Best ways to clean watch cases and bracelets?

[Senpai]

Another package arrived yesterday from Japan, with a couple of Seiko vintage pieces and bracelets. First thing I do is remove bracelets and rubber straps and soak them in dish soap. Cleaning the watch exterior the best I can, using toothpicks, q-tips and baby wipes. If it is a dive watch, usually remove the bezel also.

Using a toothbrush I clean the bracelets, however I'm not always happy with the result of the really nasty ones. It is difficult to get in between the links. Would boiling them in a pot help or potentially damage the rubber / stainless steel? I realize an ultrasonic cleaner is perhaps the best option. I'm not looking to tear down the entire case or anything involving the movement except changing batteries... yet.

So:
What would be the best way of cleaning the case exterior and bracelets with simple stuff you keep at home?

If I would invest in more professional equipment, what would the setup look like?

What are your methods? Any tips appreciated.

[pip]

I have a real cheapo US cleaner that’s for jewellery and stuff for home use. It was about £20 or so. It’s not too bad for getting crap off of bracelets but I need to pre clean and post clean. I tend to use near on boiling water with dish soap and leave them in for half an hour, jiggling them around every ten mins or so. Hang on, I think by coincidence I took a pic of it last night:


You can see the colour of the water that quite a bit of rubbish has been removed. It has a lid by the way, it was just up for the pic.

[Senpai]

So you take the case apart and throw everything in there? Really incredible how much dirt can accumulate over time, but I feel it is a good indication it has not been tampered with, polished or ”dressed up” before listing it.

[HiBeat]

For sure the vintage dirt means it has not been molested.  Nice way to get one in.

Ultrasonic (US) bath for sure.

Like Pip I pre-clean, run a few US bath cycles, then do it all over again with the soft toothbrush.

[Fergus]

There's a Seiko railroad in here.

It took 3 runs at 60+C before the water was clear. I added standard washing up liquid and some Sea Green.

[pip]

Aug 7, 2020 21:27:34 GMT -8 Fergus said:

There's a Seiko railroad in here.

It took 3 runs at 60+C before the water was clear. I added standard washing up liquid and some Sea Green.

You appear to wash your bracelets in Guinness!

[nordlys]

For bracelets, I use an ultrasonic with hot soapy water. My wife uses it for her jewelry as well, so it's definitely a useful little tool!

For routine cleaning of watch heads, I just wipe them down with a microfiber cloth and soapy water. But if there is a lot of built-up wrist cheese in the nooks and crannies of the case, the only way to get it out is to remove the movement and clean the case in the ultrasonic.

[mousekar]

For me, honestly the ultrasonic bath in hot/warm water with Dawn dish detergent for about 15-20 minutes works wonders. You can just do the bracelet, but its generally not too difficult to remove a movement and throw the case in there. That'll get all that gunk that's in the hard to get to places like where the crown is and the lugs. It's totally worth the investment!

[Senpai]

Nice information all. Any recommendations for a good Ultrasonic cleaner?

[lewie]

Ultrasonic here too
if you do put a watch head in there be aware some chapter rings may loose the minute marks

[Fergus]

Aug 12, 2020 11:44:19 GMT -8 Senpai said:

Nice information all. Any recommendations for a good Ultrasonic cleaner?

I have an Ulsonix Proclean 0.7 litre. It’s been back to the factory twice inside 12 months for control issues. There was no quibble the first issue (temp settings not accurate and pot knob came off) but the second (timer stopped working) did take a few strong emails yet it has a 3 year warranty. Ohhh yes, when it came back the base has a list to one corner so it had been dropped in their workshop. It works fine, cleans very well and no further issues (touch wood). The temperature settings are not accurate but who needs better than +/- 10c. Would I recommend them...well, to be honest I’m on the fence.

One major issue being there is no over temperature cut out. If you leave the heater on and it runs dry it just continues to get hot....yes I did and overnight but it still works.

[leffemonster]

I’d like to get a more ‘robust’ cleaner than my current el-cheapo, but it’s an absolute minefield out there! Amazon and ebay are just awash with what look to be reasonable quality semi-industrial cleaners, but the majority of them seem to be the same cleaner just with a different label - and they all seem to be ‘made in China’ (not that I’m saying that’s a bad thing).

Given how much I’ll use it I don’t want to have to fork out close to £400 for an Elma, but by the same token I don’t want to shell out a quarter of that on something that won’t last. I’ve been looking at this but have no idea if it’ll be any better than what I’ve got.

www.allendale-ultrasonics.co.uk/professional-2-litre-digital-cavitek-ultrasonic-cleaner-tank-with-heated-bath-220v

[Fergus]

Aug 17, 2020 0:41:01 GMT -8 leffemonster said:

I’d like to get a more ‘robust’ cleaner than my current el-cheapo, but it’s an absolute minefield out there! Amazon and ebay are just awash with what look to be reasonable quality semi-industrial cleaners, but the majority of them seem to be the same cleaner just with a different label - and they all seem to be ‘made in China’ (not that I’m saying that’s a bad thing).

Given how much I’ll use it I don’t want to have to fork out close to £400 for an Elma, but by the same token I don’t want to shell out a quarter of that on something that won’t last. I’ve been looking at this but have no idea if it’ll be any better than what I’ve got.

www.allendale-ultrasonics.co.uk/professional-2-litre-digital-cavitek-ultrasonic-cleaner-tank-with-heated-bath-220v

Nick, Even though I lambaste the Ulsonix machine its ultrasonics motion is far superior than the cheap models from my experience of 3 of them. I suspect the Allendale will have a much better system as well. My only comment being, do you need 2 litre tank. I have always been one to say get the biggest you can cos you can always do a small job but having chosen a 0.7 litre tank I have never wanted to do anything larger.

[leffemonster]

Aug 18, 2020 0:31:53 GMT -8 Fergus said:

Aug 17, 2020 0:41:01 GMT -8 leffemonster said:

I’d like to get a more ‘robust’ cleaner than my current el-cheapo, but it’s an absolute minefield out there! Amazon and ebay are just awash with what look to be reasonable quality semi-industrial cleaners, but the majority of them seem to be the same cleaner just with a different label - and they all seem to be ‘made in China’ (not that I’m saying that’s a bad thing).

Given how much I’ll use it I don’t want to have to fork out close to £400 for an Elma, but by the same token I don’t want to shell out a quarter of that on something that won’t last. I’ve been looking at this but have no idea if it’ll be any better than what I’ve got.

www.allendale-ultrasonics.co.uk/professional-2-litre-digital-cavitek-ultrasonic-cleaner-tank-with-heated-bath-220v

Nick, Even though I lambaste the Ulsonix machine its ultrasonics motion is far superior than the cheap models from my experience of 3 of them. I suspect the Allendale will have a much better system as well. My only comment being, do you need 2 litre tank. I have always been one to say get the biggest you can cos you can always do a small job but having chosen a 0.7 litre tank I have never wanted to do anything larger.

Thanks for the reply Don, and good to know yours performs well. To be honest, I’d probably plump for a smaller tank as well - I’m only cleaning watches and parts after all, not carburettors. Allendale do a 1.3L tank with heater controls, but seems like their 0.7L isn’t heated.

[suntzu]

I've been using this in a non-professional manner for 30 years. For my parents 25th wedding anniversary, my father bought my mother a huge diamond ring. This was given to him when he purchased it as a thank you. I've used it ever since without a hitch. The heat setting gets it really hot. I crank it for 60 minutes. For more delicate items I don't use heat.

Stock photo of exactly what I use:

[nzwatchdoctor]

I have a genuine, old, watchmaker's ultrasonic machine but I never use it - the technique and fluids below are much better. 

I have a strong cleaning solution I use with an old small paint brush - that gets most of it off - no matter how bad / oily etc. 

I then (or sometimes only) use boiling water and dish detergent and an old toothbrush. Sometimes I end up doing that 2/3 times and it works great. 

Rinse.