404maintenancemarsman-template-negativemarsman-template

How to paint a bike helmet at home

With cycling increasing in popularity all over the world, lots of people are dusting off their bikes and heading out on the roads and trails this summer. Whilst it is important to ensure you aren’t using a bike helmet that is past its expiry date, you may have one that could benefit from a spruce up or perhaps you are passing one down to a younger child who has a strong preference on color. If so painting the helmet is a quick and easy job!

What’s the best way to paint a bike helmet?

Spray paint is unrivaled if you want to get a really smooth professional finish on a surface, no one wants to cycle around with brush marks on their lid! Spray paint also offers speed of application and for a small job like a bike helmet the coverage of 2m2 means you’ll only need one can of color to cover all you need.

How do I spray paint my bike helmet?

CLEANING

The first step is to ensure you have a really clean surface, we recommend spray alcohol fr this job. For convenience, we sell our own, but you may already have some in your supplies.  Use a cloth to apply it and wipe the surface to ensure it is free from contaminants that could affect adhesion or disrupt the smooth finish you are aiming for.

PRIMER

As the surface is non-porous we advise using a primer to help the top layer of paint adhere and ensure the color lasts well. Our Universal Primer works well for this job, although we also recommend our Primer For Plastics. You are unlikely to use a full can for this application, so choose whichever will be most useful to you for another job! (Read the notes at the end of this blog post about storing half-used cans) Remember when spraying keeps your hand 10-15cm from the surface and spray in wide sweeping movements starting and finishing off the edge of the object you are spraying. Leave the primer for 24 hours to dry properly before applying the topcoat.

PAINT

What color do you fancy for your spray-painted bike helmet? For this project, we used our deceptively named Basic range of paints which come in a wide range of colors and finishes including fluorescent, matt, gloss, and metallic. So the choice is yours. Browse our range and pick what works. Perhaps choose something that matches your bike?

Follow us on: Facebook and Instagram