Just my 2 cents to support one of the main suggestions you get when interested in coffee machines: keep them clean.
I bought 2 portafilter from the '60s on eBay because I wanted to turn one of them to bottomless.
Here's what I got:


And here is the result after 3 hours with hot water and Cafiza:


Clearly, it wasn't enought, but since I plan to keep the 2 spout version and the other is for my friend, I'll let him do the rest of the work.

That's truly vile. Unfortunately, I suspect most shop's portafilters look just as bad.

Two words: Dremel tool. With a brush attachment, you can take off all of that crud.

That's one of the beauties of the bottomless PF...much easier to keep clean.

Having seen how thoroughly Cafiza removes normal built-up coffee grime, that is just nasty. I hope most coffee shops clean their portafilters a bit better.

Another vote for bottomless because of ease of cleaning. I never have to worry about cleaning inside the portafilter, and I can easily wipe the bottom of the basket after every shot.

Bob_McBob wrote:Having seen how thoroughly Cafiza removes normal built-up coffee grime, that is just nasty. I hope most coffee shops clean their portafilters a bit better...

Not among my clients, I'm afraid... about half of them regularly clean their portafilters.

The funny part is that, if I'm there later in the afternoon, they've often cleaned up for the night. The portafilter clearly hasn't been done since my last visit but the KNOCKBOX has been washed and is sparkling clean? Yeah, that was time well spent...

So, yeah, +1 on OP.

It's a free teflon layer in my opinion

besides using a nylon sponge to clean the inside of the pf, I also place it on the top rack of our dishwasher face down and it gets clean. Also place the double basket in the container that holds the forks, spoons etc and it gets clean there also.

BTW, for those hardcore soaking jobs, always start with the hottest water you can get. Add the Puro Caf, add the dirty stuff, then (carefully) hit it with the steamwand till near boiling. Repeat every 10-15 minutes or as necessary to keep the mixture very, very hot. Watch out, once you hit the "magic temperature" it will foam up and overflow your pitcher. You can re-use the solution for several PFs and baskets... just bring the temp back up near boiling and you are good to go.

I got a bottomless from someone to put a set of custom wood handles on. The portafilter had black caked on coffee oil around the portafilter. Even bottomless, clean them and the basket.

My baskets get cleaned every shot, as do the portafilters.
In a professional environment, they get used often enough that they won't need it every shot, but I'd suggest at *least* once a shift.
I've been to a coupla places where friends took me and I wasn't too impressed with the coffee. When the get all offended and defensive, I suggest that we just want different things. That usually degenerates into, "So, what's wrong with *MY* favorite coffee shop!?".
"Hey buddy, take the basket out of that portafilter for a sec, wouldja? Thanks! (okay, there, happy?)"
"Eeeew, I'm never coming back here again!"