Bicycle helmet
Safety equipment that people clean like sports kit. What harms it is established; what is safe is not, because the only authority available is not the manufacturer.
Precautions
- Check the manufacturer's instructions
- Consider professional help
In detail
A helmet gets sweaty and people want to wash it, and the honest position is asymmetric: the harms are evidenced and the permitted method is not. What is evidenced is that almost all foams used in bicycle helmets are damaged by PETROLEUM-BASED SOLVENTS, that solvents incompatible with a plastic shell can attack and weaken it, and that both kinds of damage may be invisible — a crazed shell hides under paint, and crushed foam hides under the shell. What is NOT evidenced is a cleaning method. The safety institute states that it cannot say which products are compatible, and refers the reader to the manufacturer of their own helmet. No authority clears the damp-cloth-and-mild-soap advice that circulates, and a positive clearance on safety equipment needs one. So: no solvents, no petroleum-based products, and read the manual for the helmet you own. And separately from cleaning — after one impact the helmet is replaced, whatever it looks like.
Related
- Bicycle helmet has the component Helmet foam liner
Sources for this page
Sources
Bicycle Helmet Liner Materials, and Painting a Bicycle Helmet
Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute · Credible secondary source
Relied on for: That almost all foams used in bicycle helmets are damaged by petroleum-based solvents, that incompatible solvents can attack and weaken a plastic shell which may craze without the damage being highly visible, that the institute cannot say which products are safe and refers readers to the helmet manufacturer, and that a helmet is replaced after a single impact. (states this directly)