Get More Life Out of Your Dishwasher With a Vinegar Cycle

If your dishes come out cloudy and the dishwasher smells a little funky, the machine itself probably needs cleaning. Grease and hard water film build up inside where you can't see.

How to do it

1. Pull out the filter at the bottom and rinse the food sludge off it in the sink.
2. Put a dishwasher-safe cup of white vinegar upright on the top rack.
3. Run the hottest, longest cycle with the machine empty.
4. Sprinkle a cup of baking soda on the floor of the tub and run a short hot cycle for odor.

Do this monthly and glasses come out clearer, the smell stays gone, and the pump and spray arms last longer.