It’s time to raid the cleaning cabinet for some supplies. Let us clean that helmet you’ve not cleaned in a long time. More so if you’ve gotten yourself a white helmet due to everything you read about improved visibility yada yada.

Update in 2023

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What do you need?

I have written down what you’ll need and what I used in parentheses.

1. Screwdriver (Flat and Star Screwdriver)
2. Cloth, preferably lint-free (Scotch wipe)
3. Cleaning solution  (Mr Muscle Kitchen Cleaner)

To make life easier, you can also use the following:

1. Earbud
2. Tissue Paper/ Kitchen roll

You will need to clean the inner and outer parts of the helmet differently. But, the best place to clean the helmet is on a table so that it frees up your hands to clean it.

Cleaning Helmets – Outer

This is where most of the scratches and dust lie.

Strip

Start with separating all the complex parts of the helmet. Most of the screws should come out quickly. Do not force it; you may break some of the parts.

Though it is evident, let me say this. Do not remove everything, like trying to rip out the thermocouple/ polyurethane parts etc. Only remove the stuff that you need.

You can separate it into six pieces, including the main shell, on a dual sport helmet like the SOL I’ve used. Three screws hold all of these in place. (Usually, one type of screwdriver would have been enough to do this, but I have one of the screws that vibrated out, and I had to replace it with what I could find on the highway. Long story.)

Wash…

There are two sets of parts that you need to clean separately.

Hard wash

Step one is spraying/lathering all the complex parts with detergent. I used the spray you can see above. Anyone who’s washed their vessels should not have any trouble with this step. Leave it for a few minutes coated in the soap/ detergent. Wash them under running water, and all the parts should be clean.

Easy wash

Wash the visor carefully using mild soap and under running water OR using this Muc-Off 202C Helmet, Visor and Google Cleaning kit. I use a cotton cloth to clean it and let it dry. Don’t rub it carelessly since each small scratch will exaggerate light distortions when you ride at night.

… and Wipe

The shell itself, you can soap up and wipe down. It may need multiple repetitions to get clean. Very evident if you have a white helmet. I attack one part at a time, rotating the helmet as I finish it.

Next, get into the nook and corners of the helmet, using the cloth twirled up or an earbud. That will let you clean all the places, like the area near the beeding around the peephole.

And, in the end, one overall wipe down the entire shell.

Why wipe when you can wash it?

Some people recommend washing the shell under running water. I do not suggest that because:

1. The drying process will take longer; if not done right, you can have fungus and an awful stink! You’ll end up throwing a helmet away that way.
2. You can clean just the helmet’s outer without removing all the pads from within before doing that.

Cleaning Helmets – Inner

Most decent helmets nowadays come with fully removable inner lining. This is a significant step forward from when you had to wash the liner in the helmet or get rid of the helmet.

Remove all the linings carefully. In the SOL I’ve shown, the cheek pads are buttoned down in 3 places. The lining at the top of the head is placed and held down using inserts.

Remove the cheek pads and then remove the lining above. If you want a reason for why I recommend you do that, I have no reason. That’s the order in which I do it.

There are two things you can do now, based on how much time you have before your next ride with the helmet you’re cleaning.

Wash or…

Hand wash the liner with soap or anti-bacterial detergent. That will clean the liners. The downside is that it will take a long while to dry out.

Please ensure you completely dry it before using it again for reasons I’ve already mentioned above.

Plain old dusting

You can pat the cheek pads and other linings to make them dust free. Or you can use a low-powered vacuum, but be careful not to overdo it. This way, you can put them back in the helmet, which will be ready to use almost immediately. This should suffice if you’ve taken care of your helmet-cleaning process regularly.

Reassemble

Put every part of the helmet back together in its original place. You should not be left out with any screws or pads after you’ve put everything together.

If you’ve washed parts of the helmet, wait until everything is COMPLETELY DRY.

It’s natural for the visor to feel a little loose, given that the dirt in the joints is all gone now. It is just a feeling of cleanliness, and you’ll get used to it, you little dirty **.

Optional polishing

Don’t try this if you have a matte-finish helmet. Else you may want to polish the helmet using standard motorcycle polish to give it a nice shine. I never bother, which is why I’ve mentioned it as optional.

Before and After

Some pictures about how it looked before the cleaning and now.