How To Clean A Motorcycle Helmet? [With In-depth Video Instruction]

Not just from the safety point of view, your helmet is the second most costly stuff after your motorcycle. Irrespective of the weather condition, road condition, or whatever the bad situation it is, you have to wear it all the time.

Your motorcycle helmet will always be dirty and smelly no matter whether you are a new and pro. From an amateur point of view, it may seem cleaning a helmet is an easy piece of cake. But the reality is totally different. Your helmet is a delicate one.

If you don’t do it properly and with extra care, chances are you are going to ruin your helmet. You do not want to buy a new expensive helmet just for your stupidity. If you know the right trick, you are going to have a clean and smell-free helmet all the time. All you have to is just follow my instructions.

How To Clean A Motorcycle Helmet?

Beautiful Helmets

Your high-end motorcycle helmet won’t last a long unless you take good care of it. It costs almost nothing but even if you get your motorcycle helmet under $200, it is costly! The best way to take care of your helmet is to clean it at least weekly basis.

If you do this the right way, it’s very easy to get rid of the funky and grimy helmet. As you know, motorcycle helmet comes with a removable liner or without it. So, the cleaning process will be a little bit different for these two for sure.

You have nothing to worry about. You are in the right place to learn how to clean your helmet. I will cover both of them. Have some patience and follow the step by step process.

Cleaning Helmet WITH Removable Liner

If your helmet has the removable liner, cleaning it is super easy. Just laundry the liner and pads and separately wash the outer part of the helmet. The liner and pads get dirty most because of your sweat or face oil.

The best time to clean the interior stuff like liner and pads are the night before you plan to make a journey. Here is what you should do to clean the liner and pads of your helmet.

  1. Remove the cheek pads and the lining from your helmet. Pay extra attention to how they are attached to it. You have to put them back, remember? Especially, the newbie finds it really confusing to reattach the pads and linings. You can keep note if you wish.
  2. You can wash the liner and pads in two ways. Either you can hand wash them or you can put them on the washing machine on a delicate cycle. Don’t forget to use some mild detergent if you are going for the later one.
  3. If you decide to hand wash them, use baby shampoo. I find this highly effective to fight against face oil and sweat. Baby shampoo is ultra gentle as well.
  4. Be very careful and pay extra attention to rinse them. You do not want the soap residue to attach with your cheek pads and liner.
  5. Then all you have to do is air dry the liner and the pads.

Now, follow these steps to clean the helmet shell.

  1. You do not want to mess up the visor. So remove it from the helmet first.
  2. You need to make a water solution consist of warm water and mild soap.
  3. Get a soft towel or any microfiber. Moisten it with the solution you just made. Now, gently wipe the shell.
  4. Use clean water to wipe off the water solution made with mild soap. And you are done! You have just found a new shiny and oil-free helmet.

Cleaning Helmet WITHOUT Removable Liner

This is a little bit tricky and involves some extra work than cleaning a helmet with a liner. You must dunk and scrub the entire helmet. No matter what type of spray cleaners you use, it won’t do much about the skin oil and sweat.

I have learned it the hard way, so you have nothing you worry. Just follow the step by step process.

  1. Remove the visor as always along with the cheek pads and breathe guard. Hand washes the cheek pads as mentioned above.
  2. In a large bowl or in the basin, make a water solution of any shampoo and warm water. Don’t mix too much shampoo and obviously avoid the cheap one.
  3. If the outer shell is really dirty, you do not want to dunk the helmet in the water solution with that dirt. So rinse off the excess dirt before you dunk the helmet.
  4. Dunk the helmet and let the shampoo mix soak in. Wait for a few minutes to loosen up the grime and your body oil.
  5. Use your fingertips to rub the liner. If you notice any spot of bug guts and grime on the shell, rub it with your fingertips as well.
  6. If you were using the basin, remove the helmet from it and use the shower head t rinse it with clean water. Keep doing this until all the soapy water is gone.
  7. Then pat dry the helmet. Use a dry soft towel to remove excess moisture from the pads and liner.
  8. Use cotton swabs to wipe clean all the vents and joints.
  9. Air dry it and you are done. To accelerate the drying process, never use any heat source. You can use your room fan to dry the helmet quickly.
  10. If it’s a gloss helmet, use any polish on the shell to bring back the shiny look.
  11. Reattach the visor, all the pads, and liner. Your helmet is ready to use again.

Conclusion

Like I said above, cleaning the helmet thoroughly is not as simple as you think. But now you know how to clean a motorcycle helmet. Don’t you think your friends deserve to know this as well? Please share this article with them and show me some love doing so. Now, watch the video instruction of what I just explained above.

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