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We bet you already have vinegar, lemon juice and baking soda in your pantry.

A great electric kettle lets you prepare a cup of hot, healthy tea or quickly boil water for an iced tea maker when you want a cool drink instead. Electric kettles heat quickly and efficiently, saving you from turning on a stove, and cooks have figured out that it's a fast way to boil water when you're making a quick pasta dish, too.

In general, electric kettles are very low-maintenance. But one thing to watch for is mineral buildup — namely calcium and magnesium from your local water supply — settling on the inside. This buildup can affect how long the kettle takes to boil water. Removing this mineral buildup is known as "descaling," and how often you descale your electric kettle will depend on how "hard" your water is. Hard water contains more mineral deposits, so you'll need to descale more often. In general, you may want to clean it once a month, or per the manufacturer's directions. If your kettle is glass and you can easily see the bottom, you can simply eyeball when buildup occurs and clean accordingly.

Some manufacturers sell descaling solutions specifically for this process. The best DIY way to do it, however, is with distilled white vinegar. You can also use lemon juice, citric acid or baking soda — it's the acid that does the trick. We'll walk you through the three main DIY methods for descaling a kettle and provide some tips for cleaning the outside of your electric kettle as well.

This is a thorough way to descale the inside of your electric kettle as recommended by the Good Housekeeping Institute Kitchen Appliances and Innovation Lab. If you've ever cleaned a Keurig coffee maker, it should look familiar.

The acid in lemon juice can also descale an electric kettle, and since tea and lemon pair naturally you won't have to worry about any unappetizing lingering tastes. Alternatively, you can use citric acid powder, which dissolves in water and then breaks down gunk in the same way as lemon juice. Citric acid powder is often sold alongside spices in grocery stores and is used in canning and preserving. It's also a natural preservative listed on plenty of food labels. For this method:

Baking soda is a tried-and-true cleaner and works well for descaling light deposits in the bottom of your electric kettle. Use it this way:

We suggest wiping down the outside every so often, and especially if your electric kettle gets splattered with grease or sauce during the course of cooking. Dip a cloth into a sudsy mix of dish soap and water, wring out so that it's just damp and not soaking wet and wipe the kettle clean. Repeat the process with clean water to rinse the soap. Do not place your kettle under running water. You should not immerse it or put it in the dishwasher either. This could damage the electronics.