Cleaning due · Sage / Breville Barista Express
Sage / Breville Barista Express: CLEAN / DESCALE light flashing (CLEAN ME light on a Sage)
A cleaning cycle is due. This is a back-flush of the group head, separate from descaling.
- Which light
- Cleaning symbol
- Colour
- Colour not named by the maker
- Steady or flashing
- Flashing or blinking
What Sage / Breville says to do
- Put the 1 CUP filter basket in the portafilter, then the cleaning disc, then one cleaning tablet; lock it into the group head with a large container under the spouts.
- Fill the tank with cold water, empty the drip tray and switch the machine off with POWER.
- Press 1 CUP and 2 CUP together, then POWER as well, and hold all three — about 10 seconds in Breville’s US book, about 3 seconds in Sage’s UK guide. The cycle runs for about 5 minutes and ends with 2 beeps.
- Check the tablet has dissolved; if not, repeat. Sage adds a final rinse: remove the disc, refit the portafilter and press 2 CUP.
From the Barista Express® — Instruction Book: Functions, Care & Cleaning (Cleaning cycle, Descaling) and Troubleshooting and the Barista Express™ BES875 / SES875 — User Guide: Functions, Care & Cleaning and Troubleshooting. This is the Barista Express’s pattern; another Sage / Breville machine may use the same light for something else — check the manual for your model.
Other Sage / Breville Barista Express lights
Cleaning due on other machines
The same need shows up as a different light on each machine — which is why a light cannot be read without the machine.
Sources
Every line on this page comes from Sage / Breville’s own documents, read on the date shown. Nothing is taken from third-party manual sites.
- Breville: the Barista Express® — Instruction Book: Functions, Care & Cleaning (Cleaning cycle, Descaling) and Troubleshooting — Barista Express BES870, US and Canada instruction book (V23 edition). assets.breville.com Checked 2026-09-29.
- Sage: the Barista Express™ BES875 / SES875 — User Guide: Functions, Care & Cleaning and Troubleshooting — Barista Express SES875, UK user guide (UG2 A25 edition). assets.sageappliances.com Checked 2026-09-29.