Best way to clean a watch?

[beshannon]

Originally Posted by Jonathanhumes

Hi all, fairly new to the forum. What's the best way to keep my watch clean? Simply clean myself with a toothbrush etc or pay a dealer? Any way to protect it more? Or am I over thinking? Thanks

Exactly how dirty is the watch?

[brandrea]

Originally Posted by JSolution

Man he’s scrubbing that hard - word of warning I have absolutely ruined the gold centre links on a two tone bracelet doing this - and I used a baby toothbrush.

Agree

I clean my watches once every other week (depending on how much a wear them).

Dish soap, and a microfiber towel is all I need. I only use a soft tooth brush to get between the links if absolutely necessary but I’m pretty careful, and I do this from the back side of the bracelet.

As Jay stated above, polished center links scratch when you look at them

[gerry100]

Somebody mentioned an ultrasonic cleaner.

Other posts suggest that ultrasonic vibrations are passed thru to the movement and can hurt the hairspring.

Dont know, but Ultrasonic cleaning seems like unnecessary overkill for cleaning.
Have had my 16570 for 6 months and havent cleaned it yet, but when I do it will be the dish soap and toothbrush method

[Gab27]

There isn't a lot to it as the finishes are robust and easy to care for. A soft brush and a soap that doesn't leave a residue works just fine (e.g., Original Dawn). Avoid soaps that leave a residue (e.g., soaps with lotion). Dry it and polish it only with a clean cloth--using a dirty shirt or towel can scratch the watch if there is debris on the shirt or towel that is harder than steel (e.g., sand particles).

Wristclean makes a product called the "Premium Super-Soft Watch Brush". I purchased one in 2012 and and have been using it at least several times a week and it is still in excellent condition. It was definitely worth $15 given I've gotten a decade of service from it.

Going to a dealer for cleaning doesn't make sense. Depending on your lifestyle, you may need to clean your watch daily, which isn't very practical to have the dealer do.

[Jonathanhumes]

Thanks all! Great to read the comments. It's a SS sub, 124060, a daily wear and just seems to capture dust etc under the clasp and around the bezel.

[OrangeSport]

Soap and water and sometimes a baby's toothbrush. Dry with a microfibre cloth.

Must work OK as I've had a the RSC comment on how clean my watch was!

[garyk]

Originally Posted by JSolution

Man he’s scrubbing that hard - word of warning I have absolutely ruined the gold centre links on a two tone bracelet doing this - and I used a baby toothbrush.

I agree, no brushing...

[fsprow]

Just wash off in shower. Every year I take the bracelets off and clean them in a cheap ultrasonic cleaner. Gets dirt and crud out around pins etc.that regular washing will not reach. Amazing how much crud comes out when bracelet appears perfectly clean.

AS HAS BEEN SAID, DO NOT PUT THE WATCH HEAD IN THE ULTRASONIC.

[Driver8]

Originally Posted by gerry100

Somebody mentioned an ultrasonic cleaner.

Other posts suggest that ultrasonic vibrations are passed thru to the movement and can hurt the hairspring.

Ultrasonic cleaning is fine provided you only use it on the bracelet and that you remove the bracelet from the head first.

But as others have said, a mild dish soap and warm water, followed by a rinse in clean water is all you generally need.

[Sandpit]

Originally Posted by gerry100

Somebody mentioned an ultrasonic cleaner.

Other posts suggest that ultrasonic vibrations are passed thru to the movement and can hurt the hairspring.

Dont know, but Ultrasonic cleaning seems like unnecessary overkill for cleaning.
Have had my 16570 for 6 months and havent cleaned it yet, but when I do it will be the dish soap and toothbrush method

From what I’ve learned, 5 digit bracelets stretch because of debris that isn’t cleaned out properly. That’s why I use the ultrasonic periodically on my 16610.

I don’t think anybody said anything about keeping the head on though

[gr33n]

Spit on it, then dry it on your jeans.

The best way in my opinion is to shower with it, every day.

[samson66]

Soft soap, warm water, microfiber towel

[Undefeatable]

So I went on the Wristclean website to see how it was better than soap, and low and behold they have a free sample thing, so I placed an order for one. Its 100% free, dont even have to pay for shipping.

[karteo]

Originally Posted by gr33n

Spit on it, then dry it on your jeans.



The best way in my opinion is to shower with it, every day.

Shower with it, every day works great for me.

Sent from my M2007J17G using Tapatalk

[dannyp]

Personally, I just rinse without soap and do it fairly frequently. But my current one is only a few months old and has yet to get that dirty.

[Equity]

I shower with my sub. When it needs a good cleaning I just hit it with a old tooth brush from my toddler and a dollop of my wife’s $30 Aesop liquid hand soap, The sub prefers the bergamot.

Wife not amused.


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[MannySDG]

My procedure is as follows:

Wash hands
Rinse watch thoroughly, then place on soft microfiber towel
Wash hands again and with soap on hands, pick up watch and squeeze a little bit of liquid soap on one section of the watch and spread it out gently with your fingers. Go around the watch one section at a time until you come full circle. By now the whole watch should be full of soap suds so at this point in time you can go back to any areas that are prone to be more dirty and go over them once more.
Rinse your hands thoroughly followed by rinsing the watch
Take the microfiber towel in your hand and place the watch head on top of the towel, then wrap the towel around the remainder of the watch and pat it dry without rubbing letting the towel absorb the water.
Remove the towel and hold the watch in your hand, use a hair dryer on the cool setting and go around the watch to blow out any water the towel didn't absorb.

This is what seems to work for me. My one year old Rootbeer hasn't accumulated any easily visible scratches, you literally have to shine a light on it and look close to see anything. My 2 year old Bluesy however is, when comparing to the Rootbeer, full of tiny hairline scratches. That's because the Bluesy was my first Rolex and I was obsessed with trying to keep it spotless, so any finger print I saw I tried to wipe off with tiny microfiber towel things that are more suited for cleaning eyeglasses not easily scratchable gold. Once I learned to resist the urge to wipe my watch down constantly and instead wait until I clean it with the above mentioned method, the appearance of scratches was greatly diminished.

Also, the towel I use is actually a detailing towel for cars, it's much more absorbent than those tiny towels they use to torment new watches at jewelry stores.

As complicated as this method may sound, it only takes about 5 minutes to do and I usually clean my watches once a week to avoid any dirt build up that can scratch the watch to begin with.

My Bluesy taught me that it's not necessarily the towel that causes the scratches, it's the dust and dirt on the watch you're rubbing around with the towel that causes them (unless you use some dirty old rag)

In the end, scratches are unavoidable, just use the most gentle method of cleaning and the watch should be fine. Avoid all rubbing and polishing the watch with any towel, the only rubbing I do is with freshly washed hands with lots of soap and water to aid with lubrication after a thorough initial rinsing of the watch. By cleaning the watch regularly you can also avoid dirt build up that would require a soft brush of some sort to remove.

[daking19]

warm water, Dawn, magic eraser. Lightly clean with the magic eraser, finish with a spray of Martin guitar polish, and micofiber towel

[crazycarlitos]

Originally Posted by samson66

Soft soap, warm water, microfiber towel

To add:
Few times a week,
I wash it at bathroom sink (Don’t wanna drop it in the shower. Lol)
I take it off the wrist.
I lather up the soap in my hand first
I let it sit soaped up while I wash my face.
I turn the bezel while it’s soaped.. and while I rinse.
Air dry
Buff with microfiber later.

Once in a while, it’s a good idea to take off the bracelet and put just the bracelet in the ultrasonic cleaner to get all the dirt/grime out.

[JonaG]

Originally Posted by GradyPhilpott

From Rolex.

This also from Rolex. I like the informality of the language here.




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[GradyPhilpott]

Originally Posted by JonaG

This also from Rolex. I like the informality of the language here.

Good.

[asiparks]

in shower, on wrist with whatever I'm slathering over my hair/body; dry with towel along with the rest of me.

Originally Posted by nachopc

I’m using this already 3 weeks from Switzerland, the watch looks amazing but I found it very expensive for the amount delivered……


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30ml of generic Dawn masquerading as a special formulae, with a toothbrush stuck on the end for 50 Euros? Nah mate, think not

[TunaTuna]

I little soap and water 2-3 times a year does the trick for me. You don't need to go nuts

[Casotakar]

Once a week with tooth brush, soap, water. It’s my daily wear watch in very humid and hot climates.

[Gab27]

Originally Posted by Undefeatable

So I went on the Wristclean website to see how it was better than soap, and low and behold they have a free sample thing, so I placed an order for one. Its 100% free, dont even have to pay for shipping.

IMHO, it is much better than soaps that leave a residue (common with many soaps with moisturizers/lotions) and soaps that do not have a degreaser. I don't think it is any better or any worse though than Original Dawn. Their premium brush is exceptional though.

[DAC2]

Originally Posted by gerry100

Somebody mentioned an ultrasonic cleaner.

Other posts suggest that ultrasonic vibrations are passed thru to the movement and can hurt the hairspring.

Dont know, but Ultrasonic cleaning seems like unnecessary overkill for cleaning.
Have had my 16570 for 6 months and havent cleaned it yet, but when I do it will be the dish soap and toothbrush method

ultrasonic should ONLY be used on the bracelet. NEVER EVER the watch head.
I got this after speaking with the guys from Rolliworks.

[DAC2]

For my platinum..... a daily wipe down at the end of the day with soft wet cloth and
dried with and EVEN SOFTER cloth. I find that this daily end of the day routine
keeps the watch looking bright and vibrant.

[Finslayer83]

Shower or sink.

Little soap.