Maintaining Your Ice Machine: The Importance of Cleanliness

Whether you have an ice machine in your home or use one in your place of business, keeping it clean is vital. An ice machine that isn’t regularly maintained can cause problems in health, functionality and financial burdens. Although you may think it’s “only water,” a variety of situations can form within the unit ranging from hard water residue to the formation of bacteria. Ice machine cleaners should be put on your regular routine especially if you own or operate a restaurant or other public venue that requires ice.

Quality of the Ice Cubes

Bacterial growth within an ice machine can drastically decrease the quality of the drinks for which the cubes are used. Not only can this produce a poor taste but the odor can be enough to turn away customers as well. This can also happen in the ice machine in the home. Using a food-grade sludge remover like Ice-Sanitizer can reduce the onset of bacterial growth while providing yourself and the customers with a clean beverage. For the restaurant owner, a poor quality beverage can cost future sales from customers and reputation.

Hard Water Complications

If you’re in an area that experiences hard water, buildups of calcium and lime could be a common problem. These deposits can cause everything from a poor taste to equipment malfunction. Over time, these buildups turn as hard as rock and can easily seize moving components of the ice machine itself. In order to remove hard water deposits efficiently, you may need a food-grade ice machine cleaning solution like Ice-Clean in order to avoid potentially harming yourself and/or your patrons. Using harsh and possibly toxic chemicals within a unit that produces items for consumption is not an alternative and could have your establishment closed down by the health department.

Protection from Corrosion

Some ice machines utilize nickel within their development. As various cleaning compounds can deteriorate this softer metal, you need to be wary of using something that can be ultimately damaging to the machine. A proper cleaning solution is less costly than replacement of a nickel-plated evaporator. Use a nickel safe ice machine cleaner like Ice-Blaster if your unit has this metal within its construction.

Keeping the ice machine clean can also improve its functionality. Hard water can do more than seize parts within the unit. Over time, the inlet line could be compromised by calcium and lime deposits reducing the flow of water as well as reducing the quantity of cubes made per hour. Keep your machine clean with a food-grade limescale removal system and improve the efficiency of the unit. You and your customers deserve a cleaner cube to add to a beverage.