How to Take Care of Your ATV Goggles
Goggles are necessary for safe and enjoyable off-roading. First, you need to be sure you’re buying quality goggles that will offer the protection you need and last long enough to give you plenty of bang for your buck. Then you need to care for those goggles so they can do their job. Read this post to learn how to take care of ATV goggles.
How to Clean ATV Goggles
To keep your goggles in good shape for the longest time, you’ll want to handwash your goggles in the sink with a mild soap and water.
While good goggles may be able to withstand impacts and the elements, chemicals, abrasion, and sweat can damage the more sensitive coatings like anti-fog films and the foam that keeps the goggles comfortable and sealed on your face.
Clean goggles for off-road by submerging them in the soapy water.
If your goggles are muddy, let the goggles sit in the water for a little while to loosen the mud before you clean the rest of your goggles. You should probably dump that water and refill the sink.
You’ll want to lightly rub the lenses with a microfiber cloth. There are coatings on both the outside and inside of the lenses, and they are surprisingly easy to damage, particularly the coatings on the inside.
Thoroughly massage the soapy water into all of the foam. That foam sits against your face during the entire ride, getting sweaty and absorbing the moisture. Sweat degrades foam. If it’s not removed quickly, you could end up with brittle, crumbling foam.
No matter what some people say about how to clean mx goggles, don’t put your goggles in the washing machine. That’s unnecessary risk of impacts and scratches, and the laundry detergent could damage the lens coating.
Put your goggles somewhere cool and out of the sun to dry. Make sure you leave them until they are completely dry, because if you store them while they are wet or damp, that can damage the foam.
Chemicals
Glass cleaners like Windex and anything with ammonia in it will make your lenses brittle. They’ll be more likely to break with impact and may start spontaneously developing cracks. It’s wise to avoid all chemicals, because unless you’re an expert in chemistry as well as the makeup of your goggles, you won’t want to try to figure out what individual ingredients or mixture of ingredients may ruin your lenses.
If the plastic frame on your goggles starts looking bad from prolonged punishment, you can carefully apply Honda plastic cleaner or even furniture polish to the frames only.
Touch-ups
Sure, things will get on your goggles while you’re on the trail, and you’ll want to handle that so you have clean goggles for ATV riding.
Use a clean microfiber cloth or your goggle bag if you clean it when you clean your goggles.
Don’t use your shirt, a towel, or your gloves to clean ATV goggles. There is too much risk that you’ll rub dirt and other scratchy particles into your lenses.
How to Store ATV Goggles
Once you have clean ATV goggles, the next step to taking care of them is properly storing them.
Use the soft case your goggles came in and put that in your helmet or purchase a goggle box or goggle bag to store your goggles at home or on the trail (backups or when you’re done riding). They need to be separate from your other gear. Many people throw their goggles in their gear bag with their boots and who knows what else. Bad idea! A goggle box or bag will offer the best protection and allow you to keep your spare lenses and tear-offs where they’re easily accessible.
Prepping ATV Goggles
Clean off-road goggles are just part of proper care. It’s the most important aspect, and one you should prioritize if you value your goggles, but these other tips will go beyond cleaning to offer you more convenience and greater goggle longevity.
Utilize Tear Offs or Roll Offs
Off-roading is dirty. That’s part of the fun. It also means your motocross or dirt bike goggles are going to be pelted by debris and caked with mud. You can have clearer vision longer by using tear-offs or roll-offs.
Tear-offs are plastic films that cover your lenses and can be easily removed. You just take them off when they get muddy.
Roll-offs are similar to tear-offs, but you don’t have to remove them. You activate a machine that instantly slides the old film off your goggles and replaces it with new.
Applications
You can apply:
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Anti-fog sprays onto your lenses to prevent moisture accumulation from obscuring your vision.
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Fabric softener and water sprayed on or anti-static agents (research it first) to your lenses to limit dust build-up.
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Baby oil or petroleum jelly to your foam to keep dust out.
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Rain-X or a little wet soap rubbed on and then rubbed off when it’s dry will encourage water to roll on by rather than hang on and leave spots.
Replacing Goggle Lenses or Foam
These tips on how to take care of ATV goggles will prolong their life, but your lenses or foam will still likely need replacement before the rest of your goggles do. If you’re lucky, you purchased goggles that allow you to replace these parts so you don’t have to purchase a whole new pair of goggles.
When you do get ready to replace them, make sure to do it when your hands and your goggles are clean and dry and to follow the instructions that came with your goggles carefully.
