Cleaning Rolex—soft toothbrush?

[Agamemnon]

Even a hard toothbrush leaves no scratches...

[jimcameron]

Go through a car-wash and hang your arm out the window. Trust me it works great.

[can-am]

I think I've found the perfect washing method :

-very soft toothbrush
-a drop of baby shampoo

I'm using these toothbrushes and they are extremely soft, no scratches whatsoever :

https://www.amazon.fr/TSHAOUN-manuel...1zcF9hdGY&th=1

[VerticalClutch]

Originally Posted by JSolution

I ruined a two tone submariner with a baby toothbrush. It had a few little scratches on the gold centre links, I gave it a really careful light scrub all over and it was completely covered in swirl marks. I say fingers only.


Edit —- but I do use a toothbrush for the inside of the bracelet, and especially necessary in the glidelock grooves.

I can’t make this post and the lived experience match up. I hit mine with soap and a toothbrush. SS, white gold, yellow gold and rose gold have all been cleaned like this and never an issue.

[brandrea]

Originally Posted by can-am

I think I've found the perfect washing method :

-very soft toothbrush
-a drop of baby shampoo

I'm using these toothbrushes and they are extremely soft, no scratches whatsoever :

https://www.amazon.fr/TSHAOUN-manuel...1zcF9hdGY&th=1

Same ones I use here as well

[MrGoat]

My watch gets worn daily, it gets scratched, it gets covered in all sorts of different liquids and solids. I use a fingernail brush as pictured. Before, during and after. The fingernail brush actually improved the scratches.





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[NachoNeal]

Originally Posted by ducatiti

Even on polished or PM?

Have not noticed anything with the naked eye.

[ducatiti]

Originally Posted by MrGoat

My watch gets worn daily, it gets scratched, it gets covered in all sorts of different liquids and solids. I use a fingernail brush as pictured. Before, during and after. The fingernail brush actually improved the scratches.





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Brush looks kind of harsh IMO. How did it improve the scratches, by adding tiny ones? Not being sarcastic here but rather gathering info for future reference..

[ducatiti]

Originally Posted by NachoNeal

Have not noticed anything with the naked eye.

Very good to know. Thanks for sharing.

[JSolution]

Originally Posted by ducatiti

Brush looks kind of harsh IMO. How did it improve the scratches, by adding tiny ones? Not being sarcastic here but rather gathering info for future reference..

I have to agree that’s a pretty heavy duty brush ! I think at the point of wear it’s already at it wouldn’t make a difference though.

[MrGoat]

Originally Posted by ducatiti

Brush looks kind of harsh IMO. How did it improve the scratches, by adding tiny ones? Not being sarcastic here but rather gathering info for future reference..

Originally Posted by JSolution

I have to agree that’s a pretty heavy duty brush ! I think at the point of wear it’s already at it wouldn’t make a difference though.

I don’t know how it does it. All I know is it looks more polished after a scrub with my brush.


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[ducatiti]

Originally Posted by MrGoat

I don’t know how it does it. All I know is it looks more polished after a scrub with my brush.


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Probably same effect with a soft toothbrush and soap, after a quick rinse to make sure there is no debris prior to brushing. Clean quality microfiber cloth for drying would bring out the shine... I actually use a furry quality microfiber towel of which car detailers use.

[MrGoat]

Originally Posted by ducatiti

Probably same effect with a soft toothbrush and soap, after a quick rinse to make sure there is no debris prior to brushing.

My point exactly.


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[JoelUlrich]

Wristclean.Com sells a very soft brush for this purpose. It works especially well at getting the grime out from between the links, which you’ll see when the white brush turns greyish. Then just rinse the brush to clean that. They also sell a spray cleaner to use with it.

[LSU-MOOSE]

Geeky answer headed your way. Don’t use soaps designed for human use on your watch. Use dish soap or other type of cleaner designed to not leave residue. Boring detailed answer follows if you don’t wish to keep reading.

I used to sell industrial surfactants/detergents. Every one is designed with a specific or set of goals. The main goal is to change the surface tension of water to displace what you want removed. Additional qualities are designed for specific uses (explained below).

In the case of a watch we are removing human oils, dust, dirt and whatever else you may have encountered. Most if not all cleaners in your home will do this easily. Dish soap works very well because they are designed to handle animal oils and fats (some of us are bigger animals than others) and other deposits on your cookware and dishes. They get deep down into the crevices and displace the unwanted material. This works well for your watch and bracelet.
What dish soap DOES NOT DO is leave unwanted material behind that might attract more unwanted material. Dish soap is designed to leave spotless, very clean surface with no residue.

Human soap does all the above with two unwanted residuals left behind. The first is microscopic oils that make your hair or skin “feel” softer. These oils attract dirt and microscopic dust down in the crevices of your moving parts of your bracelet. The second unwanted residual is fragrance so you will smell nice, also microscopic particles to attract unwanted material just mentioned.
This unwanted residual prematurely attracts abrasives into these crevices increasing wear on the internals of the bracelet.

I know a lot of old saggy bracelets can be attributed to many thing but I think washing with human soaps contributes.

I use dish soap only once a month. No need to chance the increased wear on the bracelet internals.

[Chadridv]

If you’re concerned go to CVS and grab a silicone infant tooth brush. I use that for watches with polished surfaces.

[Colorado_kid]

Originally Posted by LSU-MOOSE

Geeky answer headed your way. Don’t use soaps designed for human use on your watch. Use dish soap or other type of cleaner designed to not leave residue. Boring detailed answer follows if you don’t wish to keep reading.

I used to sell industrial surfactants/detergents. Every one is designed with a specific or set of goals. The main goal is to change the surface tension of water to displace what you want removed. Additional qualities are designed for specific uses (explained below).

In the case of a watch we are removing human oils, dust, dirt and whatever else you may have encountered. Most if not all cleaners in your home will do this easily. Dish soap works very well because they are designed to handle animal oils and fats (some of us are bigger animals than others) and other deposits on your cookware and dishes. They get deep down into the crevices and displace the unwanted material. This works well for your watch and bracelet.
What dish soap DOES NOT DO is leave unwanted material behind that might attract more unwanted material. Dish soap is designed to leave spotless, very clean surface with no residue.

Human soap does all the above with two unwanted residuals left behind. The first is microscopic oils that make your hair or skin “feel” softer. These oils attract dirt and microscopic dust down in the crevices of your moving parts of your bracelet. The second unwanted residual is fragrance so you will smell nice, also microscopic particles to attract unwanted material just mentioned.
This unwanted residual prematurely attracts abrasives into these crevices increasing wear on the internals of the bracelet.

I know a lot of old saggy bracelets can be attributed to many thing but I think washing with human soaps contributes.

I use dish soap only once a month. No need to chance the increased wear on the bracelet internals.

As I was reading all the comments I was waiting for someone to say this (well, not as thorough and eloquent as you did). Many comments mentioned hand soaps. All the hand soaps in my house have moisturizers and fragrances.

My AD recommend the same as you. Once a month with mild dish soap and a fine microfiber towel to dry. They didn’t mention a toothbrush but I’m wondering what that’d do to polished gold (Bluesy)?


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