiling/hissing sounds and sludge rose to the top of the Saeco's boiler. Some runoff leaked out of the grouphead, so I poured that around the faucet base. I wiped it up a few minutes later and the hard water deposits were gone! After an hour in the machine boiler, it was still hissing, so I left it in overnight. The following morning I drained and ran it a couple of times with fresh water. The boiler was clean! 14 years of caked on buildup was gone. I can't wait to pull a shot this weekend.Customer Review: Could not be simpler
Summary: 5 Stars
I know it is always hard to measure the impact of preventive maintenance, but that said, I feel confident that for a small $7/use investment, Durgol Swiss Espresso Decalcifier does the trick. I have used it regularly (roughly every 4 months) on my Delonghi automatic Espresso maker, and have never had a problem with the machine after four years of pretty heavy use (I use it to make half a dozen cups virtually every day). I have relatively hard water that tends to gunk up other appliances, but this decalcifier has protected my not-insignificant investment in an espresso machine. I also like that it comes pre-measured, so i don't have to mess around with it a lot. And as mentioned in other reviews, absolutely no remaining after-taste after treatment. I highly recommend this product.Customer Review: Good but there are cheaper alternatives
Summary: 3 Stars
After purchasing a Delonghi Magnifica 3300 superautomatic espresso machine, I decided to stock up on descaling solution. Prices seem to vary quite a bit without and real difference in quality or ease of use. This was the best price I could find online for descaler until I went to Williams Sonoma one day. There they sell a single bottle which has enough solution for two descaling runs for about half the price of this product. I will admit that having two bottles is easier when measuring out the correct amount of fluid but I wouldn't say it's worth another $6 or $7.
This is a very good product at a very good price but I'm cheap so I'm going to stick with the Delonghi branded solution from Williams Sonoma.
Customer Review: Durgol Swiss Espresso Special Decalcifier --"Cleans like a white tornado"!
Summary: 5 Stars
I have to admit I'm lazy when it comes to decalcifying. It is necessary, however. My Francis!Francis! X5 was slowing down on the steaming. I used Durgol Swiss Espresso Special Decalcifier (can't beat free shipping from Amazon) according to Durgol's instructions, cleaned the steam nozzle and stem with a metal tip cleaner and POW! Next time I used my machine, the steam came out like a firehose! I can pump out lattes at less than half the time I could before. Be sure to note each bottle is single-use only, so you get two descalings per box. Anyone with a nice espresso machine should spend the time and money on maintenance with a quality product such as Durgol.