How to Clean your Portable Ice Maker

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The routine cleaning of an ice machine is non-negotiable. Water used in making ice contains minerals and sediments especially if it is untreated and unfiltered. This can affect the overall quality of your ice cubes and cause the machine to break down easily.

Cleaning your portable ice machine regularly will help to keep it in good shape while producing hygienic or good quality ice.

You should clean your ice machine:

  • If the ice cubes are getting cloudier than it used to be
  • If the ice cube sizes are smaller
  • If the ice cubes develop an odd color and taste strange.
  • If the ice cubes become abnormally softer

Cleaning a portable ice maker is not difficult so long as you follow instructions.

In cleaning an ice machine, you should ensure to follow product-specific instruction given in the manual the latter, failure to adhere to these instructions might adversely affect ice production and the machine as a whole.

Also, some portable ice machines feature an automated self-cleaning function that allows you to easily clean your machine by running water through the ice machine and draining the same, using a cleaning button.

How to Clean your Portable Ice Maker

Step-by-step Cleaning Instructions for Portable Ice Makers


You don’t need much equipment to clean your ice machine, all you need is soft clothing or napkin, clean water, and a cleaner (preferably a nickel-free cleaner).

If your portable ice maker does not feature a cleaning function, here are some simple steps for cleaning your portable ice machine:

  • Switch off the machine and unplug it from the power source
  • Ensure to switch off the water supply injected into the machine
  • Offload the machine of the ice and water remains
  • Based on specific manual instructions, detach the part of the machine that needs to be cleaned
  • Use a cleaner and water in the ratio of 1:3 to clean the parts of the ice maker thoroughly
  • Rinse the cleaned parts with clean water
  • Put the parts of the portable ice machine back in their place
  • Use a soft cloth or napkin to mop the cleaned surface of the machine dried
  • Allow the machine to air dry before reuse
  • Connect the unit to a power source and restart the machine
  • Ensure to discard the first round of ice made after cleaning the machine
  • Enjoy your ice all the way

What happens when you fail to clean your Ice Machine as at when due?

  • The ice machine might start making smaller sizes of ice than usual
  • The ice produced might have an inherent weird smell and flavor that can affect the taste of your drinks
  • The quality of ice produced may also decrease drastically and melt easily than it would normally
  • The ice produced might assume a cloudy appearance with visible particles that won’t look too good in your drinks and at the same time, it is not ideally safe
  • Molds would begin to grow inside the ice machine, polluting the ice making process and makes the ice machine unhygienic and unsafe for making ice
  • The ice machine might start to develop issues or break down completely when cleaning is not done as at when due.