Bleach on a watch?

[NorCalKid]

Kinda an odd question but is it bad to wipe down your watch with bleach or alcohol? Most likely bleach. Will this have any long term effects on it? I work in healthcare and wipe down my equipment at the end of the day. Currently wear a cheapo watch to work, would like to start wearing one of my nicer ones. Any thoughts???

[Tools]

Chlorine bleach can stain stainless steel if exposed for a long time. Wiping it down probably won't have any affect but I don't see why you would. Alcohol won't have any affect on SS.

[CLTRolex]

If you don't use bleach on yourself - don't use it on a Rolex..

[doramas]

Nooooo, not that

[NorCalKid]

Originally Posted by Tools

Chlorine bleach can stain stainless steel if exposed for a long time. Wiping it down probably won't have any affect but I don't see why you would. Alcohol won't have any affect on SS.

In the 2 week I have been in rooms with MRSA, C-Diff, HIV,TB and who knows what else. Obviously I wear proper protection but I do wipe everything down at the end of the day just to be safe. I use those bleach wipes.

[gossbeau]

Bleach would be very aggressive on your watch. Don't do it or take it off before handling bleach.

[Russell44]

As some home brewers have found out the hard way when using chlorine sterilisers, chlorine will pit stainless steel. Given time it perforated their canisters and that is not good when you put them under pressure to draw the beer.

[JimMiller]

Originally Posted by NorCalKid

In the 2 week I have been in rooms with MRSA, C-Diff, HIV,TB and who knows what else. Obviously I wear proper protection but I do wipe everything down at the end of the day just to be safe. I use those bleach wipes.

Just carefully take off your watch, gently wrap it in a microfiber cloth, and put it your pocket. In some hospitals, the medical staff aren't allowed to wear jewelry, because of the difficulty of cleaning/sanitizing them.

[Muzz]

I wear my latex glasses gloves over the watch when I have to. Also wear PM in those situations

[Rocket_Man]

Wait a minute... isn't 904L specifically made for corrosive environments? It's not like the watch is going to be submerged for long periods in bleach. If he does use bleach it is probably a good idea to make sure it is rinsed well. Give it a shot and let us know how it goes. Maybe on the inside of the clasp.

...."UNS NO8904, commonly known as 904L, is a low carbon high alloy austenitic stainless steel which is widely used in applications where the corrosion properties of AISI 316L and AISI 317L are not adequate.

The addition of copper to this grade gives it corrosion resistant properties superior to the conventional chrome nickel stainless steels, in particular to sulphuric, phosphoric and acetic acids. However, there is limited use with hydrochloric acids. It also has a high resistance to pitting in chloride solutions, a high resistance to both crevice and stress corrosion cracking. Alloy 904L performs better than other austenitic stainless steels due to the higher alloying of nickel and molybdenum."

http://www.finetubes.co.uk/products/...ff-nr.-1.4539/

[Tools]

Resistant to, is not impervious from.

[Lordofrolex]

Probably just use water and soup you should be ok. I don't think you need to go to the extent of bleach.

[LuminousMaximus]

Originally Posted by Tools

Resistant to, is not impervious from.

That's what I told people when they tried to throw cryptonite on me!

[Rolex fan 61]

Why risk it, remove the watch?????

[johnnyjazz]

The situations the OP is talking about, i don,t think the stainless steel part of the watch will be affected, you start to rub any part of a watch that has enamel on it, ie engraved bezel or older type printed bezel, that is a different matter.

[dabbotjordan]

Originally Posted by Lordofrolex

Probably just use water and soup you should be ok. I don't think you need to go to the extent of bleach.

Never washed my watch with soup before any flavour you recommend!

[Toxicant]

I've bleached many houses while wearing a Rolex and it has had no effect on the watch other then it is all white with dried bleach, rinse it off and no problems.

We get a black mold on the shingles here and mix up water/bleach 50/50 and spray it on with a garden sprayer.......have done it once a year for 15 years and the watch is fine....

[Vigilance247]

Originally Posted by dabbotjordan

Never washed my watch with soup before any flavour you recommend!

Good eye! Missed that one the first time!

[Dark]

Soup and water is proper, bleach would definitely have a damaging effect

[Shichinin]

Originally Posted by LuminousMaximus

That's what I told people when they tried to throw cryptonite on me!

Lol


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[Jack T]

Given what you're likely exposed to on a daily basis, amid the possible effects of bleach, I don't see any upside to wearing your Rolex to the hospital. But hey, that's just me.

[kilyung]

I'd be more concerned about bleach's potential impact to rubber gaskets.

[beshannon]

Originally Posted by kilyung

I'd be more concerned about bleach's potential impact to rubber gaskets.

Exactly, and any other place it could seep into

[Orangejoe]

It's a tool, you bought it, use it. If the gaskets get damaged in 5 years, have them replaced.

As mentioned above, if there is one watch you should not be worried about exposing to chlorine it's a 904L Rolex.

[CLTRolex]

Originally Posted by dabbotjordan

Never washed my watch with soup before any flavour you recommend!

Tomato Basil

[dabbotjordan]

Originally Posted by robcassell

Tomato Basil

I prefer to soak mine in a pot noodle(Bombay bad boy).Then rinse with soup,always comes up clean and smelling great!

[J!m]

Just use alcohol. I don't think bleach is a good idea unless very dilute.

But either way, with so many crevices in the bracelet, it would need to soak in whatever disinfectant to be disinfected.

Maybe something on a nato strap you can exchange at the end of the day. Pull off the dirty one and put on the clean one. Clean the dirty one and it becomes the clean one for the next day... Dip the watch head in alcohol, swish it around a bit and it should be good.

Iodine might be good too but I have no idea if it might stain the Crystal gasket or how it would affect the o rings...

[DPE]

Why not use Soap and Water ????

[NorCalKid]

Originally Posted by DPE

Why not use Soap and Water ????

It's just so quick to grab some wipes and wipe down stuff.

[Onikage]

In that application it probably evaporates too quickly to damage anything. If it's an aluminium bezel insert you can expect some accelerated fading though. I also wear cheapo watches for work. Hooray for cheapo watches!