Visor Treatment - RainX

[Pixie]

There's a whole list of what effects other chemicals have on polycarbonate on good old Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polycarbonate

About half way down under "Interactions with other chemicals"

What to believe?
Wiki says methanol and Isopropanol are ok
My Lexan sheet says they are a no no.
RainX says be wary on plastics.
My Nolan manual says"Helmet and visor may be seriously damaged by some common substances without the damage being visible.Use only lukewarm water and mild soap to clean helmet and visor.
I have a PC lab container with ethanol in it that the alcohol has made go a milky colour.

S'funny...KBers will get bent out of shape six ways from sunday if they hear of a scooter rider wearing a miniskirt.Then they will tell you it's ok to slap any old chemical on a $1000 helmet in direct conflict with the manufacturer's recommendations.

[cs363]

What to believe?
Wiki says methanol and Isopropanol are ok
My Lexan sheet says they are a no no.
RainX says be wary on plastics.
My Nolan manual says"Helmet and visor may be seriously damaged by some common substances without the damage being visible.Use only lukewarm water and mild soap to clean helmet and visor.
I have a PC lab container with ethanol in it that the alcohol has made go a milky colour.

S'funny...KBers will get bent out of shape six ways from sunday if they hear of a scooter rider wearing a miniskirt.Then they will tell you it's ok to slap any old chemical on a $1000 helmet in direct conflict with the manufacturer's recommendations.

Yep, I hear what you are saying and while Johnson & Johnson have this to say re: Pledge:

Q: What ingredients are found in Pledge® polish and Pledge® Wipes?
A: Pledge® polish and Pledge® Wipes contain gentle cleansing conditioners to help you loosen and gently remove fingerprints, smudges, and dirt. Both give your wood furniture the care it deserves—bringing out and helping to preserve its natural beauty without the use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFC's) or wax

I would imagine that over a (long) period of time it may well have an adverse effect. Though personally I've never had a problem using it on a variety of (admittedly high quality) helmets/visors. As generally stone chips, random scratches and the like usually dictate replacement long before any other reason.

[cs363]

Further investigation yielded this: http://www.shoplet.com/DRA94399CT_Of...re_polish.html

Which names ammonia as the main cleaning ingredient of Pledge. As you will no doubt have seen this is on the list of products that can damage polycarbonate it tends to add weight to Pixies post.
Though I still haven't found any issues with my Arai visors using Pledge.....all very interesting!

For more interesting reading try Googling 'is Pledge safe on plastic?'

Seems it has a worldwide following from motorcyclists for use on visors and windscreens.
Also, in other information Pledge is recommended for plastic laminates so..... I is confused!

[Okey Dokey]

I must be really paranoid because I only use plain water to clean my helmet & visor. AGV put some sort of antifog on the visor which works great and I have never had a fogging issue with it.

I wouldn't want to risk trying rainX on the visor myself.

[MarkH]

Though I still haven't found any issues with my Arai visors using Pledge

But would the problem be obvious? What if the pledge weakened the visor, but without an impact you never knew? The potential is there for harmful chemicals to reduce the safety of your visor without you knowing it and the only way you would find out is if something happened and the visor failed just when you were relying on it to protect your face (e.g. birdstrike).

I think that from now on I will play it safe by only using products that are intended to be used on plastic (preferably ones designed for helmet visors).

[vifferman]

Further investigation yielded this: http://www.shoplet.com/DRA94399CT_Of...re_polish.html

Which names ammonia as the main cleaning ingredient of Pledge.

It doesn't smell in the least bit of ammonia.
Also, I find it strange that Pledge say there's no wax in it - WTF is that waxy stuff it deposits on whatever you're polishing with it? I suspect they're just playing with semantics.

As for bending an old visor I've been using Pledge on - I've only recentlyish started using it on my relatively new Shoei visor. The AGV was only ever treated to water, warm soapy water, or Plexus.

[cs363]

But would the problem be obvious? What if the pledge weakened the visor, but without an impact you never knew? The potential is there for harmful chemicals to reduce the safety of your visor without you knowing it and the only way you would find out is if something happened and the visor failed just when you were relying on it to protect your face (e.g. birdstrike).

I think that from now on I will play it safe by only using products that are intended to be used on plastic (preferably ones designed for helmet visors).

I guess I should have been clearer on that - I've got an old visor here and I've done the Pixie flex test and no signs of stress etc.
It should be noted that regardless of chemicals applied etc your visor cannot be relied upon to protect you from all foreseeable impacts (hence such statements being on the packaging of visors and goggles) they are after all, just a thin piece of (admittedly impact resistant) plastic. Their main reason for being is to keep crap out of your eyes and wind protection.

[cs363]

It doesn't smell in the least bit of ammonia.
Also, I find it strange that Pledge say there's no wax in it - WTF is that waxy stuff it deposits on whatever you're polishing with it? I suspect they're just playing with semantics.

As for bending an old visor I've been using Pledge on - I've only recentlyish started using it on my relatively new Shoei visor. The AGV was only ever treated to water, warm soapy water, or Plexus.

Yeah I know, the ammonia thing came as a surprise to me (though that is a US website, always possible our Pledge may have a different formulation) and as regards the waxy stuff - buggered if I know, I'm no scientist, lol.