How to Clean Motorcycle Helmet Straps
When you are on your bike, enjoying the fun and adventure rides or doing challenging stunts, jumps, crashes, and races, safety comes as a big concern for sure.
For this, you may use various protective gear like armor, knee pads, elbow shields, helmets, etc. However, among all these helmets are the most important to protect your head from severe accidental effects.
But for doing so, they must be of high-quality, durable, and advanced features which ultimately claims a heap of money to be invested.
But, believe me, or not, you can’t get a premium service even from your high-end motorcycle helmet, if you don’t maintain or clean it properly, especially the chin straps.
So, during your busy schedule, make sure to get some time for the maintenance of your motorcycle helmet straps.
Here is a brief guide for you on how to clean motorcycle helmet straps at home. Let’s take a look into that carefully to explore the whole process.
What Causes Helmet Straps to Wear Out Swiftly?
Before you know how to clean helmet straps, let’s find out the reasons that cause helmet straps to fall apart.
Sweat and oil exhaled from the body during the rides or the stunts are primarily responsible for ruining helmet straps.
But how does the whole thing happen?
While riding on a motorbike, a good amount of sweat and oil get out of your body which is eventually swallowed-up by your helmet’s inner layer, cheek pads, and chin straps. Consequently, they create unhygienic and unpleasant smells as well as lots of bacterial germs.
If you don’t wash the straps that time, they get damaged swiftly.
Again, the irremovable nature of chin straps in even the most popular brands discourages the riders to wash this part regularly.
Furthermore, most users apply improper washing materials in the cleaning process because of having almost no idea about the motorcycle helmet straps cleaning.
All these things reduce the usability and longevity of helmet straps causing a huge number of fines.
Things You Should Use
You have already known the significance of cleaning helmet straps regularly.
But you have to have some materials to finish the cleaning process properly.
Let’s go through the following discussion to get an overview of them.
Mild Soaps or Detergents: There are a variety of soaps or detergents available in the market. Among them, only mild soaps or detergents can work superbly in cleaning soft fabrics of chin straps. So, make sure to use soft cleaning materials for your helmet straps.
Soft Brush: To remove dirt from the sensitive straps of your helmet, use a soft, dry brush. You can even use a toothbrush for this purpose.
Lukewarm Water: Mild hot water is quite effective in removing odors and dust from fabrics. So, apply lukewarm water and mild soaps together to get the best cleaning.
Whenever you gather these things, you can start the main process. Before that, take a look at the things you should totally avoid.
You may also like to read:
Things You Should Avoid
- Any kind of harsh cleaners, especially the solvents made of petroleum.
- Intense hot water and any rough brush.
Steps to Clean Motorcycle Helmet Straps
Now, you have everything you need to clean helmet straps. Let’s go over the steps on how to clean bike helmet straps.
Step- 1: At the very beginning, you have to bring out the inner padding of your helmet so that they don’t get wet meanwhile.
Step-2: Take a soft brush to gently pull out the sodium chloride (salt), dust or trash stuck into the tiny holes of the helmet straps.
Step-3: Bend and move the straps so that you can reach out as many gaps as possible and clear the salt and dirt deposits from them.
Step-4: Put the straps under the shower of mildly warm water until they get totally soaked.
Step-5: Brush the straps again to take off more deposits.
Step-6: Now, add some mild soap or detergent on the brush and rub it gently on the straps.
Step-7: Keep rubbing the brush until you wash dust and filth from every touchable or hard-to-touch part of the straps.
Step-8: Again, place the straps under the flowing water and rinse them until the soap gets totally washed out of them.
Step-9: Then, put the straps in the open air to dry. You can even use a fan to facilitate the process.
Step- 10: When the straps are completely dried, try to feel if they give any bad smell or not.
Step-11: If they still give odors, take a shoe spray with antibacterial ingredients and spray it throughout the straps to remove germs and odors.
Step-12: Wash the straps again to avoid the skin-irritation created by the shoe sprays.
After finishing the whole process, you will get an odor-free clean helmet strap.
However, you can review the entire process if you feel necessary.
Furthermore, you can follow along the preceding steps to get an idea of how to clean bicycle helmet straps.
Additional Tips
You just went through a complete guide on how to clean motorcycle helmet straps.
Now, it’s time to get some additional tips to complete the entire task easily and trouble-freely.
- If you don’t have any soft brush, use a sponge to clean the dirt or filth.
- You can use shampoos in the place of mild soaps or detergents.
- Don’t use a dishwasher to clean the straps. Rather, use your kitchen sink or shower to do the cleaning.
- Remove unpleasant smells by sinking the straps into the mixture of water and white vinegar in 1:10 proportion.
- Have a regular check-up of your helmet straps to find out any wear and tear.
- For a permanent remedy, purchase a helmet with an excellent ventilation system.
FAQ
What materials should be used as straps for users with sensitive skin?
There are a lot of bikers who get itching and other skin diseases during summer days as their skins are not suitable for polyester. If you have the same issue, you can use faux leather or general leather straps instead of polyesters.
Because they prevent all kinds of skin diseases by absorbing the moisture and keeping the body both dry and cool.
Can I wear a bicycle helmet on my motorcycle?
From both legal and ethical standpoints, you can’t use a bicycle helmet on your motorcycle. Because bicycle helmets are made specially to protect you riding at an average speed of 15 MPH whereas you most often travel at speeds of 25-65 MPH or higher on your motorcycle.
So, you can yourself understand why you can’t wear a bicycle helmet on motorcycles.
Can I squeeze the straps during the cleaning process?
No, you can’t squeeze the straps while cleaning. If you do so, the fibers of the straps will be too poor to last long.
So, just brush the straps smoothly using soft brushes to remove the dirt and filths from the body.
Final Thoughts
You just had a complete understanding of how to clean motorcycle helmet straps.
Now, you can easily clean your helmet straps following the given directions and prevent the risk of skin diseases from minerals, oils, dust, etc.
Besides, you won’t have to spend a lot of money purchasing helmets every one or two years.
So, don’t hesitate to follow up the entire guide for getting an optimum result and contributing to the longevity of your helmet.
Resources:
https://forum.bikeradar.com/discussion/comment/16262029#Comment_16262029
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