Can i clean this winter camo helmet? How?

[GreekMilitaria]

i would not mess with the helmet....
i love it's condition and the fact that the original paint is still visible

[williamsong]

Thanks for your kind opinions!

I'll search more about the WD-40 but i'm afraid of damage it, so i guess i'll put it in a dry place and keep it away from moisture or salt air as Dan have said. I have other winter camo helmet (battledamaged), so i'll search for a closed display case and put both together in a "safe place"

[Glenn66]

DON'T CLEAN IT!!!

I'll show you why, basically down to the fact that the whitewash is often simply just that (a water based whitewash) and what little you have remaining may be lost in any cleaning attempt.

My 'before' pic: A somewhat dusty, dry to the touch and what I thought could do with a 'clean' lid.



And 'after' pic... Most of the light grey has gone, some of the white remains but more was lost than I cared for. End result, not worth the effort and in my opinion a fair bit of devaluation and loss of history to the lid.



Ergo, learn from my mistake and don't repeat it. As you say, it has already been cleaned once (probably explains the red rust) so if anything, I would try some renaissance wax on a discrete area which should tone down the red rust and make the shell 'look' better.

[Vegard T]

Thanks for your kind opinions!

I'll search more about the WD-40 but i'm afraid of damage it, so i guess i'll put it in a dry place and keep it away from moisture or salt air as Dan have said. I have other winter camo helmet (battledamaged), so i'll search for a closed display case and put both together in a "safe place"

I would rather use renaissance wax than WD-40 to preserve it

[James C]

as the others have said leave it be ,also wd40 is hydroscopic so not only does it disperse water initially but in the long term will attract and absorb water molecules ,not a good thing for fragile paint on relics

[davejb]

I agree, do nothing, the wax might help to seal the helmet but it wont stop the underlying rust, WD 40 can be used for a lot of various projects, but cleaning or preserving helmets is,nt one of them, not only is it hydroscopic it also softens paint after prolonged applications

[James C]

i should mention to my prevous post to admitedly lightly coating both my winter camo's in natural beeswax about a year ago just to inhibit any further flaking of the whitewash ,so far so good ,the only differance i noticed was the exsisting corrosion darkened slightly but no paint loss since

[williamsong]

Thanks guys, i think I will discard the WD40, the renaissance wax sound very good, but there is a chance of damage the paint with it? Or it's 100% "safe" to use in helmets? How many should i put or any other tip would be great!

Thanks!

[Glenn66]

You'll work it out for yourself. Just dampen a rag in the wax and apply with your finger, avoid any buildup and you will be fine.

[Adrian Stevenson]

RenWax goes a long way: "Less is more" as they say.

Cheers, Ade.