Taking Care of Your Helmet Lining

Every manufacturer I’m aware of recommends replacing your helmet every five years. However, the accumulation of sweat, humidity, and dust can deteriorate the liners fabric and stitching much sooner than that. They may also cause an odor you won’t enjoy.

If your helmet lining pads aren’t removable, most manufacturers will recommend a product like Helmet Fresh. It will get rid of any bacteria or mildew that is good for neither the helmet nor you.

For helmets with removable pads, you can toss them in the washing machine (personally, I use a mild soap) and then let them air dry. If you’re in a hurry you can use a blow dryer, but only if you can turn the heat off.

Helmet Modifications – A Definite No-No

Any good helmet is designed to meet SNELL and/or DOT standards. Modifying it will most likely increase the damage to your head in an accident. For your brain’s sake, don’t change the engineering of your helmet. Modifications include the following:

• drilling holes;
• cutting shell, liner, or strap;
• modifying the retention system, including adding a chin cup;
• removing parts, and;
• attaching accessories that are not manufactured for your specific helmet model.

Pretty much anything you can do to your helmet will compromise its integrity. You wear a helmet to protect your brain, so don’t sacrifice that protection by lessening its effectiveness.

If you don’t like your helmet the way it is, get a new one.

Cleaning Helmet Vents

Helmet Vent Cleaning


Occasionally you will find that dust or small bits of debris has lodged in your helmet vents. You can use the same compressed air cans used for cleaning your keyboard to blow the debris from the helmets vents. You should remove any lining pads you can before doing this.


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