Acetone as a solution for movement cleaning

[STERYBOL]

I've recently run into a curious situation. During my parents' visit last week I went with my cousins to the market in their small town. next to the market, there was a watch repair shop, and I decided to leave my Tudor Balck Bay rep to be cleaned while waiting for my cousins' shopping. we started chatting with the expert, he was an elderly man who seemed to be retired a long time ago. during the conversation, I spotted a bottle of acetone and was curious to know why he would use it for. he told me that he was gonna use it for the movement cleaning as it was "the old-school best technique" as he didn't trust modern cleaning solutions. I refused the acetone to be applied to my watch as I wasn't sure about the method and thought it would do no good to it/// the whole situation made me feel uneasy obviously, but since I wasn't sure, I couldn't take the risk... now I feel kinda uncomfortable.. maybe the old man was right...
what do u know about that?

 

[J9$!Dw23]

Old men are hard to convince about new products for cleaning)) I know it from my father, he never trusts model alternatives and not only for watches but for everything…

Actually, acetone was been used some decades ago, indeed. for eliminating dirt it’s not a bad option, but the problem is that it leaves residue on metal, and I’m not pretty sure about its impact in the long term. Did right to refuse, I’d do the same

 

[vingNEgy]

Definitely wrong…

The residues left by the acetone would gradually “eat” the surface of the compounds. It’s an ongoing chemical process with bad consequences in the long term…

The brake cleaner I usually use leave no traces and evaporates right away after being applied… camp fuel and all similar naphtha solutions are affordable and pretty secure.

Even not all brake cleaners are good to use. Some are too noxious, so watch out for their concentration. Acetone is too concentrated for watch movement and it impacts it negatively

 

[hATeAndLovewaTCheS]

Brake cleaners are standard and non-chlorinated. While both provide a cleaning effect, I’ve spotted the standard to be better.

As for the acetone, not a big chemist here, but thing its too tough for the watch components

 

[Ghosterry]

My father used to clean watches with something g similar- lawyer thinner. A sort of acetone but more diluted and less concentrated. It was leaving no residues after application. But, my father ruined a mechanism because the solution burnt the glue between the pallet forks. This solution has the property to dissolve clue-like materials, so don’t quite see it as optimal

 

[CasPer$$hunteR]

dont experiment much on your own and follow the modern guidelines if u want your watch to serve long. the precedent generation didn't have much choice and the options were limited. nowadays, u have plenty of trusted solutions

 

[PeperoNNi]

Heard about acetone for movement cleaning but don’t know anyone using it. All watch lovers I know use modern solutions that are known to be safe.

I somehow ought an ultrasonic to clean my pieces. But after a while, I observed that it wouldn’t clean the parts as it should be, it probably was because of the poor mechanism, even though it indicated 25W power. Dirt from components wouldn’t clean smoothly even with different solutions I applied. Currently, I use a simple toothbrush and toothpaste to remove the grim. Of course, it is useless for the delicate parts of the watch. And when it’s time to clean them as well, I get them to the repair shop for deep cleaning. I feel safer. I’m sure that at the repair, the expert doesn’t use acetone, for sure

 

[thiN1k1ngTWICe]

never tried acetone on watch movements. bud did tried on my self. My little daughter polished my nails one while folding around with her and had to remove it with acetone. didn't like the feeling. the skin got irritated and dry. I suppose it doesn't cause the same effect on the steel compounds but I guess it could harm on the long run. wouldn't use for my watches. I usually clean my watches with alcohol solution diluted with water 1:1. for unreachable surfaces between compounds I leave it at the repair shop

 

[TesaLLiuM8565]

Acetone dissolves plastic. It’s unlikely to cause harm to steel. But if speaking about reps, you never know what components manufacturers use during the watch assembly. So I would not take the risk. Even for gens with high-quality materials, this chemical can affect the finish and the seals. Some watches are sensitive to sea salt, imagine the impact of acetone

 

[neverHAVEIever]

never used acetone on mine, but I recall my father using it... don't remember his watches to break because of the acetone...

 

[CoVriGoooU]

I mostly rely on recommendations suggested on the internet. These clearly state “don’t expose your watch to strong chemicals, like gasoline, acetone, cleaning solvents, insect repellents, or undiluted alcohol”.
Why do you make these experiments? We all buy watches, don’t follow the basic recommendations in cleaning, experiment with solutions, and later, blame the manufacturer because he has done a crap watch. You never know what materials and components manufacturers use, especially for rep watches. And these solvents can impact them. And when the mechanism runs off, we blame who??? The dealer, without even thinking that maybe it’s us who brought the watch to this condition due to the use of improper solutions… leave it to the masters and stop inventing solutions that aren’t meant for watch cleaning.

 

[platoonshrek]

I mostly rely on recommendations suggested on the internet. These clearly state “don’t expose your watch to strong chemicals, like gasoline, acetone, cleaning solvents, insect repellents, or undiluted alcohol”.
Why do you make these experiments? We all buy watches, don’t follow the basic recommendations in cleaning, experiment with solutions, and later, blame the manufacturer because he has done a crap watch. You never know what materials and components manufacturers use, especially for rep watches. And these solvents can impact them. And when the mechanism runs off, we blame who??? The dealer, without even thinking that maybe it’s us who brought the watch to this condition due to the use of improper solutions… leave it to the masters and stop inventing solutions that aren’t meant for watch cleaning.

agree...
no need to invent the wheel with modern solutions that are 100% risk-free

 

[whySOniCE456]

I mostly rely on recommendations suggested on the internet. These clearly state “don’t expose your watch to strong chemicals, like gasoline, acetone, cleaning solvents, insect repellents, or undiluted alcohol”.
Why do you make these experiments? We all buy watches, don’t follow the basic recommendations in cleaning, experiment with solutions, and later, blame the manufacturer because he has done a crap watch. You never know what materials and components manufacturers use, especially for rep watches. And these solvents can impact them. And when the mechanism runs off, we blame who??? The dealer, without even thinking that maybe it’s us who brought the watch to this condition due to the use of improper solutions… leave it to the masters and stop inventing solutions that aren’t meant for watch cleaning.

r you sure the masters dont use acetone for cleaning movements?!
After all, you never know the solutions they use for the purpose. It’s not excluded they use acetone as well

 

[staYingPosiTIve!!!]

My father used to clean watches with something g similar- lawyer thinner. A sort of acetone but more diluted and less concentrated. It was leaving no residues after application. But, my father ruined a mechanism because the solution burnt the glue between the pallet forks. This solution has the property to dissolve clue-like materials, so don’t quite see it as optimal

lacquer thinner, u mean?
My grandpa used to use such. But I recall him telling me another thing: acetone is different from lacquer thinner in its chemical structure. Acetone evaporates faster than lacquer, so I don’t quite understand how could lacquer leave no residues when it evaporates slower… also, acetone is an organic compound, unlike lacquer…

Either way, I never experiment with such compounds if I’m not sure. Prefer to to for safer solutions

 

[platoonshrek]

no acetone... only proven solutions

 

[JL$4k029]

All my tools for my watch cleaning include a soft toothbrush, a brush specifically for watches (got it on Amazon), toothpicks, microfibre cloth, and antibacterial sanitary wipes. For severe dirt, I opt for alcohol. I Clea it to where I can get, trying to not damage the inner mechanism and structure. For where I can’t reach it, I leave the watch to the expert once in 3-4 months. I don’t accept acetone experiments. My solutions completely satisfy me and haven’t ever has issues

 

[DanielDJZI]

As far as I know, acetone dries the seals of the leather straps and also impacts severely the leather strap overall. ``for the inner mechanism cleaning, no proofs are available showing it is better than common professional cleaning solutions. Also, it is well known that the solution is not gentle at all when applied on micro-particles from the watch interior. So, better avoid it and opt for proven solutions instead

 

[WatchOveR]

As far as I know, acetone dries the seals of the leather straps and also impacts severely the leather strap overall. ``for the inner mechanism cleaning, no proofs are available showing it is better than common professional cleaning solutions. Also, it is well known that the solution is not gentle at all when applied on micro-particles from the watch interior. So, better avoid it and opt for proven solutions instead

couldn't be said better. only proven solutions!!!!!

 

[concientE]

so many time ago I started using professional solutions. on amazon you can find plenty of them, why risk it all? Chemically, acetone does no good, even if the impact is not seen immediastelly

 

[chip&dale]

couldn't be said better. only proven solutions!!!!!

subscribe! it's the 21st century guys, leave the acetone for the previous century