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Coffee addicts, take heed! That precious appliance on your countertop ' gasp! ' needs to be cleaned out once in a while. Have you been noticing a stale, funny taste in your coffee lately? It's very likely that your poor coffeemaker is just screaming for a good cleaning. The good news is: it's dead simple to clean. All you'll need is some good old-fashioned white vinegar and tap water.

Vinegar is a powerful acid, and works to replace many of the harmful chemicals you might be cleaning with right now. And when you use it to clean out your coffeemaker, it really scrubs it out from the inside, getting rid of buildup that makes your coffee taste less than gourmet.

To clean the coffeemaker:

1. Pour vinegar into the holding tank where you'd normally pour in the water. Fill at least half full with vinegar.

2. Don't add any coffee. Ick'can you imagine the brew that would create?

3. Run your coffee machine as usual, letting the vinegar do the work of scrubbing it out and descaling the works from the inside out. Empty out the used vinegar.

4. Run at least two or three cycles with just plain water, to truly get rid of all lingering vinegar taste.

5. There is no step five ' see, I told you it was simple!

Cleaning your coffeemaker like this at least once a month, or more often if you're a caffeine junky, will keep your coffee tasting fresh and utterly delicious. Give it a try and you'll be shocked by how easy it is!