Hi, I picked up a La Pavoni P/TRE (aka Crossroads) for as a home use project and to learn more about commercial machines. It works, but badly needs a clean up.

Question: Can you recommend cleaning products and techniques for the *exterior* of the pipes, boiler, and misc. internals? Ideally, something readily available. I've read conflicting recommendations and would appreciate expert suggestions. There are calcium deposits on the boiler exterior where (I believe) the heating element connects and the main gasket is quite crusty but doesn't leak (yet), for context (future project).

Welcome any DMs from fellow P/TRE Crossroads owners, too.

Thanks all.

Here is a good discussion by someone who did a restoration of that machine:
https://www.kaffee-netz.de/threads/rest ... tre.23055/

You can get a somewhat passable English translation via your browser when you visit the website.

Regarding cleaning, will you be completely disassembling the machine or not. You will do a better job cleaning everything up if you disassemble it and can soak the various parts and even use an ultrasonic bath if you have one.

And if you just want to clean the exterior surfaces I'd recommend just wiping away any surface grime with a soft cloth moistened with something like citrasolv cleaner then wipe that off. The unpainted steel can then be polished with any good steel appliance cleaner like the ones made by Weiman. Simichrome also works well for more tarnished surfaces .

That's just for basic cleaning. If the surfaces are more severely damaged by corrosion, scratches, etc more work may be needed.

Thanks for the tips and the link, that's really helpful!