washing a helmet

"~LZO~" <[email hidden]> wrote in :"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

Can I put the whole helmet into my laundry machine ? Or do I have to do some hand washing ?

Definately hand wash. The most I ever do is wipe it down with a damp sponge. Even soaking a helmet
might not be very safe.

~LZO~ said:

Hello folks,

I'm a happy yet recent owner of a Bell Avanti helmet. It's great, light, well ventilated, ... One
question, though : how to wash it ? It's been fairly hot these days, and it seem the daily washing
of the little pieces of inner blue foam is not enough. Can I put the whole helmet into my laundry
machine ? Or do I have to do some hand washing ? I precise my hair smell delightly good.

LZO

Just keep it on until you get in the shower and you'll do fine. You might think I'm pulling your leg
now but I am serious.

--
Perre

You have to be smarter than a robot to reply.

RE/

Quoted message said:

One question, though : how to wash it ? It's been fairly hot these days, and it seem the daily
washing of the little pieces of inner blue foam is not enough.

We have a utility sink in the laundry room right off the garage - so when I come in, I go right to
the sink, turn on the hot water, and just run it at max temp a few minutes over the foam. Takes
about 3 minutes total.

Every so often, it gets a little oderiferous in spite and then I hit it with some Fabreeze (sp?)
before the hot wanter rinse.
-----------------------
PeteCresswell

(Pete Cresswell) said:

Every so often, it gets a little oderiferous in spite and then I hit it with some Fabreeze (sp?)
before the hot wanter rinse.

I think you're getting Febreze confused with Fabrizio.

Febreze is the oder-removing stuff.

Fabrizio is the guy who thinks his schitt doesn't have an odor.

Quoted message said:

-----------------------
PeteCresswell

--
Rick Onanian

My helmet is typical - removal fabric pads, hard foam body, plastic shell and nylon straps. All
waterproof ingredients.

I live in a warm climate and I sweat plenty, so I rinse it after each ride.

I remove the pads, rinse and squeeze dry. Then I hose the helmet and straps, front and back, top and
bottom. Air dry.

~LZO~' may have said:

Hello folks,

I'm a happy yet recent owner of a Bell Avanti helmet. It's great, light, well ventilated, ... One
question, though : how to wash it ? It's been fairly hot these days, and it seem the daily washing
of the little pieces of inner blue foam is not enough. Can I put the whole helmet into my laundry
machine ? Or do I have to do some hand washing ?

Don't toss it in the washing machine; for one thing, it'll get bashed, and for another, it'll float
on top and not get clean. Use a *mild* spray cleaner or a little bit of liquid laundry detergent on
a rag to wipe down the interior surfaces; if your kitchen sink has a spray attachment, you can use
that to expedite the process of rinsing everything. If the straps are gross with accumulated ick, a
little of the laundry detergent, worked in by hand and then rinsed out with the water spray, should
clean them right up. Most Bell helmets of my experience do not lend themselves well to having the
straps reinstalled if they are removed, so I would not recommend taking them out and tossing them in
with a load of socks in the washer. (Besides, the Sock Eater might get them.)

Remember; helmets are designed to be able to be worn in the rain. You can get them wet. Just don't
get carried away with strong chemicals, and above all, use no solvents.

By the way, after I mentioned to a friend the idea posted here of putting a chain in the automatic
dishwasher to get it clean, he decided to put his *helmet* in there. The little foam pads were all
dislodged, but it came out sparkling clean and odor-free. (I would not, however, recommend this
procedure as a regular regime, since it occurs to me that it would probably cause failure in the
tape that secures the shell to the foam on many helmets if done once too often, and once might *be*
too often for some.)

--
My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail. Yes, I have a killfile. If I
don't respond to something, it's also possible that I'm busy.

Per Elmsäter' may have said:

Just keep it on until you get in the shower and you'll do fine. You might think I'm pulling your
leg now but I am serious.

Hmm. A little odd, but y'know, that just might be the easiest route overall.

--
My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail. Yes, I have a killfile. If I
don't respond to something, it's also possible that I'm busy.

Werehatrack said:

Per Elmsäter' may have said:

Just keep it on until you get in the shower and you'll do fine. You might think I'm pulling your
leg now but I am serious.

Hmm. A little odd, but y'know, that just might be the easiest route overall.

Hehe, and yes I do take it off at least before I get out of the shower 😉

I picked this up at a six day biking event I attended this summer. In the afternoon after finishing
the day of riding everybody would hit the showers at the same place. Since we'd be riding again the
next day, most everybody had a plastic bucket with their biking clothes and some detergent in one
hand and some had their helmet in the other hand as they entered the showers.

--
Perre

You have to be smarter than a robot to reply.

I remove my pads out and wash them by hand, the rest of the helmet never gets that dirty to
worry about it.

I've had my Giro helmet for the past 6 years, never paid any special attention to it ... toss it in
the car, hang it on the bars, whatever.

Despite all the neglect I gave it, it saved my life last night, I crashed and pulverized it.

Just make sure you put it on your noggin' EVERYTIME.

jw milwaukee (thankful to be at home and not in a box)

(J999w) may have said:

I remove my pads out and wash them by hand, the rest of the helmet never gets that dirty to worry
about it.

I've had my Giro helmet for the past 6 years, never paid any special attention to it ... toss it in
the car, hang it on the bars, whatever.

Despite all the neglect I gave it, it saved my life last night, I crashed and pulverized it.

Just make sure you put it on your noggin' EVERYTIME.

Yup. The medics on the emergency wagons could care less if the underwear's clean, but they get upset
when the head's all bashed up because the dirty helmet *wasn't* on it.

--
My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail. Yes, I have a killfile. If I
don't respond to something, it's also possible that I'm busy.

J999w said:

Despite all the neglect I gave it, it saved my life last night, I crashed and pulverized it.

And you know it saved your life because the control experiment with an unhelmeted head showed...

... no, wait, this is idle supposition on your part, isn't it?
--
David Damerell <[email hidden]> Kill the tomato!

David Damerell said:

J999w said:

Despite all the neglect I gave it, it saved my life last night, I crashed and pulverized it.

And you know it saved your life because the control experiment with an unhelmeted head showed...

... no, wait, this is idle supposition on your part, isn't it?

"Saved my life" is always idle supposition, by your standards.

Are you opposed to wearing seatbelts too?

Have you ever, in fact, hit your head hard enough to crush a helmet, while not wearing a helmet? It
takes a lot of force to crush a helmet; certainly enough to splatter your head. If you want to
continue living after that, I hope you have lots of money, because I don't want to subsidize a
headless wonder living on machines.

I certainly wouldn't want to live after destroying my skull and brain. I'll take the risk of
uselessly supporting the helmet companies, I certainly waste enough money on other useless stuff.

--
Rick Onanian

"Rick Onanian" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

David Damerell said:

J999w said:

Despite all the neglect I gave it, it saved my life last night, I crashed and pulverized it.

And you know it saved your life because the control experiment with an unhelmeted head showed...

... no, wait, this is idle supposition on your part, isn't it?

"Saved my life" is always idle supposition, by your standards.

Are you opposed to wearing seatbelts too?

Have you ever, in fact, hit your head hard enough to crush a helmet, while not wearing a helmet?
It takes a lot of force to crush a helmet; certainly enough to splatter your head. If you want to
continue living after that, I hope you have lots of money, because I don't want to subsidize a
headless wonder living on machines.

I certainly wouldn't want to live after destroying my skull and brain. I'll take the risk of
uselessly supporting the helmet companies, I certainly waste enough money on other useless stuff.

--

Rick, Do some research on diffuse brain injury (brain bruising) and how/whether bicycle helmets have
any effect.

--
Robin Hubert <[email hidden]

David Damerell said:

[It is also an argument for wearing a helmet while carrying out activities more prone to head
injuries - like any time you are in your kitchen. I suspect you don't do that, either...]

I have hit my head more times cycling than any other activity.

I almost crushed my head against a tree once; after that, I no longer ride helmet-less [with the
exception of empty, paved bike paths].

I was riding 17mph, endoed, and my face skidded along the ground. By sheer luck, my head missed a
tree by a few inches. My face was all torn up. I had stitches around my eye, etc.

I was able, however, to ride and walk out of the woods, where I was riding alone. I made it to my
car, drove to a payphone, and called for help.

If I had hit my head, I could have died, unconcious in the middle of the woods with no help.

Since then, I've worn my helmet, had accidents while 10 miles out in the woods alone, and I have
ridden out of every one.

While that's not sufficient evidence for you, it's sufficient evidence for me. Even with other
people around to call for help, I'd rather just avoid losing my head.

I'm new to road biking, and while most auto drivers seem polite, I am concerned enough to wear a
helmet; after all, I sometimes ride at speeds over 40 mph, and I could certainly get into a major
accident that way.

Works for me, doesn't work for you, okay.

--
Rick Onanian

Rick Onanian said:

David Damerell said:

J999w said:

Despite all the neglect I gave it, it saved my life last night, I crashed and pulverized it.

And you know it saved your life because the control experiment with an unhelmeted head showed...

... no, wait, this is idle supposition on your part, isn't it?

"Saved my life" is always idle supposition, by your standards.

David is astute enough (and has been around long enough) to know that "my helmet saved my life"
stories rarely have any basis in fact.

Reading them makes me consider wearing a helmet as there is a greatly increased risk I might hit my
head from falling out of the chair laughing!

Quoted message said:

Are you opposed to wearing seatbelts too?

I don't know about him, but I am opposed to laws making it compulsory. When motorists are compelled
to "buckle up" the result is a much higher fatality rate amongst pedestrians and cyclists (even ones
with mirrors) and negligible benefit for motorists.

At least with bicycle helmets the person who is at risk from Risk Compensation is the one making the
(usually unknowing) decision.

Quoted message said:

Have you ever, in fact, hit your head hard enough to crush a helmet, while not wearing a helmet?

The hardest I hit my head (outside of elementary school where unhelmeted head-on-head impact
occasionally occured during some of the rough-and-tumble games we played - and which our obese
children are probably banned from playing now) was inside someone's house on a stairway while I was
moving furniture and that was superficial. Since I wasn't wearing a helmet, that makes me an "organ
donor", although since I wasn't amongst cyclists at the time they didn't realize that there was
basis for sneers and derision rather than concern!

Quoted message said:

It takes a lot of force to crush a helmet; certainly enough to splatter your head.

And here I thought that helmets were designed to reduce the rate of acceleration of the brain
towards the inside of the skull, a closed head injury.

No surprise here, head and brain "splatter" imagery is par for the course. Cyclists love it and
can't stop talking about it! Marketing works!

Quoted message said:

If you want to continue living after that, I hope you have lots of money, because I don't want to
subsidize a headless wonder living on machines.

You must feel the same way about other people choosing to eat excessive amounts of junk food.

How about those who do other activities (like driving) without wearing helmets? They do account for
the other 99% of head injury victims and we are discussing costs, right? Since, as we are often
told, there's "no reason not to wear one", why shouldn't people wear one all the time?

Quoted message said:

I certainly wouldn't want to live after destroying my skull and brain. I'll take the risk of
uselessly supporting the helmet companies, I certainly waste enough money on other useless stuff.

Yes, it's quite plain that you (like most people) like to spend money on "stuff" to make yourself
feel better (good luck with that). This is hardly a basis on which to lecture others about what
safety gear need be donned for whichever given activity.

--
Chris Bird

Chris B. csbird1@-nospam-thanks- rogers.com said:

Quoted message said:

Are you opposed to wearing seatbelts too?

I don't know about him, but I am opposed to laws making it compulsory.

I am too. Same for helmets. It's a personal choice.

Quoted message said:

You must feel the same way about other people choosing to eat excessive amounts of junk food.

No, I don't. Especially if they decide to take up bicycling. <G>

Quoted message said:

How about those who do other activities (like driving) without wearing helmets? They do account
for the other 99% of head injury victims and we are discussing costs, right? Since, as we are
often told, there's "no reason not to wear one", why shouldn't people wear one all the time?

I've never said there's no reason not to wear one.

They can be uncomfortable; they can look stupid; and they certainly get sweaty.

I choose to wear one when I'm in a situation where I expect a high risk to bashing my head.

Quoted message said:

Yes, it's quite plain that you (like most people) like to spend money on "stuff" to make yourself
feel better (good luck with that). This

Yes, I do spend money on stuff to make myself feel better. If you don't have feelings, good for you.

Quoted message said:

is hardly a basis on which to lecture others about what safety gear need be donned for whichever
given activity.

I was not lecturing others about what safety gear needs to be donned for whichever given activity.

It's just as bad to lecture others telling them to avoid such safety gear. I was replying to
THAT action.

If you want to not wear a helmet, good for you. Your head will help you shed excess body heat better
than those of us wearing them, and you will shed slightly less money.

If you want to tell other people not to wear a helmet, I take issue with that. It's a personal
choice, nothing more or less.

I hope you don't tell people to avoid wearing seatbelts, or to avoid wearing a hardhat when they're
working on a construction site, or to avoid wearing safety goggles when working with spattering.
We're all entitled to wear whatever safety equipment we choose. While there are some situations
where it should be mandatory, in most situations, it should not be.

--
Rick Onanian

Rick Onanian said:

On Thu, 21 Aug 2003 20:43:54 GMT, Chris B. <csbird1@-nospam-thanks- rogers.com> wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Yes, it's quite plain that you (like most people) like to spend money on "stuff" to make yourself
feel better (good luck with that). This is hardly a basis on which to lecture others about what
safety gear need be donned for whichever given activity.

I was not lecturing others about what safety gear needs to be donned for whichever given activity.

It's just as bad to lecture others telling them to avoid such safety gear. I was replying to
THAT action.

No, you were not. This part of the thread started with J999w's statement claiming that a helmet
saved his life and concluding to "Just make sure you put it on your noggin' EVERYTIME." David D then
questioned how he could know what the outcome would have been without a helmet, but made no
statement one way or another on what others should wear.

That was the statement to which you responded. If you think anyone in this thread told others to
"avoid such safety gear" please quote it.

Quoted message said:

If you want to tell other people not to wear a helmet, I take issue with that. It's a personal
choice, nothing more or less.

You seem to have no problem with J999w's statement calling for us to wear helmets "EVERYTIME", but
are supposedly taking issue with something no one in this thread has said, i.e. "not to wear a
helmet." That's known as a strawman argument - you make up things the other side never said and then
attack those fictitious statements.

RE/

Quoted message said:

only in the case of helmets is there such telling statistical evidence that they are ineffective.

Sounds bogus to me.

I rode a lot of road miles with the wind in my hair and all that - but since converting to MTB and
wearing a helmet I've ruined a couple already.

Wouldn't say that either incident saved my life, but I sure am glad I wasn't bare-headed.

And the incident that sort of converted me involved a face plant/head slap onto wet clay with a
pyramid-shaped edge of a boulder sticking up about five inches from my temple. Anybody seeing
that rock and hearing the thump would agree that there was only about 3 inches between being
alive and dead.
-----------------------
PeteCresswell

Rick Onanian said:

Have you ever, in fact, hit your head hard enough to crush a helmet, while not wearing a helmet?

I have, several times. I got a couple of lacerations to show for it, and the last time I got a huge
hematoma and a dent in my scalp that persists to this day. I'll share that last story with you.

I was riding my tallbike for the first time in a few months, with my bike club. Downtown, just
beginning the ride and looking for a good place to launch into the street, I rolled under an awning.
My head was close to 10 feet from the pavement. WHAM! Bright flash of light; my head snapped back
against my shoulders; every joint in my spine above mid-back popped.

I stayed on the bike! Fussing and cussing, I rolled around the corner to a low wall where I could
put a foot down and check out my head. Feeling back from my hairline a little at a time, things were
checking out OK, then my fingertips found a hole-- just mush under my scalp. Dammit, I thought, I
broke a hole in my fool head.

Otherwise, I felt fine. My buddies were proceeding to the bar that was our target. I decided to wave
them on and return to base while I still had my wits about me, lest I pass out while riding the
tallbike and fall over. A clubmate gave me a ride to the hospital to get checked out.

I still felt OK except for the crater on top of my bean, which was now acompanied by a neighboring
lump the size of a deck of cards. Doc checks out my eyes, looks in my ears, squishes on my scalp,
and asks me a few questions. He was so certain there was nothing seriously wrong that he had no
X-rays taken. He said, "scalps are thicker than most people think," gesturing to indicate over 3/4
of an inch. He gave me an ice pack and a prescription for some pain pills, and sent me home.

I hit that overhead pole hard enough to bend back my 28.6mm chromoly seat post, which I discovered
later. I got a large scalp injury, but no brain injury.

If I had been wearing a helmet, it would NOT have saved my life!

If I had been wearing a weak, foamy bicycle hat, it would certainly have been destroyed. However, if
it had grabbed on to the overhead pole I hit, it would likely have transmitted a bigger force to my
neck, which could easily have been a serious matter. It might also have fetched me off my saddle,
which was over six feet up, and plopped me down in such a way as to break something else, be it
ankle, collarbone, or whatever. I might even have hit my head from higher than the prescribed 6 foot
fall and received a brain injury!

Quoted message said:

It takes a lot of force to crush a helmet; certainly enough to splatter your head. If you want to
continue living after that, I hope you have lots of money, because I don't want to subsidize a
headless wonder living on machines.

My experience bears out the idiocy of your supposition. The human head is a brain protector refined
by millions of years of continual design enhancement. It does a remarkably effective job, proven in
the long term. Your silly foam hat is based upon idle speculation by comparison.

Consider that there is a reason heads have hair on them; that it changes certain characteristics of
an impact to the benefit of the head. Your silly foam hat has no hair on it, and is composed of
material that can offer traction against a rough surface. Does this matter? I'd lay money on it.

You, like many others, have bought the line that helmets are essential cycling equipment because
"they" told you to. Inconclusive evidence of their benefit, ages of comparatively (i.e. compared to
car driving) safe cycling without headgear, and the fact that these stupid hats have been pushed
largely by non-cyclists were not enough to make you question the validity of the practice.

Well I'm questioning it, and the dents on my noggin qualify me to do so. Cycling is not an activity
that warrants the use of a real, hard shell helmet, let alone a costume helmet made of styrofoam! I
distrust those folks who tell me differently, because I now know better than any of them do about
bonking _my_ head.

Tens of thousands of people every year decorate their dashboards and windshields with what passed
for their brains, but car drivers don't wear helmets nor is anyone commanding them to do so. But a
few hundred cyclists perish, mostly by getting hit by cars, and the onus is upon _them_ to suit up
in foolish, unproven, and inconvenient headwear? That's not a public safety measure, it's
political harassment of an unthreateningly small minority. It's lame and it's dumb, and you don't
have to buy in.

When helmets come up, there's always a lot of talk about the general public "subsidizing" medical
care for those loonies who bike without hats. Get a clue, man. The real subsidy is for your car and
all the others, all the injury and death they deal and all the petroleum they burn and the pollution
they fart out. And always, always more pavement cutting up our habitable space into little islands
so that your confounded car can get around without impediments.

The message I hear told is that we cyclists are supposed to wear helmets because our activity is
inherently unsafe. Those propagating that poppycock should reflect on the Biblical parable of the
mote and the beam.

Chalo Colina