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Watch cleaning brush question

  1. eldiano84 Sep 14, 2020

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    This question might be dumb but if I use this brush should I be worried about the chrome accents getting scratched? I try to lightly scrub but not hard enough to scratch anything, should I be worried? The threads are soft but still I tried following the instructions from the omega site, but anything softer for a brush and I’m in the make up territory and i don’t know if those are meant for cleaning... Thanks!
     
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  2. Dan S Sep 14, 2020

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    I don't think there is any chrome on that watch. What are you referring to?
     
  3. Evitzee Sep 14, 2020

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    I think he means the polished areas.
     
    Dan S likes this.
  4. eldiano84 Sep 14, 2020

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    Μy bad yes I was referring to polished areas sorry
     
  5. Braindrain Sep 14, 2020

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    Extra soft toothbrush and a light touch works well. Never had a problem when I cleaned my bracelets.
     
  6. STANDY schizophrenic pizza orderer and watch collector Sep 14, 2020

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    How are your teeth doing after brushing for ~~~~


    ( ~~~~ = however many years you have been brushing them )
     
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  7. JimInOz Melbourne Australia Sep 14, 2020

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    You would be better using a shaving brush, or a quality 1" paint brush.

    These have tapered bristles to get into joins and seams and much softer than a hard toothbrush with flat ended bristles.
     
    eldiano84 likes this.
  8. Marsimaxam Sep 14, 2020

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    Believe or not a soft toothbrush can scratch a stainless steel case, of course, you're going to need a 10X loupe to notice. I found this site on the internet which explains the risks of using a toothbrush and also recommends what techniques should be used to clean the case and bracelet. Yes, one is steam cleaning after you remove the movement... there's a thread about steam cleaning, and, if you don't have the ability to steam clean or have an ultrasonic cleaner, the recommendation is to use a microfiber cloth lightly dipped in an ammonia based cleaner.

    Don’t Clean Your Stainless Steel Watches With Soft Toothbrushes
    Paul April 14, 2017 Don’t Clean Your Stainless Steel Watches With Soft Toothbrushes

    Stainless steel is my favorite wristwatch case material. It is tough, practical, and easy to polish to a fine mirror finish or an elegant brushed finish. But if you wear the watch long enough, it gets greasy and grimy. Some guys have watches that look like they have a special crusty exoskeleton that’ll need to be chiseled off.

    We don’t want to be that guy, so how should we clean a steel watch?

    Our Test Subject
    For example, here’s a stainless steel Seiko case. The top is brushed, but the sides are polished to a mirror finish.

    [​IMG]

    If you inspected this side of the case under a 10x loupe and raking light, you’d conclude that it is nearly flawless: virtually no swirls, scuffs, or micro-scratches. In fact, it’s hard to photograph because it so shiny that it is “black polished.” (We’ll show how to black-polish steel cases in a later post, just to keep you hanging.)

    This case is fresh from the polishing lathe and has some polishing compound on it, so we need to clean that off. But instead of polishing compound, you can imagine the gross paste of old skin cells, hand soap, and sweat that a gentleman’s watch eventually accumulates.

    A lot of people will clean a watch like this with a soft toothbrush and some gentle dish soap. For example, here’s an old, soft-bristle child’s toothbrush.

    [​IMG]

    The “toothbrush method” is widespread on the watch forums. On the jewelry-making forums, though, people know better. Even an old, soft brush will scratch your hard steel case.

    Behold the enemy and its scowling and sinister visage!

    [​IMG]

    To demonstrate, I ran the case and toothbrush under cold water, put some dish soap on the brush, scrubbed normally for around 10 seconds, and then dried the case with a clean microfiber cloth.

    The case seemed unaffected to the unaided eye in normal light. Notice the excellent mirror finish on the case side.

    [​IMG]

    But we are obsessive here at Adjusting Vintage Watches, whether we’re adjusting to positions or polishing a case, so what does the case side look like when magnified?

    Here’s the case photographed at a raking angle under the LED. The light micro-scratches are easy to see.

    [​IMG]

    A toothbrush will scrape off the gunk but leave small scratches behind, and removing those scratches will take some equipment and skill.

    What to Do Instead?
    So how should we clean our steel watch cases and bracelets?

    It’s best if you can take apart the case and remove the movement. A jewelry steamer will work wonders on steel cases and bracelets. If you don’t have one of those, a heated bath in an ultrasonic cleaner will give excellent results. You’ll find dozens of cleaning solutions that will work well. I get great results with Simple Green diluted 1:1 with distilled water, for what it’s worth.

    If you don’t have a steamer or ultrasonic cleaner, you know what to ask Santa to bring you for Christmas. Until then, you can use ammonia-based cleaners, like the streak-free blue stuff used on windows. A napkin or clean microfiber cloth dipped in the blue stuff can be used to dig out and dissolve your watch case’s grime.

    Source: https://adjustingvintagewatches.com/stainless-steel-watches-toothbrushes/
     
    eldiano84 likes this.
  9. STANDY schizophrenic pizza orderer and watch collector Sep 15, 2020

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    If you can’t have at it with a tooth brush what sort of Diver is it.

    Dress watch I probably wouldn’t, but a divers watch is getting scrubbed like it needs with a hard bristle tooth brush. Gave up soft drink at 18 because it’s called soft. Don’t do anything soft, or buy anything soft. That’s the problem today too much soft stuff and now people scared to scrub a watch with a toothbrush.

    Any more talk of this and I’m telling Sam Kekovich

    watch the adds in below link From the bottom up

    https://www.adnews.com.au/news/a-look-through-10-years-of-mla-s-epic-summer-ads
     
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  10. michael22 Sep 15, 2020

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    I reckon this case has already been buffed.
    wp-1491664174515-e1491671248931-1024x644.jpg