This descaler makes coffee 'taste way better' — and it's just $13 for a 3-pack

How often do you clean your coffee machine? (Don't worry, we won't judge.) After all, you're not exactly pouring out clear water — it's a dark cup of joe. And if your main coffee time is when you first wake up, cleaning probably isn't the first thing on your mind. Still, coffee makers get gross real quick, so before you make a cup that's full of things you'd rather not think about, snag some Affresh Coffee Maker Cleaner tablets. At $13 for three, they're just over $4 a pop. Then you can enjoy a good, clean eye-opener. 

If you own a Keurig or any other type of single-serve coffee machine, you may have seen an alert saying you need to descale your machine. What does that mean? Exactly what it says — scaly, crusty residue has made a home in your water reservoir, and tiny bits are getting into your coffee. The coffee maker horror story even extends to algae, as witnessed in this Reddit post. Repeat after me: Ewww. 

But it's not just single-serve machines that are vulnerable and icky. A report by the National Sanitation Foundation revealed that the coffee machine is the fifth-germiest place in your home — not exactly a coveted award. But it makes sense when you think about how much water is involved, whether it's in the machine, spilled below the machine or sitting in the coffee pot. Mold, yeast and overall funk become part of your morning brew.

That's where this coffee cleaner comes in. For a single-serve machine, all you need to do is fill the reservoir to the maximum level, drop in a tablet, and let it run two brew cycles at the largest size. Discard the remaining water, fill it again to the top, and run two more cycles. Then start brewing anew with a clean machine.

For multicup machines, fill the reservoir to the max level, drop in a tablet, run one brew cycle, discard the water, and then repeat. After that, you can put in the real stuff and brew up your favorite beans.

And that's it: No need to mix, measure or stir. There's also no need to add vinegar to your machine — it might work, but you'll end up with a kitchen that smells like a house salad. You can use the Affresh tablets monthly (or more, if you really like your coffee).

Amazon shoppers love the Affresh Coffee Maker Cleaner — over 11,000 have given it a five-star rating. "Affresh is worth every penny!" gushed one. "I love the simplicity of this product. Super easy instructions. I filled the coffee pot reservoir and dropped in a tablet and voila, I had a fresher cleaner coffee pot. Will purchase again in future!"

This shopper also loved how easy and effective it was: "I've been using the Affresh coffeemaker cleaners for a few years now, due to their straightforward simplicity. You don't need to use vinegar or anything to clean your coffeemaker out. You just fill the reservoir up with water, drop a tablet in, and let it go to work. Then run a brew cycle with that water, and another one with fresh water after that. That's it. The only coffeemaker cleaner I use."

"Use a tab every month or so depending on how much I use my Keurig," revealed this reviewer. "Simple enough and feel like it really cleans the machine. Coffee always tastes way better after a cleaning."

Another coffee fan put it bluntly: "I was really thinking of buying a new Keurig coffee machine but thought for $5 I'd try this. I was amazed at all the brown water that came out. I ran it through four times and now my machine works perfectly!" 

"The tablet does the job," a final shopper said. "But to have to do a recommended four, 14-cup cycles can take about an hour for the entire job of cleaning and rinsing. Therefore, if you want great tasting coffee without the fear of 'tablet residue,' allow a good chunk of time to clean."

Chances are your coffee maker isn't the only thing that needs cleaning. Here are a few other Affresh products to help keep things sparkling.

If you have Amazon Prime, you'll get free shipping, of course. Not yet a member? No problem. You can sign up for your free 30-day trial here. (And by the way, those without Prime still get free shipping on orders of $35 or more.)

The reviews quoted above reflect the most recent versions at the time of publication.