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17 November 2008, 11:07 AM | #1 |
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How to clean a Rolex bracelet/band
Hey everyone. My bracelet is starting to get a little bit dirty. What is the best way to safely clean it?
Would cleaning it 1x per week be conidered too much? |
17 November 2008, 11:10 AM | #2 |
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17 November 2008, 11:11 AM | #3 | |
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I wash it about every other weeks or so since I rotate watches.
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17 November 2008, 11:15 AM | #4 |
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17 November 2008, 11:26 AM | #5 |
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DON'T USE A TOOTHBRUSH!!!
I have had Rolex's since 1982 AND NEVER CLEANED WITH A TOOTHBRUSH! It's not like your working in the mines or digging ditches!!! I only use a mild jewelery cleaner and then rinse in warm water ....not HOT or COLD WARM......here is my 1992 Rolex that has never seen a brush....and pat and whipe dry with a chamois cloth. I have heard people esp with white or yelowgold NEW Rolex'x ask why they are seeing marks on the shiney part of there case and bracelet....A TOOTHBRUSH WILL SCRATCH GOLD!!!
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17 November 2008, 03:21 PM | #6 |
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17 November 2008, 11:29 AM | #7 |
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I use a soft bristled tooth brush and it has not caused any issues on my TT Sub bracelet. I usually make 100% certain that the crown is screwed in properly, the rinse it with some warm water, I use a little shampoo then brush both the inside and outside of the bracelet, case and face. I rinse it, then dry it with a soft towel. It works like a charm and keeps the watches looking great !
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17 November 2008, 01:14 PM | #8 |
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I have heard of some ppl using ultrasonic cleaners for their bracelets every so often so as to remove any grime, etc that regular soap & water washings can't quite reach. This also helps to prevent "stretch" to the bracelet that can occur over time.
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9 March 2017, 02:45 PM | #9 | |
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17 November 2008, 01:56 PM | #10 |
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I agree...i would never use a toothbrush even if its soft bristle it will leave a thin line scratch to it..you might not notice it but it will leave one trust me..just warm water and a polishing cloth will be ok...
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17 November 2008, 02:17 PM | #11 |
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Guys, stop with the toothbrush scratching gold or any metal nonsense.
The plastic fibers in the toothbrush are softer on the moh's scale of hardness than any metal and you cannot scratch something with an item that is softer than the metal being rubbed. Saying it scratches even when you are using it while it is wet with a mild detergent which will act as an additional lubricant is BS. Sorry, but I had to call you out on this one, its nonsense. |
17 November 2008, 03:36 PM | #12 | |
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Here's another example: should ordinary glass be able to scratch sapphire? On the Mohs scale, glass is around 5.5 while sapphire is around 9. By your example, sapphire should not be scratched. However, using a glass point WILL scratch sapphire, as a local Omega dealer will attest after challenging me to rub the crystal on the edge of his glass case. Using only light pressure, I made a slight scratch in his Seamaster's sapphire. Not huge, but it was noticeable. Very high point stress concentrations can be created by pressing through a glass point. This WILL scratch sapphire! Granted, the glass probably came out much worse in this, but the point is that the sapphire DID scratch. Something else to think about: if diamond is the hardest substance known to humankind, how are we able to cut diamond? By using diamond, of course! Both pieces of diamond have hardness of 10 Moh and will thus wear each other equally. Again, the point is that the Mohs scale is relative. It cannot be said that something will NEVER scratch something else...only how MUCH will it scratch! Back to cleaning gold: use a mild soap (NO DETERGENT!!! This causes seals to shrink - why risk that??) and warm water and you will preserve the high polish! SNB |
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17 November 2008, 10:08 PM | #13 |
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Although is doesn't say anything about it in my Rolex manual, my Omega manual says AVOID DETERGENTS.
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17 November 2008, 11:29 PM | #14 |
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the whole thing puzzles me? I have read countless pages on 904L steel used for the case and bracelet on my sports models....yet people suggest that a toothbrush will scratch it???
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18 November 2008, 12:49 AM | #15 | |
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There is in no way a possibility that a soft plastic toothbrush bristle will scratch a gold or any metal surface. Now somthing that gets dislodged during the cleaning (a grain of sand) may get lodged in the bristles and therefore cause the scratches but even then only if you use excessive force, but saying the bristles scratch is nothing less than pure ignorant nonsense and the spreading of uninformed baseless opinion. If that was the case, some of our synthetic sweaters that are essentially made from a thin form of threaded plastic should scratch the heck out of our watches in no time which again, is nonsense. Using a soft tothbrush is perfectly safe, using a mild detergent is safe and using water and detergent and a soft toothbrush used very lightly is perfectly safe. You are 100 times as likely to scrath a watch dry buffing it with a polishing cloth than even using water, soap and a TB. Anyone waving the red flag saying that this is unsafe for a watch with the durability and materials used in a Rolex is being overly neurotic and making up stories to back up pure ignorance and the lack of basic knowledge of the fundementals of metals. |
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18 November 2008, 02:26 AM | #16 |
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I place mine in some soda water and give it a bubble bath.
BTW, Is this moh? |
18 November 2008, 07:20 AM | #17 | |
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Also, if you are confident about your knowledge of Mohs scale, let's see a picture of a sapphire crystal being rubbed with garnet paper (pyrope, for e.g., that has a hardness 7.5 Mohs). By your assertion, there should be no scratching whatsoever. However, I bet you will see scratches. I would also suggest not making allegations that I have bolded in your quote. SNB |
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18 November 2008, 12:16 AM | #18 | |
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How could detergent make the seals shrink,how could the detergent find its way to the seals,if the crown is screwed in the watch should be water and detergent proof.And if you rinse watch fresh water,all the very small residue of any detergent left will be gone.
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18 November 2008, 03:00 AM | #19 | |
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18 November 2008, 05:23 PM | #20 | |
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30 September 2010, 03:25 PM | #21 | |
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No, it's not nonsense at all, but rather 100% fact. A toothbrush, no matter how soft will absolutely put hairlines on highly polished gold surfaces as well as silver and even highly polished stainless if you repeat it often enough or scrub hard enough. Even lightly rubbing polished gold with a coarse dry cloth will hairline the surfaces. As a coin collector, I can't tell you how many otherwise very valuable coins I've seen completely ruined by people 'cleaning' them with a toothbrush or a rag or whatever and completely destroying the original surfaces. As far as not being able to scratch something with an item that is softer......have you ever seen how easily a diamond can become scratched through careless handling or cleaning?
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17 November 2008, 02:51 PM | #22 |
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I use eyeglass cleaner and it works great. Just use a soft cloth afterwards.
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17 November 2008, 02:56 PM | #23 |
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Get a bowl and drop about a dime size of dishwashing soup in it with warm water. Then place your watch inside and let it sit for about 10 minutes.(Make sure the crown is screwed down) then just rinse the watch with warm water put in a shirt and let it sit for another 5 minutes. The watch should dry oitself off and just pad down the bezel and spot where might still be water. Don't apply force thinking your going to get a better shine. Since all your doing is probablky adding swirl marks on the metal and the shiny parts. As for the shirt look for something that ridiculously soft and use the inside part of it .
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17 November 2008, 03:17 PM | #24 |
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Hmmm... If a soft bristled tooth brush will scratch it, then I guess I'm thrashing mine pretty badly wearing it everyday. TT DJ with polished gold center links.
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17 November 2008, 03:20 PM | #25 |
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What about using a baby toothbrush? A toothbrush made for infants has the softest bristles.
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17 November 2008, 03:23 PM | #26 |
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18 November 2008, 03:19 PM | #27 |
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18 November 2008, 03:23 PM | #28 |
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18 November 2008, 03:23 PM | #29 | |
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But, if I were to use this type I would definitely get the commercial/industrial version with the much more powerful "Binford" high out put motor! |
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2 July 2009, 01:59 PM | #30 |
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