Here are some photos of my helmet, which has been through the dishwasher numerous times. Note the the straps are sparkling clean, all of the decals (except a little paper sticker that my son’s 3-year-old put on the outside) are intact, and there’s no apparent damage to the foam.
https://flic.kr/s/aHsk77KoAJ Our water is 145 degrees out of the tap, and the helmet is washed on the top rack with the heated dry OFF. —Eric N [email protected] www.campyonly.com www.wheelsnorth.org Blog: http://campyonlyguy.blogspot.com Twitter: @campyonlyguy > On Jan 16, 2015, at 10:17 AM, Alex Plumb <[email protected]> wrote: > > I wear a $40 helmet that I bought for $20 (LBS 1/2 off crash discount). It's > a perfect dishwasher tester. My water is not terribly hot and my soap is > mild. I made sure the dry cycle was off and put the helmet in the top rack to > ensure the straps didn't foul the single lower spray arm. I also loaded the > washer with dishes. The helmet came out sparkling clean, especially the > soiled chin straps. My marine grade 3M reflective stickers were unaffected, > as were the pads. I believe that the degrading effects of salt, heat, and > sun, which any heavily used helmet suffers from, far exceed the potential > damage caused by a properly used dishwasher. > > Alex Plumb > > Sent from my Verizon Wireless 4G LTE DROID > On Jan 15, 2015 8:36 PM, Eric Norris <[email protected]> wrote: > So … I emailed the folks at the Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute and asked > about their advice not to put helmets in the dishwasher here is their reply: > > "Our dishwasher recommendation is based mostly on: > > 1. The possibility of getting the helmet right over the heating element. (Not > your problem unless you forget to hit eco mode) That could damage the EPS. > > 2. The heat of the water. Dishwashers use only straight hot water, so if you > have your heater set up to 160 or even higher the water can be that hot. > > 3. The harshness of the dishwashing detergent. There are many different > formulas, and some people use a lot more than the recommended amount of > detergent. > > Contrast that to hand washing in lukewarm water with a mild dish detergent, > or even taking it into the shower with you after each ride, and the > dishwasher has more potential problems. I would guess that the worst effects > would be on the fit pads. > > I will raise this one at the next ASTM meeting to see what the manufacturers > have to say. It was a manufacturer who originally made a comment that led to > that advice on our site. > > Randy Swart > helmets.org <http://helmets.org/>" > > I checked our hot water tonight, and it comes out of the tap at 145 degrees. > > Perhaps the recommendation against dishwasher helmet cleaning is just > reflecting an abundance of caution. Even if there are only a few combinations > of factors (overly hot water, heating element on, very harsh detergent) that > make this unadvisable, I can see that it would be easier on the part of the > industry to recommend an outright ban on the practice than to say it’s OK if > you do this and this and this … > > Thanks to Randy Swart for his speedy reply, and for offering to look into > this further. > > —Eric N > [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > www.campyonly.com > www.wheelsnorth.org > Blog: http://campyonlyguy.blogspot.com > Twitter: @campyonlyguy > >> On Jan 15, 2015, at 10:18 AM, Bill Finkelstein, Santa Rosa Cycling Club >> <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: >> >> If you ran it through the dishwasher, you destroyed the helmets ability to >> save your life. That amount of heat will ruin the foam. >> >> If you do want to do that, please make sure that you sign up to be an organ >> donor. >> >> Here's a good article on how to clean your helmet. >> http://www.bhsi.org/clean.htm <http://www.bhsi.org/clean.htm> >> >> Regards, >> Bill Finkelstein (an Engineer) >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "randon" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected] >> <mailto:[email protected]>. >> To post to this group, send email to [email protected] >> <mailto:[email protected]>. >> Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/randon >> <http://groups.google.com/group/randon>. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout >> <https://groups.google.com/d/optout>. > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "randon" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/randon > <http://groups.google.com/group/randon>. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout > <https://groups.google.com/d/optout>. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "randon" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/randon > <http://groups.google.com/group/randon>. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout > <https://groups.google.com/d/optout>. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. 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