How to Clean a Portable Ice Maker
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Portable countertop ice makers have become one of the most popular small kitchen appliances of the last few years.
No more ice cube trays taking up space in your freezer, and no more dealing with the finicky ice maker built into your freezer. We are all friends here, it is ok to be honest, is your freezer’s automatic ice maker working properly? Yeah, neither is mine.
Portable countertop ice makers are definitely an improvement over the built-in freezer ice maker. However, they do come with one caveat. Portable ice makers do require regular cleaning. Fortunately, with a little knowledge, and some basic cleaning tools, you can knock out this cleaning chore in no time.
So, who’s ready to learn how to clean a portable ice maker?
How to Clean a Portable Ice Maker
Before we dive into how to clean a portable ice maker let’s take a step back and look at how a portable ice maker works, and the core components that help it work its ice cube-making magic.
Portable ice makers are small countertop appliances that are designed to create ice cubes quickly, and efficiently. Essentially, you simply fill the reservoir with water, plug in the machine, select your preferred settings, and presto, within minutes you have ice cubes ready to pop in your favorite beverage.
Portable ice makers were designed to produce ice cubes at a much faster rate than the traditional freezer ice maker. By making use of individual refrigerant-cooled prongs that can freeze water into ice in a fraction of the time required by built-in units.
Like built-in ice makers, portable units are designed to make ice continuously to maintain a steady supply of ice cubes at the ready.
This means that your portable ice maker consists of several different components that will need to be cleaned. While removable pieces can generally be cleaned with warm soapy water, and a good rinse, other components will require a bit more cleaning effort.
The Tools You’ll Need To Clean Your Portable Ice Maker
- Dish Soap
- Tap Water
- White Vinegar or Cleaning Solution
- Baking Soda
- Cleaning Cloth (a soft cloth is ideal)
- Silicone Cleaning Brush
- Sink or Bucket
- Distilled Water
A Step-By-Step Guide To Cleaning Your Portable Ice Maker
Have you gathered all of your cleaning supplies? Great! Let’s get started. Don’t worry, if we were to rank cleaning chores from easy-peasy to “can’t we just throw it away and buy a new one?”, cleaning a portable ice maker is definitely on the quick and simple side.
Just follow the simple steps below, and you will have a fresh, clean ice maker in less than an hour.
Step #1: Unplug
We know, this one should be a no-brainer…but we are going to say it anyway because this first step is so important. Make sure that you have unplugged your portable ice maker from the wall outlet before getting started.
Powering off the machine is not enough. You need to make certain that there is NO electricity flowing through the unit’s circuitry.
This is an important step and it’s a good idea never to skip it. Failing to unplug the ice maker before cleaning can damage your machine, or worse, result in a nasty electric shock for you.
Step #2: Remove Stored Ice & Drain Water
Next, you will need to empty the ice cubes from the holding basket, or bin and drain any remaining water from the machine. The ice cube basket/bin is removable on most machines.
This makes it easy to simply transfer any stored ice to a freezer container, or dump it into a sink or bucket. The method for draining the stored reservoir may vary from machine to machine.
The majority of portable ice makers should have a drain plug that will allow you to easily drain the water from the machine. Consult the user manual for your specific unit if you are having trouble locating the drain plug for your machine.
Step 3: Remove & Wash Detachable Components
Remove any detachable components and accessory items including the ice cube storage basket/bin, and the ice scoop.
Place these items in a sink or bucket and clean them with warm tap water and dish soap. Rinse thoroughly and set aside to air dry.
Removing these items will help protect them from any caustic or abrasive chemicals used to clean the internal components of the ice maker. It will help free up space so that you can gain easy access to the inside of your machine.
Step 4: Manually Clean Interior Surfaces
After removing any loose ice cubes, storage bins, and detachable accessory pieces you are ready to start cleaning the interior. Use a soft cleaning cloth soaked in warm water to remove any ice that has formed on the walls, and blades of the ice maker.
Allow the warm water to melt the ice and wipe to remove any slushy leftover ice residue. Do not use a blade or ice pick to manually remove ice as you could easily damage the ice maker. The best way is to just go slowly with your damp cloth. Go back over areas for the best results.
You shouldn’t need to use much water for this process. This is because there will already be excess water remaining in the interior of the ice maker. You can also use paper towels to help dry everything up.
Once the interior of the machine is completely free of ice, you can use the same cloth dipped in a 10:1 mixture of water and white vinegar to wipe down the interior surfaces of the machine.
If needed, you may opt to use a soft silicone cleaning brush or bottle brush and a paste of baking soda and water to gently clean away any mineral deposits, and debris that may have accumulated in hard-to-reach areas of the machine. Be sure to rinse, and wipe away any dislodged debris after cleaning.
The water line can sometimes leave a mark if you have hard water. Lemon juice is a good cleaning solution to help get rid of hard water marks on your portable countertop ice maker.
Step 5: Prepare & Add Cleaning Solution To Reservoir
Once you have completed the manual cleaning and wiped away any debris from inside the ice maker, you are ready to move on to the final deep cleaning cycle. Contrary to the name, the deep cleaning cycle is actually far easier than the initial manual cleaning process. This is because the ice maker itself is going to be handling the cleaning duties during this stage of the cleaning process.
Your only task is to determine the appropriate ice machine cleaner to be used to clean your machine. There are many commercial cleaning solutions available, and you may want to consult your owner’s manual or the manufacturer’s website to determine if there are any specific requirements or preferred cleaning solutions for your specific machine.
Alternatively, if you would prefer a more natural cleaning option, you may opt to use a 10:1 water and white vinegar solution in lieu of a commercial cleaning chemical option. There may be other homemade cleaning solutions to try but be sure to do your research.
Once you have chosen your cleaning solution, simply mix according to the manufacturer’s directions, and add to the water reservoir of your portable ice maker.
Step 6: Allow The Ice Maker To Run Several Cleaning Cycles
Now it’s time to let the ice maker get to work. After filling the reservoir with cleaning solution, replace any detached component, plug the portable ice maker back into the power outlet, and run an ice-making cycle.
It goes without saying (but we are saying it anyway) that you do NOT want to consume the ice cubes created during the cleaning cycle. Remove, dispose of these ice cubes, and repeat the process through several cycles to deplete the cleaning solution in the water reservoir.
Step 7: Rinse The Ice Maker
After completing several cycles, remove and dispose of the final batch of ice cubes, and drain any remaining fluid from the machine. Remove any detachable bins, and accessories, and wash in warm soapy water to remove any remaining cleaning solution residue.
Use a spray bottle filled with clean fresh water to spritz down the interior portions of the ice maker to rinse away any residue, and dislodged debris. Once thoroughly rinsed, use a damp clean cloth to wipe down the interior one final time.
Finally, refill the water reservoir with fresh water and run several cycles to thoroughly rinse away any remaining cleaning solution.
Discard the ice cubes created during the rinse cycles as well. Once the water has been depleted from the reservoir, dispose of the last batch of ice cubes, refill the reservoir with fresh water (use distilled water to prevent mineral buildup) and begin making sparkling clean, fresh ice.
How to Deal With Mold
Ice makers offer the perfect breeding ground for mold and bacteria. Frequent cleaning and a regular maintenance routine will help stave off the build-up of harmful mold in your machine. Mold needs moisture and warmth to thrive, so take care to thoroughly drain and dry your ice maker before storing it when not in use.
Cleaning on a regular basis will help your portable ice maker machine last longer and ensure there’s not a build up of mold.
How Often Should You Clean Your Ice Maker?
There is no hard-line rule that dictates how often you will need to clean your ice maker. Most manufacturers recommend cleaning your ice maker every 2 – 6 months.
Depending on how often you are using your ice maker, and the environment where you use and store your ice maker, you may need to clean your ice maker far more frequently.
You can also look for these tell-tale indicators that it is time to clean your portable ice maker.
- Ice cubes have become cloudy
- The ice maker, and/or Ice cubes have developed an odor
- You are noticing flecks of debris or foreign matter in the machine, or in ice cubes
- The ice maker is taking longer to produce ice
Final Thoughts
Congratulations! You are all done. These basic steps make it easy to have a clean ice machine in no time at all. It is time to make yourself a cold drink, drop in a few sparkling, fresh ice cubes, and celebrate a job well done!
