1. Take It Apart
Now most helmets worth wearing on a motorcycle come with removable liners. It’s very seldom that you still find helmets without removable cheek pads and liners, so make sure to double check your helmet if it does indeed come with detachable cheek pads and liners. If it does, then start disassembling it starting with the neck roll, all the way up to the inner liner. It can get a bit scary, since these things fit pretty snuggly. Just give them a firm but gentle tug, and they should all fine apart nicely. I also like to detach the visor so I can give it a nice and thorough clean, as well as all the hinges and mounting points on the helmet itself.
2. Scrub-a-Dub-Dub
With your helmet now completely gutted, grab yourself a basin filled with clean lukewarm water. Add a tinge of mild shampoo in there and slush it around until you get a nice frothy mixture. Dunk your helmets cheek pads, neck roll, and internal liner in there and let it soak for a couple of minutes. While it’s soaking, get a clean wet cloth—I like to use a microfiber rag—and cover your helmet’s outer shell with it for a couple of minutes. This will allow any sticky and mucky residue to soften up, allowing you to wipe all of it off without scratching your helmet’s finish. Make sure to thoroughly wipe the inside of the helmet as well. Do the same with the visor, but take extra caution in making sure you wipe it with an even cleaner, less abrasive cloth.
Now, return to the basin where your helmet’s innards are soaked, and give them a firm, yet gentle scrub. If they’re really heavily soiled, you may want to consider changing the soap and water and repeating this process until the water isn’t gunky anymore. After this, make sure to rinse them thoroughly.
3. Let It All Dry
Now that both your helmet’s internals and externals are cleaned and rinsed, leave them out to air dry. I’d suggest hanging your cheek pads and internal liner away from direct sunlight, as the heat could cause premature aging especially on the foam padding and vinyl finishes. Of course, chucking it into the dryer is a big no-no. Depending on the weather and where you decide to leave your helmet to dry, the drying process can take anywhere from one to two days. Make sure that everything is completely dry before proceeding to reassemble your helmet.
4. Put It Back Together
Now that everything’s nice and dry, you can now begin what I consider the most tricky part of the whole process: reassembling your helmet. It can get a little frustrating trying to fit everything nice and perfectly, so I suggest taking extra precaution, especially when it comes to clips and fasteners around the crown area which have a tendency to get bent up easily. Slipping the neck roll into its slot at the base of the helmet can also take a few tries to get right, so just take extra care in doing this. Once you’ve got everything lined up nicely, give everything a thorough check to see if any clips haven’t been fastened.
There you have it! A nice and clean helmet that smells, feels, and looks nice. Now, you can throw it on and go for a ride without having to deal with any of the unsavoury smells of your once dirty helmet.
