Cleaning a motorcycle helmet visor

In Finland, motorcycling is a summer activity. The number of insects tends to be quite low still in May, but by the time June rolls around the visors of motorcyclists’ helmets will start to get hit with insects more and more. There is a handy way to clean the visor or the entire outer surface of a helmet without scrubbing or even any detergent. To do this, you only need a clean cloth, a little bit of water and a few minutes.

Soak without splashing

Do this after the day’s drive:

• Moisten a kitchen towel or other cloth.
• Cover the helmet with the towel.
• Wait 5–10 minutes. This should give you enough time to take off other motorcycling gear or lubricate the chain, for example.
• Wipe the helmet clean.

The towel does not have to be very damp. If the cloth is dripping with water, it is too wet. The trick here is time doing its thing. The damp cloth gives away just the right amount of moisture without getting the inside of the helmet wet. The water softens the insect stains and the soft dirt will come off by simply wiping. In addition, wiping with a damp cloth will never scratch the helmet.

A microfibre kitchen towel is good, but basically any towel will do – even a terry cloth hand towel will do the trick. However, you should prefer microfibre because it will leave the surface of the visor stain-free.

This method of a damp cloth + a little time is suitable for cleaning dirty surfaces that cannot withstand complete washing with water. Naturally, insects will end up in other places than just the visor of your helmet and you can apply this same method for the headlights of your car, if you don’t have time for washing them thoroughly with water.