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Cleaning Watch Bands and Cases Tips?

Discuss problems, tricks and hints on case restoration, tools,watch buttons and tools.
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s_elias

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Cleaning Watch Bands and Cases Tips?

Post11 Mar 2013, 17:34

Hi,

Sorry for the basic question, just curious - what's the best / favorite ways of cleaning watch bands and cases.

a) Stainless Steel / Base Metal

b) Gold Plated

c) Plastic / Rubber

Any special considerations for crystals with lettering / paint or bezels similar to what's in LCD cases.

Are poeple using ultrasonic cleaners, or soap and hot water or vingar baths or other favorites?

Thanks
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bucko170

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Re: Cleaning Watch Bands and Cases Tips?

Post11 Mar 2013, 18:18

s_elias wrote:Hi,
Sorry for the basic question, just curious - what's the best / favorite ways of cleaning watch bands and cases.
a) Stainless Steel / Base Metal
b) Gold Plated
c) Plastic / Rubber
Any special considerations for crystals with lettering / paint or bezels similar to what's in LCD cases.
Are poeple using ultrasonic cleaners, or soap and hot water or vingar baths or other favorites?
Thanks


To give the case a quick spruce up I just give them a scrub with an old tooth brush using soap and hot water then use general cleaning products such as Brasso and generic metal polish to buff them up, the more I worry about the base metal showing through the less I polish.

I also drop a little watch oil on the command buttons to keep them moving freely.

I have a plastic polish called 'Novus' which I use to polish the crystals, badly scratched plastic crystals get rubbed over with 1800/1500 grit paper first, if I want to keep a logo I place tape over the top of it before polishing, if the logo/stamp on the crystal is indented they can be filled back in using an artists paint pen (dabbed on left to dry and then the excess polished away). If you cover the logo with tape you have to be careful that you do not polish too hard as it leaves a noticeable step once the tape is removed.

It is always surprising how much better a watch can look just with a little elbow grease.
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retroleds

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Re: Cleaning Watch Bands and Cases Tips?

Post11 Mar 2013, 21:01

A good spray down with anti-bacerial 409 spray. Let sit for a few.
Ultra-sonic cleaner with plain warm water with a dash of good dish soap added right before it is full - so it doesn't get a chance to foam up. And yes, a toothbrush is a good friend. Toothpaste actually makes a pretty good cleaner :grin1:
http://www.retroleds.com - Sales of vintage LED, LCD, analog watches, parts and gadgets - repair tutorials & tips
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767Geoff

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Re: Cleaning Watch Bands and Cases Tips?

Post21 Mar 2013, 18:51

:scratch: Watch out with the watch oils. Some types eat silicon gaskets. Best to get silicon grease. Seiko makes some or an electronics store. For quick gasket lube get silicon spray for car door rubbers. Spray some in a small lid and use a small screw driver to apply it to the pushers and crown.

I usually boil in dishwasher detergent (KOH) my solid stainless cases and straps. Dissolves all that skin cell grunted and foreign DNA.

Geoff
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s_elias

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Re: Cleaning Watch Bands and Cases Tips?

Post21 Mar 2013, 20:42

Thanks - there was another discussion about spraying WD-40 on pushers and stuck buttons, however someone pointed out it's not really a lubricate but a Water Displacement (WD) product and in fact will cause problems with the pusher gaskets and other seals. Thought I would pass it along since I learned it the hard way as well :bang:
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bucko170

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Re: Cleaning Watch Bands and Cases Tips?

Post21 Mar 2013, 21:48

Thanks for the tip regarding the watch oil, I did not realise that it could do harm, I have been using it for a few years and not noticed any problems so maybe I got lucky with the type that I have but I will switch to the suggested lubricant just to be sure.

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