First, you will need a dirty helmet! I think I can speak for the rest of us when I say my wife for one is NOT allowed to touch my museum; and second; she wouldnt even think of cleaning my helmets anyway! As you can see to the right, that vikings helmet is loaded with dust....
Next is a display of what I use in cleaning a helmet, whether its a mini or a full size. You will need a damp cloth for wiping off the dust along with applying the wax. Its always best to apply wax with a damp cloth. A clean-dry cloth for wipping off the wax after it has dried. A phillips head screw driver to loosen the screws. and of course, wax. I dont really have a particular brand, this one seems to work for me.
The next thing to do is disassemble the helmet. Take the mask off along with the clips. Even the chinstrap comes off. It only makes it easier when wiping down the helmet.
Notice the screws have 2 sizes. The longer screws need to be in the middle where the bumper is on the helmet. If you put short screws in the middle, you might have a hard time getting it to grab.
Next, you need to get rid of the dust! If you try to wipe off the dust with a dry cloth, you might create static, thus almost never getting it off. I found by using a damp cloth it comes off rather easily. I dont feel a need for any cleaning material because I dont know if it will do any permanent damage to the helmet from discoloring. Besides most of the time all that is there is dust and a few finger prints.
I even clean the mask. I usually just dip the mask is a bowl of water, but for this demo, wiping it down with a damp cloth works just as good. I then also wax the mask if I feel it is needed. It all depends if you feel it would make it shinny or not.
Applying the wax is simple. To the right shows about how much I apply to each side. Dont apply too much because it might get into the screw holes and that only makes it harder to clean-up. I use small circular motions to the helmet. NEVER wax over an autograph! It will only ruin the autograph. Im always very careful around signatures; never letting the cloth touch the area.
To the right shows you the helmet covered in wax. As you can see, the wax is still wet, so I let it sit for awhile to dry. To quicken the process, sometimes Ill use a blow dryer, but most of the time I just let it sit and move onto the next helmet!
I wiped off half the helmet to show you the difference. Sometimes wax might get in the cracks of the decals; in that case take the damp cloth and with your fingernail and carefully run it along the edge of the decal wiping off the excess wax, then of course wiping it dry.
HERE IS THE BEFORE AND AFTER PICTURES TO THE RIGHT!
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