Regarding face gasket/rear gasket cleaning

[garvmex]

Is there any official guide on how to clean this two?
I have a really bad case of stinky sweat, so after 4 days with my index and playing beat saber, the covers are starting to stink a little.

Are we able to trow the face gasket to a washing machine, or put it under running water?
In a slightly related matter, what products could I use to make the index covers smell like when I used it the first day? It was a really pleasant smell.

[Rustynutts]

Hi, Bicarbonate of soda works well as a deodorizer, mix one teaspoon in a glass of warm water about 100 mils, stir it for a bit until it dissolves. Then pop it in a spray bottle, give your face cushion a good soaking,(please remove from the HMD before you spray it lol) leave for a few minutes then rinse off with cold water, dab it dry with some kitchen roll, leave to dry :)
The face gaskets are expensive for what they are, but for the moment buy some spares so you can rotate them around. Use alcohol wipes to clean the inside of the hmd as this will also start to smell like a 10 year old motorcycle helmet after a while :)

[Mentat]

I just cleaned mine, it was nasty. All oily and tacky, the cushioning was flat and almost nonexistent. The cloth was dark.
And I think I figured out how to clean it well:

Simple Green diluted with water 1:1

Let it soak for a few minutes and really worked it in, squeezing and massaging the pad. Rinse with warm water and repeated with a fresh solution. Both times I could see the solution getting cloudy, while I was working it in. I could have done done another round, but I was suspicious that the cloudiness might be the padding breaking down..

I then washed it with a little detergent and warm water until it ran crystal clear.
Used a couple paper towels to get most the water out and set it in front of a fan.

I just checked on it, it looks and feels almost new! The padding has really come back to its original shape and the cloth looks as fresh as it did when new. It smells slightly of the simple green, but it’s not offensive and I suspect that will fade in a little while.

Hope this helps someone else! I’m certainly pleased to get such a great result.

[76561199418627359]

This thread was quite old before the recent post, so we're locking it to prevent confusion.