Helmet strap spots: how to avoid them?

Now I've started riding again, I'm starting to get spots under my ears and jaw from the helmet strap. What tips do you have for avoiding them?

Ideally, I guess I'd want to be sterilising the helmet strap somehow before and after each ride, but will alcohol or surgical spirit affect the strap fabric?

boost your immune system by rubbing cow poo into your face ?

Wash them you mucky arab!

Wash them you mucky arab!

nice

(I've never had strap zits. I do get a touch of head odour though, which is where I came across this product)
You can get foaming hemet sanitiser spray for motorcycle helmets which might well be less aggressive to your straps. It is designed to lift the scrudge out of the material and not dissolve it.

I wash my bike helmet once a year whether it needs it or not.

do you put it in the dishwasher? (worked great for my Suomy lid)

Are you sure it's from the strap being dirty rather than a reaction to the material. When I was younger I had trouble finding school trousers that didn't leave the inside of my thighs raw. It wasn't the material itself but the stitching that caused it and it wasn't the physical way the stitching was done but the actual type of thread. It might be worth trying a different helmet from another manufacturer if cleaning the straps has no effect.

this
Maybe you should try this…

http://www.rip101.com/product/Rip-Curl-Piss-Off-Wetsuit-Cleaner.aspx

After I ride I usually wash my helmet in the shower!! use shampoo or shower gel to wash the straps and pads.

Soap vigorously! Works for me.

simonfbarnes – Member
boost your immune system by rubbing cow poo into your face ?

Sheep sh 1t appears to work equally as well 😀

just give it a rinse under the cold tap. Or, this could be a bit of a metrosexual suggestion but have you tried any moisturiser?

Sheep sh 1t appears to work equally as well

but doesn't stick as well and might be mistaken for chocolate beans…

dear god 😯

MTFU

go on fmh, post a photo of one of your amazing ingrowing hairs! That'll give them something to worry about…

@avdave2: Thanks for the suggestion, but I've always got it regardless of the brand of helmet. Had just forgotten how bad I get them during nine years of doing very little riding.