STINKY Helmet!!

[YellowPonyEventer]

So I have a Charles Owen GR8 which I love…but it absolutely stinks like the inside of a sweaty hockey helmet or something! :lol:

I have tried the following products on this helmet and on past helmets and they seem to help a tiny bit but not really enough…

Charles Owen helmet deodorizer <–really didn’t help much!
Moss Fresh Rider spray <–prob the best, but still not enough
Febreze Extra Strength
Febreze Sport
Charles Owen helmet cleaner
Fresh Helmet Sacks that absorb moisture
Fabric Softener sheets rubbed in and/or left in it

…and in addition I have put baking soda in my tack locker where I store my helmet, I have tried cleaning it with soapy water and soapy water with listerine mixed in too and letting it dry out in the sun. NOTHING gets rid of that gross sweaty helmet smell!

So has anyone found something that gets rid of already baked-in odors? I’m seriously about to put a paste of baking soda all in the liner or something, I’m getting desperate! :eek:

[Lusoluv]

I think if the helmet is already stinky, there’s no turning back the clock I’ve never had a stinky helmet, but it does get to air out daily. I’m not saying it smells like it just came out of the box, but unless I shove my face in it, there’s nothing to detect. It smells more like the barn than sourness, etc.

There are several folks at my barn - mostly with GPAs and they ALL stink! Something about their materials because someone can walk down the aisle, 10 ft away, and I know they’re wearing a GPA. It’s THAT bad!

Get a new helmet and make sure it sits in the open air, in the top of your trunk or somewhere with ventilation (from day 1) vs. buried under coolers or other gear in your storage!

[YellowPonyEventer]

Ha well mine doesn’t smell bad enough for others to be able to smell it! :lol: It’s more that it just annoys me whenever I wear it! :winkgrin:

The funny thing is that I’ve always left it out to dry, never underneath anything, and I’ve always sprayed a deodorizer in it after using it, but this is my second GR8 and it seems to just be an issue with them…and the fact that you can’t remove the liner to wash it doesn’t help!

[Lusoluv]

OK. Sorry I made the assumption of how bad it might smell based on your title being in caps I don’t know how to safely wash a helmet’s lining without ruining it’s integrity or fit, though.

Maybe someone else will chime in. Things like Febreeze just seem like cover-ups…which you’ve already described. There are several threads on this topic, so it must be a fairly common problem. May want to check those out…

[flashwhitelock]

stinky

[QUOTE=YellowPonyEventer;8606095]
So I have a Charles Owen GR8 which I love…but it absolutely stinks like the inside of a sweaty hockey helmet or something! :lol:

I have tried the following products on this helmet and on past helmets and they seem to help a tiny bit but not really enough…

Charles Owen helmet deodorizer <–really didn’t help much!
Moss Fresh Rider spray <–prob the best, but still not enough
Febreze Extra Strength
Febreze Sport
Charles Owen helmet cleaner
Fresh Helmet Sacks that absorb moisture
Fabric Softener sheets rubbed in and/or left in it

…and in addition I have put baking soda in my tack locker where I store my helmet, I have tried cleaning it with soapy water and soapy water with listerine mixed in too and letting it dry out in the sun. NOTHING gets rid of that gross sweaty helmet smell!

So has anyone found something that gets rid of already baked-in odors? I’m seriously about to put a paste of baking soda all in the liner or something, I’m getting desperate! :eek:[/QUOTE]
Have you tried flooding it with alcohol?

[Winding_Down]

i take mine hose and wash with detergent,then leave to dry upside down in the sun for a full day or two. The sun seems to help.

[YellowPonyEventer]

Not yet flashwhitelock - might have to try that next! I was kinda going that route with the listerine but I may not have used enough.

[YellowPonyEventer]

[QUOTE=Winding Down;8606401]
i take mine hose and wash with detergent,then leave to dry upside down in the sun for a full day or two. The sun seems to help.[/QUOTE]
What type of helmet do you have? I’m just wondering how much I can scrub on mine without ruining it

[GutsNGlory]

Someone correct me if this might possibly be bad for a helmet… but could you try putting it in the freezer for a few hours? I have a friend that does this with stinky shoes and it is similar to airing pillows outside during the winter - the cold temps help kill the bacteria (and therefore stink).

For what it is worth, I have a J3, which is the skull cap version of the GR8 and I use for xc (so we are talking lots of sweating when worn). I air it out a day or two after every use and store with dryer sheets and while it has a faint odor, I wouldn’t say it is noticeably stinky. My daily helmet gets WAY worse, but then it also has a removable and washable liner.

[173north]

There’s nothing much you can do - the dense foam in the padding just soaks up sweat and bacteria in a really gross way.

CO are finally introducing helmets with removable, washable liners - they’ll be coming out this spring and are called “Plus” models. They’re about $15 or $20 more than the models without the washable liner. Washing your liner is the only real solution to the Curse of the Smelly Helmet. (And please don’t put it your helmet in the freezer! Any extreme heat or cold can compromise it.)

[Winding_Down]

[QUOTE=YellowPonyEventer;8606447]
What type of helmet do you have? I’m just wondering how much I can scrub on mine without ruining it [/QUOTE]

I do not scrub it. I just set it out in the grass and hose it with dishwashing liquid.

Just a thought but I wonder if any of the dog/cat urine washes would work? Hose it with that, let it soak for 20-30 minutes, then put it out in the sun.

Sun works wonders.

[YellowPonyEventer]

[QUOTE=173north;8606584]
There’s nothing much you can do - the dense foam in the padding just soaks up sweat and bacteria in a really gross way.

CO are finally introducing helmets with removable, washable liners - they’ll be coming out this spring and are called “Plus” models. They’re about $15 or $20 more than the models without the washable liner. Washing your liner is the only real solution to the Curse of the Smelly Helmet. (And please don’t put it your helmet in the freezer! Any extreme heat or cold can compromise it.)[/QUOTE]

Oh that is awesome!! I may have to invest in one of those models!!!

[gumtree]

I have Charles Owen J-3 I put it in the dish washer with the heat drier turned off. Take it out and let it air dry. Use leather condition on the leather parts. Does a good job.

I bought a new one a few years ago that said “no stink” on it. What ever they use on it seems to work pretty good.

[riopony]

I have a Wellington Pro as a show helmet and it started to smell from the beginning. I feel like I just kept scrubbing it with water and soap. Whatever I did I remember reading that pretty much anything you do besides the CO products will supposedly ruin it.

I have a CO Pro II (skull cap) with the silver lining stuff in it and I make sure to put it in the sun after I finish riding so that it can dry. I also hang it rather than store it in a bag/ trunk and that seems to be doing the trick. I haven’t used my show helmet in a while and most likely will be for a clinic this weekend. Hopefully over the years the funk has gone away :eek:

[YellowPonyEventer]

Yeah I have never stored mine in the helmet bag. Always hang it up to dry and leave it out in my tack locker when I do put it away. I’ve always sprayed a deodorizer of some kind in it after every ride but to no avail. SIGH I’m just going to have to buy another one it looks like and keep this one as a back up in the trailer tack room just in case I get somewhere and forgot my new one…and since that’s my plan, I guess I can attack this one with a vengeance now since I don’t care what it looks like because I’m replacing it!! :lol:

[Rescuer]

I’ve had stinky helmets in the past. Even the ones with removeable liners were tough to keep really fresh I found. Once they’d gotten stinky once, which prompted me to wash them for the first time, it seemed like they’d be fresh for the first ride after being laundered, then the same sweat stink was back again unless you washed the liner after every ride.

I’ve had a Samshield for the last year (so yes it has the removeable liner) - but when I am done riding, I always leave my helmet out to “breathe” while I’m untacking, grooming and turning my guy back out. Then I do put it back into its helmet bag in my locker BUT! I make sure the keep that little drying packet thing inside the helmet bag. I’ve never had any trouble with it stinking and I haven’t had to wash the liner yet.

[redalter]

Another one for the hose, dish soap and sun here. Seems to help, though not completely eliminate the odor.

I hang my helmet up on a hook on the wall. I am thinking of making a baking soda in a fine mesh bag/potpourri type thing to just leave in my helmet when not in use.
I love my CO’s, but the stink. Yuck.

[PaintedHunter]

I wash with dish soap mixed with baking soda and let it dry in the sun as well.

Strangely, the same thing I used to do to Ollie’s tail when he had one.

[redalter]

[QUOTE=PaintedHunter;8607170]
I wash with dish soap mixed with baking soda and let it dry in the sun as well.

Strangely, the same thing I used to do to Ollie’s tail when he had one.[/QUOTE]

Ohh, that sounds like a good idea.

[millerra]

[QUOTE=173north;8606584]
T(And please don’t put it your helmet in the freezer! Any extreme heat or cold can compromise it.)[/QUOTE]

really? Temps in my barn get well below the freezer temps (0°F) - all winter long. So helmets are compromised by this? I don’t think of it as extreme cold, like -80°F

Seriously asking - not snark…

thanks.