I have just started playing with a new to me Francis Francis X1 and trying to improve my shots as much as I can. Since my machine is not brand new I think the first place I need to start is a thorough cleaning, and I have already started with descaling it, but now I think I should take the shower screen off and clean inside there as well. A few questions:

Should I be backflushing my X1 with a blind portafilter basket?

What should I soak the shower screen and portafilter in? I'm in France and have found this on one of the coffee sites: http://www.mon-cafe.fr/pulycaf-detergen ... p-807.html. I'm assuming that is the same thing as Cafiza, but is this the best for the shower screen/portafilter?

I'll also pick up a group brush to give that a good cleaning, and will do all of these things on a regular (weekly?) basis. Is there anything else I should do right from the get go to start me off. Thanks for the help!