Alright so last Tuesday I opened my ice machine to grab some cubes for drinks and holy smokes. The bottom had this nasty pink slime plus some weird chalky white stuff stuck on the sides. Yeah, disgusting. My first thought? Just grab whatever cleaner's under the sink and go wild. But then I remembered the thing’s got nickel plating all inside, and I didn’t wanna wreck it.

The Hunt for Something Safe

So I started digging online. Went down a whole rabbit hole about ice machine cleaners. Kept seeing warnings about acids ruining the nickel coating – and the repair bill ain’t cheap. Then I stumbled on Nu-Calgon Nickel-Safe Cleaner. The name kinda says it all, right? "Nickel-Safe." Figured it was worth a shot. Ordered a bottle off the web that night.

Getting Down to Business

It arrived Thursday. Right there on the bottle, big letters: "Safe for nickel-plated surfaces." Okay, good start. The smell? Kinda like cleaning product lemons, strong but not burning your nose off. Here’s what I actually did:

• Turned off the darn thing. Unplugged it completely. Safety first, right?
• Drained all the existing water out of the tank.
• Mixed up the stuff exactly like it said – 6 ounces of cleaner to every gallon of warm water in my big plastic jug. Didn’t eyeball it; used the measuring cup they mention.
• Poured the whole mix right into the ice machine’s reservoir.
• Switched it on and let it run a full cleaning cycle – that was about 20 minutes.
• Shut it down again, drained out all the cleaning mix water.
• Then flushed it hard. Like, three times with fresh water, letting it run a whole cycle each time. Didn’t wanna taste cleaner cubes later!
• Used a soft cloth to wipe the inside walls and bin while everything was wet. The pink gunk? Wiped right off. The white scale? Needed a bit more elbow grease, scrubbing gentle circles, but it loosened up and came away.
• Plugged it back in and let it make its first batch of fresh ice.

I just stood there staring at the first cubes dropping. Crystal clear. No weird smells. Felt so satisfying. No weird reactions on the shiny nickel parts either – no hazy patches or anything. Clean surfaces, clean ice.

This stuff isn’t cheap compared to bleach or vinegar, but hear me out. Bleach? Smells awful, might screw up the nickel plating long term. Vinegar? Acidic! That’s exactly what the warnings told me not to use on nickel. Spending a few extra bucks feels way smarter than needing a new ice machine. Plus, it really did work without any drama. Simple mix, pour, run, rinse. Probably saved me money on the doctor bill too, avoiding that scary pink slime.

Yeah, definitely sticking with Nickel-Safe for keeping that machine clean from now on.