A watch dealer I know once told me that his customers who had their bracelets last the longest were the ones that wore them in the shower. He reasoned that the constant cleaning from the soap and water probably removed the grit between the links, that tends to cause metal wear. On the other hand, Al said, in a previous post, that folks who do this tend to get more wear on their bracelets, because rinsing does not completely remove the soap, which attracts dirt and thus actually causes more wear. I'm going to side with Al on this, because I'm sure he is correct. But if one does not own an ultrasonic machine, is there another acceptable way to clean a bracelet other than using soap? Dish detergent? A swish in a glass jar with some particular solvent? Thanks.
I'm ready to be shot down in flames but I occasionally put my bracelets in some water with a drop of Fairy. I've also used surface cleaner to remove oils and grease (isopropanol) - now that stuff will clean anything off anything ... I'd be very careful around anything that was petroleum based, so all plastics! It'll most likely do a decent job of ruining anything but a sapphire crystal and your seals WILL be ruined ... so take the bracelet off the watch first. Other than that, I've also had good results with a drop of Optrex and a few Q-tips to get dirt out of all the little gaps without going to the extreme of taking them apart.
Thing is - if you have an expensive watch with a ridiculously expensive (for what it is) bracelet, a basic ultrasonic cleaner - which is all you need for this - is dirt cheap in comparison, so there's not much good reason not to use one, and you'll find other uses for it as well.
I have an ultra sonic, but I've occasionally just filled a small bowl with very hot water and washing up liquid, and left bracelets to soak overnight. On barn finds, there's usually loads of dirt in the bottom the next day. Then a light clean with an old tooth brush.
There simply is no substitute for an ultrasonic. I've cleaned bracelets using other methods until they "look clean" and they still discharge a pile of crud when I put them through the ultrasonic cleaner. The only other machine that comes close (and in some specific circumstances is better) is a steam cleaner of the type that goldsmiths use. But those are more than a decent ultrasonic tank is. If you want to go the time consuming route you can disassemble the bracelet and hand clean as much as you can. Cheers, Al
I have had excellent results boiling watch bracelets in a pot. Works great on stainless steel, not so good on PVD? bracelets. Had a Green Heuer 510.XXX bracelet with the green coating, and it was removed. Might have been the ammonia.... Wy wife lets me experiment at home.
I just bought this. Cheap for what a new bracelet costs. Really good reviews. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HZVYAVM/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_awdo_lXrIzbDS26AJM
Looks like two Global cooking knives in that picture. I would not put my Global knives in a dishwasher, I always hand clean them by hand and dry at once.
Every now and again I drop mine in some water with washing up liquid, give it a good sloosh about and then give it a good rinse. I only do it when I notice a black ring on my arm when I take my watch off on a hot day! Never even considered an ultrasonic cleaner before and just looked them up. Will definately be getting one of them.
Very good young man, take the rest of the day off. Here's my solution to cleaning Global Knives. Once clean, rinse under hot water and dry with a cotton towel, place in knife block. What magnificent thread drift.