This tip is inexpensive and effective. Stop smearing the oily marks on your Espresso Machine housing when wiping with a damp cloth. Instead, spray a little white vinegar on a paper towel and wipe away the fingerprints that your coffee towel fails to remove. It only takes a few seconds. My wife has been using vinegar to clean the black shiny stovetop for years. I tried it on the stainless housing and it works. My Silvia looks new again.

Although I've never tried it, in David Mamet's Lakeboat a character says to use near-boiling water.

microfiber cloths - pick up a pack or two cheap in the automotive section of Wallyworld
They work great as smudge and finderprint erasers.....

Lysol double-sided disinfecting wipes .. The wipe has a rougher side and a smooth side, good for removing the coffee stains when the 3way discharge gets a little sloppy.

Day-to-day, like after a session, gotta agree with Jon.. Microfiber's are awesome.. I have a particularly nice one for metal.. I sold cutco knives for all of 3 days, and never got around to selling back the sample kit..In it was a nice, microfiber polishing cloth..supposedly has some type of polishing compound worked into it.. All I know is it shines up anita beautifully. First the rough side wipe/then the smooth side, then the cloth.. man oh man.. Anita is as good a mirror as a machine!

On the topic of cleaning... If you dont wanna use Cafiza for soaking your PF's and Baskets and such.. use simple green.. It works better, and quicker. give a quick spray, scrub with a toothbrush, clean as new. Dont backflush with it though You can also use Simple Green for cleaning absolutely anything... At full strength.. SimpleGreen is some powerful stuff.. No gloves.. bio-degradeable.. Best cleaner Ive ever used...Smells good too

Greetings,

I've used the liquid that was intended to improve the rinse cyle in a dishwasher. I place a few drops on a microfiber cloth, wipe the machine down, rinse the cloth off and wipe the machine to remove the remaining liquid.

Cliff

Vinegar is the magic cleaner. We use it on wood floors, in the carpet cleaner, counter tops, all over. That and a micro fiber cloth. For scratches, I use the impregnated polishing cloths Cape Cod Cloth I think they're called. Work wonders on my watch bracelet.

Lightly moistened (hit it with the steam wand for 5 seconds) microfibre works wonders and does not leave things smelling like vinegar.

brakleen.

Try your favorite stainless cleaning ritual on half your machine Then take a clean paper towel and put 1/4 oz of white vinegar on it and wipethe other half. Try it and you will see. Cheap, no smears, fingerprints gone, oil gone. Give it a shot. It works!

Use the microfibre and cheap well vodka. About as cheap a cleaner you can get. White vinegar is a bit cheaper, but the vodka is far nicer smelling. And it can get you through those longer, tedious cleaning jobs! ; >

Microfiber cloth with boiling water from the hot water tap make wonders for me.

I don't have as much success with my brown microfiber cloths because I also use them for mopping up after espresso brewing. I do more smearing than cleaning. If I were to use a CLEAN microfiber cloth I suspect better results would ensure.

EricL wrote:Vinegar is the magic cleaner.

Bravo Eric! All I am trying to do is to get fellow home barista's to give it a try. Fast, easy, effective and really not that odorous. Thanks, carl