Kitchen taps can be used to help ensure that dishwashers continue to work properly, it has been suggested.Appliance repair expert Chris Hilliker, noted that the poor cleaning performance of a dishwasher is often the result of the water not being hot enough.Speaking to ctvbc.ctv.ca, he said that one solution is to run the kitchen tap nearest the dishwasher until hot before turning on the machine.Mr Hilliker also cited the wrong amount of detergent as a common cause of poor cleaning performance.If you have soft water you probably have to add only about one-quarter of the detergent on the package, and if you have hard water you probably need to add what they recommend on the package, he said.In addition, the specialist recommended cleaning the dishwasher itself every so often.His advice comes after Build It magazine recently urged homeowners to attempt to perform simple DIY tasks themselves and learn from their mistakes.