Helmet Funk

I'm a bit over due to clean my helmet it's such a PIA to do but installing some new Com. gear it's due.
How often do you wash it out? once a year for me.  Poll helmet stench be honest.  

I can pull my Schuberth liner out pretty easily then fiddle with it to reinstall it. So if I think it starts to smell (or get grubby) I'll hand wash the liner. Every 3 months maximum because I'm a clean face diva. My helmet gets stored at home on a wire mesh shelf so it can fully vent with the chin bar up and I have those little cedar balls as well. I also store my helmet at work on top of a locker with adequate ventilation.

So its approximately every 3 months because I'm more afraid of zits and grime than smell.

I wear DOT 3/4 helmets, usually go thru 2 a year, right now GMAX, I do clean liner lightly with Windex and rag---- when they really start to stink=throw them away

I pull my liner about once every 6 months to a year and clean (GMAX helmet). Not a bad job. In the interim I use Febreze scent free to help from time to time. I always air out my helmet before putting it away too. Most guides say replace the helmet every 5 years and I try and come close to that.

I wear a Silks liner in mine when I rode a lot I washed it weekly, the actual helmet liner maybe twice a year.

sc00ter wrote:

(Snip) Every 3 months maximum because I'm a clean face diva. My helmet gets stored at home on a wire mesh shelf so it can fully vent with the chin bar up and I have those little cedar balls as well.

Ooo. Hats off to you Sc00ter.  Old as we are, I venture to say that not one of us here would admit to having “little cedar balls”. 


Sorry, Dale made me say it.

That's to funny! Good catch! I may or may not still be standing behind behind the little cedar balls! Stand behind, did it again.....

My experience of cedar wood is Cedar Planked Salmon at Ted's  Montana Grill, and squares of cedar wood I've been given to place in drawers to deter moths. I use Granger's Merino wash which contains natural cedar extract which is added to deter moths. Something to do with moth larvae being partial to snacking on fine quality wool.

I don't think helmet funk is much of a problem these days with modern helmets. They almost have adjustable intake and exhaust vents to take in cool air and let out the heat build up inside. You can also buy products to clean and fresh up helmet linings.

I remember older non vented helmets really made your scalp sweat in hot weather, and the linings did smell. It didn’t help that the linings of those helmets weren’t meant to be removed either.

As a way of keeping a helmet lining clean I started wearing those Silky helmet liners years ago, they weren't available over here so I had to buy a couple from over the Pond. I got the idea from US bike mags and some of the riders in my BMW Club days wore and recommended them.

They may have thought they looked like fighter pilots, I thought I looked more like a medieval dung gatherer or one of the peasants that collected the corpses during the Black Death.  

I liked wearing them, despite the fact that the stitching could occasionally cause annoying pressure points on my forehead. I still have them, the Silky logo has almost faded away and they've been relegated now to keeping my ears warm under my cycle helmet in winter.

Usually I just swap between flip front adventure, and open face helmets, both linings are easy to remove for washing and refit. The liners are welded and not stitched so they're all day comfortable, and I have one of those large helmet donuts stand them on to air, and when charging the comm systems. A smaller size donut is part of my touring kit.

I clean the removable lining bit a few times a year, I usually just bung them in the washing machine with other stuff.
Once a year or so I'll fully clean the inside of the helmet using a mild soap and rinse thoroughly, the shower comes in handy for this. A lot of dead flies will come out of the vents, so DO NOT clean the helmet while you're having a bath. Don't ask how I know this 🥴