Best solution for a smelly helmet
 

Daily riding in hot weather has left my helmet almost too gross to wear. Both pads and straps stink from sweat, and the pads are a bit frayed from wear, too. After reading this thread and also this thread, I have seen many suggestions for washing the helmet. So I ask those with experience: what has worked for you, and causes the least damage to your helmet?

I take out the removable pads and wash them in vinegar and then some soapy water. Be sure to rinse when you're all done.

If the straps are smelly, just some regular old water should do the trick.

I have a spray bottle of a 50% solution of water/vinegar and spray my helmet and camelback down once a week. Then I run it under the shower and let it dry.

Regular washing helps. :rolleyes:

I got caught in an afternoon shower a few weeks ago. I hadn't remembered to wash my helmet in a few months :eek: and for about a mile (till it was all "washed" out) had salty, crappy-tasting rain water running down my face and into the corner of my mouth. Spit! Spit! Spit!

The pads should be removeable, wash them. I give the inside of my helmet a quick shot of Lysol when I hang it up (a habit picked up from having hockey gear to deal with too)

You left out an option on your poll:

* Wear your aromatic helmet with pride!

In addition to the tips above, you could also use any readily available deodorizers like Fabreze, etc. I think the most overlooked, cheapest and often most effective is sunlight. Letting your helmet sit out on a breezy sunny day will help break up and release odor molecules.

Febreze works good, but also stuffing newspaper in the helmet helps a whole lot. I do it all the time with my moto helmets.

My helmet actually gets more stinky in the winter when its more humid and less hot to dry it out overnight. But it also gets stinky in the so called 'monsoon' season we have here, with a bit higher humidities, which is about now.

I like to take out pads and hand wash them thoughoughly in dishsoap. Also wash the helmet in sink with dishsoap. Lay it out in full sun to dry. A quick very light spritz of some alcohol based deoderant (or purfume) on the inside helps too. Not much as you don't want to damage helmet. Seems to get rid of the stink - main thing you want to do is kill the bacteria which sun and alcohol can do.

Al

What my helmet stinks? Wash a helmet? Never thought of it.
Guess it's not hot enough that often here to even consider it! [goes off to sniff helmet]

buy a new one.

Maybe it's marketing hype recommending a new lid every year. Then again it's yer brains, so what the hey? I don't mind dropping $ on a new jersey or tires so why not a brain bucket?

I hang a pine tree air freshener off the front visor ;)

Bell Helmets send me free pads every two months or so.

Do you ask or are you on a system?

I get free pads from Giro (hmmm... are they part of Bell) whenever I call and ask.

But I've noticed the stench has gotten into the chin straps, harder to clean and/or replace.

Al

you could also try patchouli.

I once gave a girlfriend a coupla rides on my motorbike and afterwards my helmet smelled liked her perfume for a good, l - o - n - g time. That stuff will cover ANYthing! :D

I just call 'em. Very good customer service.

I don't think I've ever washed a helmet. Get enough riding in the rain, I guess and it's all good. :D

I haven't yet experienced this helmet stink you speak of, but for sandal stink, which boy howdy do I know well... I use a product called "sandal suds."

I wonder if that would work for the straps since it's the same kind of material as the straps on Chacos.

Beck

I pull out the pads and wash them with Dr. Bronner's in the sink. That seems to do the trick. In fact I wash all of my bike clothing that way.

I use shampoo (Johnson's Baby Shampoo) in the shower and wash the whole helmet with it. Rinse thoroughly with warm water, then blot out the excess moisture and let it air dry for a day. Gets all the salt and stink out and leaves it smelling great.

Urrrppppp!

That stuff nauseates me. I was there in the "Flower Power" sixties, and hippies used to use patchouli instead of showering, so the smell of B.O. mixed with patchouli is forever burned into my brain.

I just smelled my helmet after 9 months of commuting and other riding, often with bucketloads of sweat running off.

I can't catch even the faintest whiff, it is completely odor free. Never washed it. How do I do it? (I'm not that clean, my armpits knock out possums at 300 yards after a hot ride.)

After every ride, I take a cloth or paper towel and press firmly on the pads until they are dry. I never considered smell for this exercise, I do it because I hate putting on a wet helmet. Looks like it works for smell too.

:D :D :D

I once went to a concert (B. Dylan) and Toni Basil was the opening act.....not my cuppa tea....... anyhoo, some woman behind me was positively IN-FUSED with the stuff....at first i thought someone had eaten pastrami, puked it up all over themselves and then came to the show anyway.....she was seated right behind me and I was gagging all the way through the opening act.

Luckily she got up and left in between sets, so the Dylan show was patchouli free :D

actually in MODERATION I don't mind the stuff. but only if the underlying user is clean - and being outdoors helps (even better on a MC - with them behind you!! ;) )

mind, it could be worse than your memories....I've had the displeasure of being around 90s hipsters who eschew bathing in the interest of bohemianism, sans patchouli smokescreen...trust me, it's NOT an improvement.

I would suggest to make a paste out of baking soda, smear it all over in your helmet, let it sit overnight, and then rinse it out. I'd wash the pads as normal, maybe using a "stripping" shampoo for oily hair, and rinse them in water with baking soda in it.

I do this with my gloves which get very manky and it seems to take care of the nastiness quite handily.

Ugh, I've been there a few too many times. And it is so very shockily disgusting to recognize that you're spitting out a good month's worth of fosselized sweat.

1. Make baking soda paste-2 parts baking soda to 1 part water.
2. Apply a liberal amount to odorous areas.
3. I prefer to let dry and brush off or rub off if you cannot wait.
4. Use with confidence!