Liner treatment ?

[CBH]

I was wondering if you guys used anything to soften brittle helmet liners ? My MkII barn fresh helmet , has a very brittle liner that I'm hoping to soften up somehow . Any advice ? Thanks for your time .

[FALLSCHIRMJAGER]

Hi Chris, I have not discovered any method personally for doing this. The liners have a synthetic element to them that I think just naturally deteriorates over time if not stored well. I would be interested to hear if anyone has found a "wonder cure" though! Leon.

[CBH]

Thank you for the reply Leon , I looked though the restoration thread but couldn't find any cures . What exactly did they make these liners from ? Painted canvas or is it something more exotic . Thanks again.

[37Webbing]

Chris,

It is my assumption, that the MkII liners are made of oilcloth / rubberised canvas - or a similar product.
There is sadly nothing you can do to revitalise an old brittle liner.
I have had the same problem, and everyone and everywhere I ask I get the same reply.

It is the same problem gas mask collectors is faced with.
The rubber hardens, cracks and disintegrates with time.

The best you can to, is to avoid stressing the liner and never expose it to direct sunlight.
Sunlight is together with pests to be avoided with most of the items in our collections.

But if anyone has a solution for the problem, I am all ears!

[Jerry B]

I tend to leave then as they are, it is a sad aspect of them but unless someone knows of something I will continue to do the same.

[SMP]

Liners are only £20 and were meant to be interchangeable. I don't see any harm in swapping out the liner, especially if you can find one of the same make and date.

I know I am likely to receive some Flak over this The German lid collectors would lynch me !

[NCA]

Am I right in thinking the liner cloth has a trade name of Rexine?

Thing is these things were never meant to last this long...its a shame some of it is now falling apart.I have some liners in my helmets that crumble as much to look at them and others that are supple.

I also have a cape/groundsheet that has hardened...pretty gutted about that.I don't think theres anything you can do about it though.

[CBH]

SMP I only payed 25$ Can , for the whole helmet , sure it was barn fresh but it turned out to be named so I'm trying to keep it original .
So I decided to experiment on an old brittle liner I had kicking around , I put a heavy coat of Vaseline on both sides then rubbed it in by hand , it soften it up nicely . I'm going to put a second coat on it and I'll share my results in photos later . Thank you all for the replies .

[Composite]

I've found that removing them, submerging them in warm/hot water (and washing whilst there?) and then removing/reshaping whilst still warm/wet works....'been doing it for many years and yet to see a negative outcome...but it's only been 30 years

[Jerry B]

Good to see that something can be done, the warm water sounds interesting, some pics of the finished result would be good to see, also that of the vaseline.