Sage Barista Express: Clean Me light and descaling

Sage has two different procedures. Cleaning removes coffee oils from the brew group, using a cleaning tablet. Descaling removes limescale from the system, using descaling powder. The Clean Me light on the Barista Express is about cleaning, not limescale.

What does each light mean?

Barista Express (BES875/SES875) Barista Express Impress (BES876/SES876)
Cleaning CLEAN ME on CLEAN / DESCALE flashes
Descaling No message. Sage advises every 90 days at hardness 4 and every 60 days at hardness 6 CLEAN / DESCALE on continuously

What do you need?

Sage cleaning tablets Sage cleaning tablets One tablet per cleaning cycle, with the cleaning disc supplied. €20,85 View the tablets Sage descaler Sage descaler One sachet dissolved in 1 litre of water. This is powder, not a tablet. €17,85 View the descaler

How to clean (about 5 minutes)

  1. Put the 1-cup basket in the portafilter, the cleaning disc on top of it and one tablet on top of that.
  2. Lock the portafilter into the brew group. Fill the tank with cold water and empty the drip tray. On the Impress, place a large container under the spouts.
  3. Switch the machine off with POWER.
  4. Hold 1 CUP, 2 CUP and POWER together for about 3 seconds. The cycle begins.
  5. When it has finished, remove the portafilter and check that the tablet has dissolved. If not, start again from switching off.
  6. Remove the disc, put the portafilter back, place a container underneath and press 2 CUP to rinse.

How to descale

  1. Remove the water filter from the tank. Dissolve one sachet completely in 1 litre of water (on the Express cold tap water, not bottled water) and pour it into the tank.
  2. Express: hold down 2 CUP and, at the same time, POWER. Impress: switch the machine off and hold 2 CUP and POWER together for 5 seconds.
  3. Wait until the lights are on continuously. Express: press 1 CUP. Impress: press 2 CUP. The coffee part takes about 25 seconds.
  4. Turn the rotary dial to steam (about 13 seconds) and then to hot water (about 8 seconds). According to the manuals, on the Express this is left for steam and right for hot water, and on the Impress right for steam and left for hot water.
  5. Repeat this until the solution is used up.
  6. Rinse the tank well, fill it with fresh cold water up to 2 litres and repeat the round to rinse away residue. Finish with POWER.
CautionThe numbering in the Sage manuals is not correct everywhere, and they do not say whether the coffee part is also included when repeating. If in doubt, follow your own manual. After 5 minutes without any action, the machine switches off: then start again from descale mode.

Everything for your Sage

See all Sage products or read our maintenance guide. Not sure? Send us the type number of your machine and we will check it for you.