Rather buy a new football
helmet instead?
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First off, do NOT display your helmets
in direct sunlight, especially white helmets, as this will
cause "yellowing" and premature aging of your helmets.
If this happens, you'll probably have to either polish out
the yellowing by following my
refurbishing technique, or strip the helmet and have it
painted. I don't know of any other way to solve the
"yellowing" problem, but if you do, please let me
know so I can post it here (with full credit given of course).
For final polishing of the helmet, I still highly recommend
either Machine Polish or Novus Plastic Polish (available from
auto body & paint supply shops or from commercial plastic
supply shops). Follow the directions listed in the refurbishing
section, or use these to add a little bit of luster back to
a dull finish. You can paint over these polishes; they
are not waxes! Waxes contain silicones, which give a
"waxy" look to the helmet instead of a high gloss
or mirror finish; you cannot paint over waxes either, and
waxes may prevent decals from sticking completely (or lifting
later). So avoid waxes and use a Plastic or Machine
Polish instead.
Something else to beware of is the ease with which Polishes
remove autographs on helmets! If you have an autograph
that you don't want to lose, be VERY careful when applying
polish around it.
A product I have come to love is
Brillianize plastic cleaner & polisher; this stuff
is AWESOME!! It cleans the plastic surface well, and
leaves a gorgeous high-gloss shine on the helmet. It
also works well over decals, and the end result is fabulous!
However, a word of warning: you can't paint over this once
applied to a helmet, nor can you apply decals over it!
So paint, polish, apply decals, and then use Brillianize
for an awesome result! A little bit goes a LONG way,
too. |
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