How to clean your watch at home with your own hands
They differ in size, style and grace, women's watches harmoniously complement the image. Such models are decorated with artificial stones, with a bracelet they look like jewelry. Wristwatches are worn by men to emphasize their high social status and create an appropriate image. Business partners are presented with branded templates. A watch with a leather strap is elegant. How to clean this object from contamination is not known to everyone.
Preparatory activities
Wearing an accessory with a precise mechanism ensures that its owner is responsible and punctual. For a wristwatch to look presentable, the strap must also look neat. The skin should be protected from moisture, ultraviolet rays. The material absorbs dirt and fat secreted by the sebaceous glands, collects dust, which contributes to the appearance of an unpleasant odor and accelerates wear.
The leather strap should be wiped down with a damp cloth at least once a week. Before cleaning, the object must be disconnected from the watch case so that detergents do not enter the mechanism.
Disassembly
The strap is held in place with a pin. Inside such a hollow tube there is a spring and 2 tips, one of them fixes the product to the body. To remove the bracelet from a mechanical watch, you need to move the pin to the side. To do this, using a needle or a thin knife blade, you need to pick up the tip by the corner and push the tube inside.
After cleaning the leather, a pin is again inserted into the strap, the first tip should be inserted into one hole in the watch case, and the second into the other.
DIY bracelet cleaning
If it is not possible to remove the bracelet, then it is simply wiped with a toothbrush or cotton swab moistened with the prepared composition. With constant wearing of the watch, cleaning is carried out after 1.5-2 months. The dial is treated with a damp cloth and then wiped with a dry cloth.
Bracelets are made of plastic, silicone, leather, metal. Not all materials can be cleaned with the same product, but you must choose the right composition. The skin is wiped with a solution prepared from soda or ammonia, the rubber strap - with laundry soap, silver - with vinegar.
Usual
Plastic and rubber straps are cleaned of dirt and sweat with laundry soap. Half the bar is crushed on a grater, combined with a glass of warm water. The resulting slurry is coated with the surface of the strap.
After half an hour, the bracelet is wiped with a stiff brush or sponge, rinsed and dried with a microfiber cloth.
The fabric strap is cleaned of dirt and grease with dishwashing liquid. The composition is applied to the surface of the product, carefully rubbed into problem areas, rinsed with water, dried with a towel.
Leather
A watch with a bracelet made of expensive natural material looks neat and presentable, if you regularly take care of the bracelet and clean it from dirt. It is recommended to wipe the skin of dark tones with a paste consisting of the same amount of water and soda. The composition is applied to the surface of the bracelet, after an hour the dirtiest areas are treated with the sponge, rinsed under the tap, and dried inside.
To lighten the skin:
- A glass of milk is mixed with raw egg white.
- The mass is impregnated with the surface of the material.
- The bracelet is wiped with a sponge, rinsed under running water.
The dirt is removed with a soap solution with the addition of a few drops of ammonia. With a sponge soaked in the composition, the surface of the skin is treated on both sides, wiped with a damp towel, and then dried with a cloth. To remove the smell, the bracelet is rinsed with water and citric acid is added. The surface is greased with glycerin or olive oil, rubbed with a dry cloth. The advantages of a leather strap are:
- strength;
- ease of care;
- long life expectancy.
Products made from this material have all sorts of shades and look stylish. The strap is easy to wipe clean, adapts to different watch models.
Golden
The steel bracelets are washed with Fairy shampoo and washing up liquid. For clean silverware combine soda with vinegar or mixed with ammonia. All chains are in turn rubbed with gruel, kept for half an hour and polished with a microfiber cloth.
A gilt-covered bracelet is powder or crushed chalk cleaned inside and out, and wiped until shiny with a dry towel. Wetting the metal surface with water is not recommended.The titanium product is cleaned with an eraser, toothpaste is applied and polished.
white
A light-colored bracelet is treated with a product obtained by mixing soda and water. The mass is applied to the surface, removed after an hour and a half. To wash the stained material, mix a glass of milk with an egg white and gently wipe the strap.
How to clean and polish your watch case at home
To remove dirt inside the attachment, the product is disassembled into parts, the head is removed and the mechanism is removed. All elements are folded on a towel and the dust is first removed from the case, only then the rest of the parts are cleaned.
Usual
The cost of an accessory, its appearance is influenced not only by the number of functions, the complexity of the caliber, but also by the type of material from which the case is made, which protects the mechanism from damage. Resists shocks, does not fear corrosion, tolerates thermal shocks, stainless steel is well polished. Some well-known Swiss companies, Chinese companies produce watches with cases made of this material.
After dusting:
- Wipe the glass with a lint-free cloth.
- Cotton swabs are dipped in alcohol, and the rest of the parts are washed.
- The dial is wiped with a damp cloth and a dry cloth.
- Old dirt is cleaned with a toothbrush.
Domestic enterprises and foreign brands produce watch models with a brass case, unpretentious in maintenance, durable, but rust and oxidize. The zinc-copper alloy is cleaned of dirt and plaque with alcohol, polished with a dry cloth.
Money
Wristwatches are made of precious metals, they perform their main functions and serve as a work of art.The silver case is cleaned by different means:
- A spoonful of ammonia is dissolved in a liter of water. The part is wiped with the composition, polished with a soft cloth.
- The protective coating of the watch is treated with lemon juice, dried with flannel.
- A paste or tooth powder is applied to the blackened metal using a brush, rinsed under the tap.
- The case, removed from the accessory, is left for an hour in a saline solution, the plate is removed with a sponge.
Blackened silver is soaked in starch, cleaned with a damp cloth, dry cotton. The dial is wiped with a cloth, the other parts of the watch are treated with alcohol.
How to deal with scratches on glass
An expensive accessory looks messy not only when the bracelet is blackened, the bracelet shines with a greasy coating, scratches on the glass make the item look sloppy. You can eliminate small cracks at home. Squeeze some dye-free toothpaste onto a cotton pad, rub it clockwise over the problem area. It is not necessary to press hard, otherwise the glass will burst. The composition is removed with a damp cloth.
To cover large scratches, goya paste is used. In a coarse-grained product containing chromium oxide, a cotton swab is moistened and the glass is wiped. The process is carried out several times, using n°3 and 2 fine grain pastes. To give shine, polishing is done with mineral oil.
Soda gruel is resistant to scratches, it is applied to the surface, rubbed with a cotton swab, the remnants are removed with a damp towel.Sandpaper eliminates microcracks. The glass is removed from the case, cleaned of dust with a soft, carefully polished cloth, covered with toothpaste, which is wiped dry.
Hide scratches, restore shine to furniture or car wax. The swab is dipped in the composition and the glass is polished. A solution prepared from 2 glasses of water and a spoonful of ammonia removes scratches.
How to clean the internal mechanism
Any wrong action can damage the watch. When dismantling an accessory, you need to remember where this or that part was placed, in what order the elements were removed. To clean the mechanism:
- Large deposits are removed with a fine needle.
- Separate the gear, scale, anchor plug with pliers and send them to a bowl filled with alcohol.
- After 3-4 minutes, all parts are removed from the solution, dried on tissue paper.
- Mineral oil is taken in a pipette, each part is treated.
If dirt remains, remove with a brush moistened with ethyl alcohol. After the end of cleaning, the mechanism is immediately assembled, otherwise dust will settle on it.
Reassembly
The washed parts are blown with air from a medical pear, after which the drum is taken with tweezers, fixed to the turntable. Then the wheels of the mechanism are installed, the adhesion between them, the position relative to the axis is checked. Fix the anchor and the bridge, tighten the spring. The seconds hand is fixed, then the minute hand, the levers are fixed - the factory and the translation, the dial, the balance wheel and the spiral are set.
The assembled mechanism is put into the body, the shaft that starts it is returned to its place, the rear wall is screwed.
Features of working with ceramics
In recent years, companies have begun to produce watches not only from stainless steel, brass, precious metals, but also from non-standard materials. Sleek ceramic designs won't scratch, last a long time, and won't irritate skin.Such watches are very light, they do not feel on the hand, they do not heat up in the heat, they do not cool in the cold.
Ceramic does not absorb moisture and dirt can be wiped off with a damp cloth. If the watch is worn for 15 years, scratches appear on the surface, which are removed by ordinary polishing. Ceramic models in white and black, blue and gray tones are particularly popular.
How to remove the smell
When a person wears a watch for a long time without cleaning the strap from dirt, pathogenic microorganisms accumulate in it, sweat is absorbed. The waste products of microbes cause a specific smell. To get rid of the darling:
- The watch is removed from the hand, baby soap is rubbed inside and then outside of the bracelet.
- A cloth is moistened with warm water and the composition is removed.
- The product is dried together with the material, left to dry in a warm room.
The procedure is started several times until the unpleasant smell disappears. If the accessory is constantly exposed to heat, you need to purchase a strap made of high temperature resistant material.
Rules of care
In order for the watch to serve for a long time, look neat, not lose its original appearance, it needs to be serviced not occasionally, but regularly:
- Do not allow water and moisture to enter the mechanism.
- Clean glass, case, bracelet and bracelet from plaque and dirt.
- Keep away from objects generating high electromagnetic field.
- Protect against thermal overvoltages.
A mechanical watch should be tried not to be bumped, to avoid getting into a liquid, to give it to a workshop every 2-3 years, where it will be treated with a special oil and cleaned. Quartz models overheat; in the heat, the product should not be worn, as the batteries may be damaged. Care must be taken that the watch is not exposed to electromagnetic radiation, otherwise it will stop or slow down.
In order for the glass to protect the dial, you need to remove scratches, wipe it from moisture and dirt.
Steel, gold, silver bracelets are covered with sweat, attract dust. Once every 30-40 days, the products should be soaked in a soap solution, rinsed with running water and dried with a towel. Rubber, leather, fabric straps do not tolerate heat, suffer from moisture. Such things are treated with special compounds, do not allow to get wet when in contact with water. Wash dirty textile straps in a soapy liquid. Such models need to be changed often, they wear out and break.