Stickers on helments

Someone who works for a riding school wants a load of vinyl stickers making
up, but he wants to put them on all the helmets,

i've always been told never paint or apply stickers to helmets, as the
glue/solvent can make them as brittle as an egg shell,
i know people air brush helmets, but i believe they use water based paints?

He rekons the sticker thing is for pre- Y2K helmets, which were made of
different stuff to modern ones,

the vinyl i have is 5 year vehicle vinyl (oracal), supposedly guarenteed not
to fade or peel for 5 years (if applied correctly of course)

Should i 'politely' refuse this 'job' or just supply them and wait for the
'learner biker smashes head in when stickered helmet implodes as he falls
off during the U turn' story in the papers.

 

Polycarbonate can be affected by some of the chemicals in adhesives,
solvents and the like. What sort of adhesive do you use on the stickers?

 

The problem of stickers degrading plastic helmets hasn't been an issue
for a couple decades, AFAIK.

 

It depends what the helmets are made from. If they are made from poly-
carbonate/thermo-plastic then there is a risk that some solvents can
weaken the structure. If the helmets are made from fibre-glass or
kevlar composite, then you should be fine. No-one seems to know the
extent of the solvent risk, so most helmet painters just won't touch
plastic.

The Y2K info is incorrect. Quite a few lid manufacturers are making
some or all of their range in thermoplastics these days, I don't know
any other helmet painters who would shell out on a full scheme just so
they can paint plastic lids. I advise potential customers that I'll
only paint fibreglass or kevlar composite and they all seem to
understand.

Cheers - Grant

 

A Shark polycarb helmet I bought about three months ago came with extra
reflective stickers[1] from the factory, so I reckon they're safe ( I didn't
use them). I can have a look when I get back home as I think the film on
which they're printed was branded.

[1] I presume it's some French requirement that helmets have
light-reflecting surfaces - can anyone verify this?


Geo

 

Certainly lids do seem to come with extra retroreflective bits added,
yes. Whether it's a legal requirement or not I don't know, but I
suspect it may be, otherwise why would they bother?

 

A couple of other helmets I own/have owned didn't come with stickers so I
was surprised. Thought it was a good idea but I also thought they were fugly
so I used the excuse that the helmet is mainly white and went for vanity.
There must be some law somewhere, as I don't see any company wasting pennies
on free stickers if it's not mandatory. They'd be selling them as extras
instead.


Geo

 

Only one I've bought in France had stickers pre-applied. It was mainly
matt black, to be fair, so it might be colour-related, IYSWIM.

 

I've got three useable helmets, all bought in the last three or four years.
Two of them are polycarbonate.

 

Hi Champ

I wish that was the case, but I'm always having to double check a
particular model before I'll accept it for airbrushing etc. as there
are so many plastic helmets about now. Arai, Shoei, Simpson and Craft
are all ok, but if it's any other manufacturer it's pot luck as to
what it's made from as they tend not to use the same material for the
whole of the range.

I have no idea if the thermoplastics that helmets tend to be made from
currently are open to the same solvent risks as helmets from the 70s.
I can't seem to find anyone who can give me a definitive answer, so
it's a blanket ban on all of them for me until I can back up any
safety claims I make about the paint I put onto them.

Without any info about the type of solvents used in stickers I would
use the same approach with them as well.

Cheers - Grant

 

I bow to your superior Googling skills. That's the first bit of
information I've seen which sheds any light on the polycarbonate issue
so thanks for that link. I may well re-consider taking on plastic lids
now I've read it.

Cheers - Grant

 

Probably because I don't think it's actually true.

 

I think it's the law in France - they all seem to come with stickers pre-
applied. The same helmets (well, the Shoei and Schuberth ones I've looked
at) in Switzerland come with the stickers in the box, so you can throw them
away [1].

[1] That was gartuitous usenet machismo. I actually stuck them on. Crooked.

 

They aren't. They really aren't.

 

Whatever. Kiwi were painting plastic helmets over 20 years ago, and I
imagine that materials have moved on since then, never mind since the
mid-1970s. If your livelihood is at risk by some silly bugger trying
it on, I can see why you're cautious. In practical terms, though, I
can't see a significant risk.

 

I wouldn't worry about it IIWY. It's not as if anyone is going to save
the post in question and bring it up every time you berate someone else
for posting erraneous nonsense on the internet, is it?

 

Wry smile

 

Sounds fair enough to me. It only takes one litigious bastard to
bugger one's reputation up, which is why I've stayed away from plastic
lids up to now. I'll have a chat with some of the other helmet
painters but may well start taking them on.

Champ mentioned about airbrush artists using water-based paints these
days. I still use solvent basecoats for some jobs as masking can be a
pig on water-borne. However, even if I created the artwork using only
water-borne paints, primer still contains solvents, as does clearcoat,
so you can't get away from them entirely. Also, if I need a decent
candy, pearl or metallic, solvent paints are easily the best quality
(House of Kolor in my case).

Cheers - Grant

 

Not bovvered?

 

I wouldn't be. I do it all the time