Arai Inside
Your Helmet. You replace it every five years per manufacturer’s instructions, right? Yes, of course you do. In that case, every decent modern helmet has a removable liner to make washing it very easy. Just have a good look at the helmet pieces before and during disassembly so you remember how it goes back together.
Schuberth Guts
There will be snaps behind the cheek pads and along the sides of the top of the liner. When you pull everything out you will have at least three separate pieces, depending on the helmet, and sometimes you can take the cheek pads apart to wash the foam and the fabric separate from each other.
Inside Your Empty Helmet
There’s no real need to clean the hard foam on the inside of your helmet. I like to use a nice mild shampoo for soft helmet parts, since it is made specifically to clean head grease off your head. It’s safe to use for skin contact and smells nice to boot.
Helmet Parts Wash
A sink full of warm water and, if you’ve never done it before, a strong constitution, will get those parts nice and clean; don’t look too long at the icky water. Yeah, you’re gross. We all are. If your helmet is too old to have removable pieces, for the love of all that’s holy replace it!
Helmet Parts on a Towel
Rinse the soft parts out, squeeze them out and lay them all on a towel. If you really want to wash your helmet it as is, without disassembly, as long as you don’t have any electronics like a communication system installed, take it into the shower with you. I am completely serious. Helmets are submersible and shampoo is a great cleaner. Heck, squeeze some shampoo into your helmet, put it on and squish it around right on your head while you make “vroom, vroom” noises. We don’t judge, but your roommate or spouse might.
Take the Liner Out
Your armored textile riding jackets and pants: To prep for washing them take the liners out. remove of all the armor and secure all the velcro. Remove everything from the pockets too. Triple check all the pockets!
Shoulder Armor
Here’s a great hack: When you pull the armor out of your gear, especially if you are washing more than one piece of gear, write the armor location on the armor pieces with a silver sharpie, something like “L Shoulder Red” for the armor out of the left shoulder in your red jacket. This ensures you will put everything back in the right spot.
Pile of Armor
While you’re here, check your armor for age-related wear. Is it cracking or falling apart? Did you know your armor is replaceable? It is, and it does not last forever.
Red Jacket
To wash textiles I use a mild soap like Woolite. If you have a front loader washing machine with a “hand wash” setting, it is usually safe to wash your gear in there.
In The Washer
Top-loaders twist textiles; if you do not have a front-loader you must wash your gear by hand. Be absolutely sure to empty all your pockets and close all your zippers (even the main front zipper). Make sure all velcro tabs are closed and secured to their corresponding pieces. If you machine wash unsecured velcro the hooks will catch on something fuzzy, like your collar, and wreck it. Hang your textile gear to dry. Never, never put your gear in the dryer.
Soapy Gloves
Yes, your leather gloves are washable. In fact, Held, a premier motorcycle glove manufacturer, recommends washing your gloves regularly (if you have sweaty hands, that means more than once a year, and no, riding in the rain doesn’t count). The salt in your sweat is sharp, on a molecular level, when it dries, and salty gloves get brittle and will tear. Here’s how I do it: Fill your sink with warm (not hot) water and a little mild soap (I use shampoo here, again, because it’s super mild). Put the gloves on, and work the soapy water into the gloves until they’re thoroughly saturated, just like washing your hands, and then keep gently squeezing a bit longer. When they’re as clean as you think they’ll get, rinse them well in warm (not hot) water, inside and out.
Gloves on a Towel
Let as much water as you can drip out of them, then lay the gloves out on a doubled bath towel, roll the towel up and press it to get as much of the remaining water out as possible. Do not twist it or mangle them.
Prop Gloves On Bottles
Put the gloves on again, carefully, to reshape them. Hang them over something to dry–I prop them over wine bottles so the top of the bottle is inside the glove and stand the bottles in front of the blast from a dehumidifier. Never put your gloves in a clothes dryer, an oven or, as tempting as it is, in front of a campfire to dry. They are leather and they will literally cook. Overcooked meat is brittle. Yuck.
Do Not "Wash" Leather
Leather: This one is another toughie but you have some options. First, go to your manufacturer’s website and see if they have washing instructions; many do. Follow those instructions. You can also research leather cleaners in your area. Never have leathers dry-cleaned. If you’re going to have them professionally cleaned, take them to a leather specialist. You can also google “leather shampoo” and follow the instructions you find. Leather motorcycle gear is very seldom machine washable. The same warnings about drying leather apply: never use heat, not even a hair dryer.
Scrub Yer Boots
Since boots vary so much, I’m going to get very general here. Most of my riding boots are made by Sidi, and they do not use leather but instead a synthetic composite microfiber called “technomicro.” I scrub the outsides of my boots, replace the insoles every so often and call it good. If your boots are leather, there are loads of resources that will give you great info on cleaning your boots and making them water-resistant.
Leather Balm
After you've washed your gloves and when they are completely dry, treat them with a good leather conditioner. The easiest way to do this is to put the gloves on and rub it in like you’re applying hand cream. Leather conditioner is good for all your leather gear, whether or not you've just washed it.
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