Cheesey Helmet and Stinky Fingers

Right, i have a serious problem,

before this thread is locked or I am redirected to another kind of site all together it is very much bike related.

I pride myself on my personal hygiene but cycling five days a week is really taking its toll. I do have wash and change facilities at work and I am always sweet smelling and fresh but my helmet and my gloves stink so bad they are no longer allowed in the house. people have also commented on the funky smell coming from my storage drawer at work as they walk past.

The helmet pads are washed frequently, but the straps and im sure the polystyrene is now impregnated with stinky vinegar sweat.

but by far the worse stink is from my gloves, im actually taking a high degree of bizarre fascination and even pride in how much it is possible for these gloves to stink, they are leather/suedey type material and cant be washed, spraying them with deoderant actually made the smell worse, but they are still pretty much mint and have years left in them, and they are so comfy too.

So does anyone have any advice on how to stop stinky fingers and a cheesey helmet, without having to replace perfectly good albeit smelly kit?

Advice please

Thanks :roll: :roll:

Fabreeze?!?

If it can make the dump in the adverts smell like fresh flowers, gloves shouldn't be a problem, surely...? :?

Washing leather or suede shouldn't be a problem, not for gloves anyway. Done it with mine for years. A bit of leather cream to soften them up afterwards. Got to be better than the smell.

Not sure about the helmet, but just wash the whole thing in a bowl of soapy water. Can't see the harm, especially with the wear and weather they have to go through every day. Washing won't harm plastic, polystyrene or nylon so unless someone comes up with specific problems with washing it give it a go.

The poster accepts no liability if this goes wrong and knackers the gloves/helmet

i have a few pairs of gloves so they can be rotated for washing so they don't get stinky. i use mainly 661 gloves and altura mitts, washing doesn't seem to be an issue with them.

winter gloves wise can be more of an issue because the inside padding can move so i tend to wash them by hand while wearing them then leave to soak.

helmet wise, regular pad changes help but personally i tend to get a new helmet each year and do my best to keep it clean so it doesn't get to manky.

Bin the gloves and get several pairs of machine washable ones you dirty old man.

Give your helmet a quick squirt of an antibacterial surface cleaner and then give it a rinse under a warm tap. Then dry with a tea towel and air.
I've been doing this for years and my cycling helmet never smells and my forehead sweats LOADS!.

Don't think I want to advise you on your Cheesy Helmet pal. :roll:

I soak the straps in the sink with a bit of washing powder and warm water for an hour and towel/air dry. Works for me.

Daft as it may sound, I have got in the shower with my helmet on

Gets a good soaking, doesn’t get in the way or get stood on, rubbed vosene into the pads, rinsed, back on my head, out of the shower, towel dried, aired overnight

WD

thanks for the tips guys, i just thought leather suede gloves could not be washed without going hard and crispy, so will try and give em a light wash in mild detergent.

I was also worried about the shell coming away from the helmet if i fully immersed it, so slightly reassured now. I have taken the straps off previous helmets but always found it an arse and faff to put them back on correctly.

Im not sure why this was moved to 98 mtb chat though :roll: :roll:

perhaps real retro menly men like the smell

Charlieboy28":149lpsdz said:

Im not sure why this was moved to 98 mtb chat though :roll: :roll:

Click to expand...

I moved it.

Cheesy helmets and stiff smelly gloves are a bit more general an issue in biking regardless of the era.
Didn't really fit in with the usual cantilever set-up and 'what's this frame? of Retro MTB chat.

However if your post included a photo of an ETTO helmet and some Local Motion gloves I would've left it be.

I am quite proud of how bad my gloves smell too. It's kind of comforting...