When your dishwasher stops working, you can get really frustrated. After all, you got the dishwasher so that you didn't have to stick your hands in hot water to make sure that all your dishes get washed. So, if it's not working, then you want to get it working as soon as possible. There are various things that you can do to troubleshoot your dishwasher and get it going again. 

1. Clean Your Dishwasher

If you are having problems with your dishwasher getting everything clean, one of the things that you can do is make sure that the machine is clean. Check out all around the sprayer arms, the gasket around the door, and the drains. You are looking for food particles, grease, any little pieces of stuff that doesn't belong, and suchlike. Once you have done that, you can run a cleaning cycle. There are dishwasher cleaning liquids that you can use, and you could consider using white vinegar to help clean and freshen everything up. Once you have run that wash cycle and an extra rinse cycle, then you can put in some dirty dishes and see if they get nice and clean. 

2. Low-Pressure Spray

Another issue that you could be having is that your spray arm nozzles are clogged, so the water pressure coming through them isn't all that strong. That means that water isn't going to get to all your dishes and won't wash off the dishes as efficiently. Clogged-up nozzles can happen if you have hard water; the calcium and lime in the water deposits into the nozzles. So, what can you do about that? One thing you can do to handle that problem is to clean off the nozzles. You can do that by using a stiff brush and some white vinegar or another cleaner. You may have to soak the area for a little while first, and it may take a little bit of elbow grease to get all the scale and buildup off, but once you get all that mess cleaned up, your former water pressure should be back. You may want to do this monthly, just to make sure that there isn't any buildup starting again. 

If your dishwasher isn't working or isn't getting your dishes clean, there are things you can do to get it working again. If nothing you do gets it going again, then you should call a washer repair professional to have them check it out for you.