3 Ways Busy Athletes Can Keep Their Homes Smelling Less…Athletic

Although newly engaged couple Cecila and Jesse are good about splitting their chores, they have two distinctly different approaches to keeping their house clean. She admits that she’s the messy one and is more likely to throw things into a slightly chaotic heap during the week before tackling it over the weekend. Jesse, though, likes to organize as he goes along, making sure that their place is reasonably tidy at the end of each day.

Their system seems to be working right now, but as their wedding day approaches, things might get sliiightly crazier. They would like things to be sparkling clean (and who wouldn’t?) but they’re practical about their time limitations. Both of them make the effort to stay fit — Jesse is a triathlete — so they’d also like to know how to keep their gym bags from turning into the exact opposite of an air freshener.

For starters, getting that sparkling clean look doesn’t always require scrubbing until you’ve given yourself a repetitive stress injury. Your shower head, for example, can look box-fresh if you let it soak in vinegar overnight. Fill a plastic baggie with vinegar, submerge the shower head in the liquid, and then secure it around the neck with a twist tie. Allow it to soak overnight, pull it off the next morning and prepare to be dazzled – literally dazzled – by how shiny it is.

The cleaning supplies aisle at the grocery store would like you to believe that you need a highly specialized spray bottle for every different surface in your kitchen. Not true. All you need is a sponge and a box of Arm & Hammer™ Baking Soda. Sprinkle the baking soda onto a damp sponge, and then use it to clean the fingerprints off the fridge, the smudges off the stovetop and the soda can rings off the counters. Rinse the sponge, wipe the surfaces clean and you (and your one cleaning product) are done.

While the box of Arm & Hammer™ Baking Soda is in your hand, pour a little into that nasty pair of gym shoes and let them sit overnight. Shake it out the next morning, slip them on and wait for your workout partner to thank you. (And as for the gym bag itself, just drop an Arm & Hammer™ Fridge-n-Freezer™ box inside it, and it’ll stay de-funked as well.)

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^{This post is sponsored by Arm & Hammer™ Baking Soda and was created by Apartment Therapy’s Creative Studio.
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