4 simple tips that'll make your dishwasher run better

There's one appliance that I can safely say makes life easier in the kitchen — a dishwasher.

It not only solves one of the most dreaded household chores — washing dishes by hand — but it's also a great place to tuck your plates, cutlery and everything else away, making the kitchen feel cleaner with no effort.

As it's such a hard working machine there are some easy things you can do to keep it in top form and running at its best.

Get your dishwasher sparkling like new

Cleaning the dishwasher is one thing, but if you just can't seem to get rid of the stains on the inside, you might need to try something different.

To get the inside of the machine sparkling like new, all you need is citric acid.

RELATED: 3 things you can clean at home using citric acid

Aussie mum Carolina Mccauley has revealed just how simple it is to get your dishwasher clean by adding two tablespoons of citric acid into the detergent cap.

Next, run the machine on a quick cycle and you're done. Limescale and hard water stains will be gone almost instantly, and have the dishwasher sparkling like new.

Don't forget to clean it

You wouldn't use a dirty tea towel to clean up mess again and again, would you? So why would you keep using a dirty dishwasher to clean your dishes? It's one of the appliances that needs a clean and at the very least you should be emptying the filter which can accumulate food scraps.

Giving your dishwasher a proper clean doesn't have to be a huge, tedious job either. There are many products that can be used to clean your dishwasher, but it can be as simple as using white vinegar — especially if you're after a rinse aid option too. Pour some vinegar into a dishwasher-safe bowl and put it in the top rack of the appliance, and run the cycle like usual.

Make sure you're loading it right

Every couple, family or housemates have had a fight about the 'correct' way to stack a dishwasher.

RELATED: Expert weighs in on the 'right' way to use a dishwasher tablet after viral TikTok video

We all have a way we think is the best but there actually is one way that you should be loading it... and it's explained in your user manual. But if you don't want to dig that out there is another way that is just as good. You want your plates to be facing inwards and make sure nothing is in the way of the sprayer arm.

Stop rinsing your dishes

When it comes to the dishwasher there's not much of a need at all to be rinsing your dishes. The detergent actually needs something to cling onto during the cycle and if you're putting dishes in that are pretty much clean it will be less effective. Of course you can't throw your dishes straight in with all the scraps from dinner on them, so just scrape it off with a fork first and then pop them in.