It doesn’t seem right that the appliance that cleans our dirty dishes needs to be cleaned too, but all those caked on or baked on food particles have a way of congregating in the dishwasher drain and creating an odoriferous machine that does not work to full efficiency.

Those food particles can not only smell foul, but they can hinder the mechanisms of the machine itself, leaving your kitchenware still dirty.

Get your machine running and looking as well as it did when it was new with these dishwasher cleaning tips.

Open the Door

Empty the dishwasher and leave the door open. Using a paper towel or rag, remove any particulate from the drain that is visible. Place one cup of white vinegar in a dishwasher-safe bowl and place the bowl on the top rack of the dishwasher. Run the machine through a full washing cycle, using the hottest water possible.

Wipe Clean

After the cycle has finished, use paper towel or a clean cloth to wipe down the interior of the dishwasher. Wipe the rubber gaskets around the door to remove all debris and mold. Use an old toothbrush dipped in baking soda to scrub away any tough stains.

Spray Arm

Use an old toothbrush dipped in white vinegar to scrub the spray arm. Scrub each water hole to ensure there’s nothing clogging it. Next, use the toothbrush to scrub away any remaining food particle left on the racks.

Rust Stains

The inside of your dishwasher may develop rust or mineral stains because of hard water or old water pipes. The vinegar should clean away hard water stains, but it won’t do much for rust stains.

Purchase a laundry cleaning product that is formulated to remove rust stains from clothing. This can be found in the detergent section of any store. Add the rust-removing product to the soap dispenser in your dishwasher and sprinkle some in the bottom of your machine. Run the dishwasher through a complete wash and rinse cycle and the rust should be gone.

Since the rust stains probably came from your home’s water pipes, the rust treatment will have to be repeated every few months to keep rust stains at bay.