DIY Network

Athletic Gear Athletic Gear From "Talking Dirty With the Queen of Clean" episode DQOC-135

Figure A

If you're an athlete, you have to deal with outdoor dirt, not to mention the dirt bodies generate when they perspire. Triathlete Marty Velasco Hames knows this all to well (figure A). Here, she shares her cleaning problems and their solutions:

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• Bike grease on clothing Apply cream waterless hand cleaner and work in with your thumbs. Then apply liquid dish soap to the area and launder as usual. If that doesn't work, apply Lava soap to the stains, work it in, let it soak, pretreat with liquid soap and launder.

• Grease on hands Use baby wipes: the oil in them removes the grease.

• Water bottles Pour in 1/2 cup vinegar, fill with water, let soak and wash with dishwashing liquid. Because it is acidic, vinegar inhibits the growth of bacteria and is a mild disinfectant. If odor becomes a problem, pour in a generous amount of baking soda, fill with warm water and let soak. Always clean water bottles after every use to prevent the growth of bacteria.

• Dingy workout clothes Add lemon juice or automatic dishwashing detergent to warm water. Soak overnight. Add the soak water to the regular washing-machine detergent and wash as usual. This is very effective for whitening dingy white socks.
  

  	Figure B
  	Figure C

• Fading clothes Before washing brightly colored clothes, turn wrong side out (figure B). Add 1/2 cup white vinegar to the detergent and water. This helps set the color and is both a natural deodorizer and a fabric softener. Use for every wash.

• Athletic shoes Sprinkle baking soda in the shoes after every wearing to absorb odors. Or check athletic shoe stores for odor-removing products containing natural crystals that remove odor. Shake in, leave and pour out before wearing the shoes. The products also act like powder to help keep feet from perspiring.

• Camelback watering bladders Don't use bleach, it can break down the materials used to construct the bladder (figure C). Use undiluted vinegar instead, making sure it goes into the hose, let it set for several hours, then flush with cold water. Vinegar can also remove perspiration stains that form on the outside of the bladder pack.