How to Clean Your Welding Helmet in Less Than 10 Minutes?

Updated: April 04, 2022Most welders are surprised to learn that you’re supposed to clean your welding helmet on a regular basis. Cleaning your welding helmet is important for a variety of reasons. Of course, cleaning your welding helmet is important because it’s a good practice of general cleanliness. After all, if you use your welding helmet often, there’s probably a decent amount of sweat and scratches from long term use. On the other hand, if you rarely use your welding helmet and don’t store it properly, then your helmet has probably accumulated a good amount of dust. Cleaning your welding helmet is also extremely important because it prolongs your helmet’s life. In other words, if you take good care of your welding helmet and clean it regularly, then it will most likely last for a long time.

Cleaning Process

Although it’s obvious that cleaning your welding helmet is extremely important, it doesn’t do anything about the inconvenience that comes with cleaning your welding helmet. Well, I’m here to tell you that cleaning your welding helmet doesn’t have to be inconvenient. Actually, cleaning your welding helmet can be a fast and efficient process that takes less than ten minutes! Just check out my steps and tricks below!

#1 Focus on the Lens

The best place to start cleaning your welding helmet is the lens. Typically, the lens is the dirtiest part of a welding helmet. So, be prepared to combat some dust and particles. Luckily, the lens is also one of the easiest features to clean. Since the lens has protective layers on it, such as a UV ray protectant, it’s important to be extremely delicate when cleaning your lens. Start by smoothing the lens with a soft bristled brush. This will also take any dust off your lens. After going over your lens with a soft bristled brush, examine how dirty your lens is. If you regularly clean your lens, or it just isn’t that dirty, then you can get away with only using water to clean it. But, if your lens is extremely dirty and you rarely ever clean it, then you should use a special lens solution to get rid of the leftover dirt and dust. Regardless of the solution you use, spray it on the lens and use a soft cloth or tissue to wipe it off and clean it. Remember, while you’re doing this it’s extremely important to use small soft motions that delicately clean the surface.

#2 Inspect Everything

Once you’re done cleaning the lens, it’s important to inspect all the other aspects of the welding helmet. Start from the bottom of the front of your welding helmet and work your way to the top and the back. By inspecting your welding helmet, you will be able to see if there’s any severe damage or anything you need to seriously clean. This will give you an overall idea of how you can continue cleaning your welding helmet.

#3 Clean the Dust

After inspecting the rest of your welding helmet, simply clean the dust off your entire helmet. You should do this even if it seems like there’s no dust on your helmet. Cleaning the dust off your helmet is a similar process to cleaning the lens. Simply take your soft bristled brush and move across the helmet in small circular motions that brush any dust or dirt off your helmet. It’s important to note that you shouldn’t use any special solutions to clean the helmet. Brushing your helmet should be suitable enough. But, if you feel like you need to clean your helmet more, then you can simply use clear water and a soft cloth to wipe your helmet down.

#4 Tighten Screws

It’s not uncommon to find loose screws on your welding helmet, especially when you’ve been using it for a long time. That being said, after you dust your welding helmet, you should examine all of the screws and make sure they’re tight enough. If any of the screws are loose, simply take a screwdriver to fix them. You might be surprised to even discover some missing screws! If you come across missing screws, simply replace them with extra screws you have.

#5 Store Your Helmet Properly

After cleaning your welding helmet, it’s important to properly store it. If you’re lucky enough, your welding helmet might have come with a helmet bag. If it did, then you should definitely store your welding helmet in the bag. If your welding helmet didn’t come with a welding helmet bag, then you should consider purchasing one. Helmet bags are typically cheap and are a great way to store and transport your welding helmet. Regardless of whether or not you decide to store your welding helmet in a bag, you should place your welding helmet in a secure spot where there’s little to no risk of it being dented or bruised. The area should also be away from direct sunlight, extreme temperatures, or a lot of dust.

Is It Necessary to Wear a Professional Welding Helmet for Cleaning?

While cleaning, wearing professional welding helmets is not necessary. These helmets are specifically designed for welders who work with high-intensity heat and bright flashes. For cleaning tasks, ordinary safety goggles or face shields provide sufficient protection. The use of professional welding helmets should be reserved for welding activities to ensure proper safety measures are in place.

General Tips

Here are a few tips to keep in mind when you’re cleaning a welding helmet:

• Different helmets might require specialized cleaning procedures. So, read your helmet’s user manual before cleaning your helmet.
• If you have a battery powered helmet, then make sure the batteries are not in the helmet when you’re cleaning it.
• After you clean your helmet, you should replace the batteries if your helmet is battery powered.
• If you have a solar powered helmet, then make sure you are extremely delicate and cautious around the battery area.
• If your helmet has a multi-layered lens, remove each section to clean it.

Overall, cleaning a welding helmet is virtually painless. All it takes is a little bit of brushing and wiping, as well as the possibility of a little bit of twisting and replacing. So, don’t be lazy and take a few minutes out of your day to clean your welding helmet. I promise it’s worth it!