# experience with watch cleaning cloths



## blueridgewatchguy (Dec 30, 2010)

What is your personal experience with various jeweler quality cleaning cloths? I am not referring to scratch removal or other abrasive cloths/pads for repairs of a watch's finish. I am referring to cloths that can be used regularly to wipe over a watch to keep the grime off of it and to remove basic soiling and fingerprints that accumulate on the highly reflective, polished surface of many watches. I believe some of these cloths could also be used as a wiping/buffing cloth when applying a metal polish. Some cloths out there are also chemically treated and do have abrasive chemicals in them that actually removes tarnish or other elements foreign to the watch case or band. That is probably not the regular maintenance type cloth being referred to here. Below are some examples of such chemically untreated products:
Horosafe Watch Polishing Cloth for Maurice Lacroix - eBay (item 350140840278 end time Feb-02-11 18:48:18 PST)
XXL Blue Microfiber Clean Buffing for Maurice Lacroix - eBay (item 200560386081 end time Jan-30-11 11:54:28 PST)


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## EHV (Mar 30, 2010)

Me again! 

The BWE Horosafe's are great as are their microfiber towels but the microfiber's are overpriced IMO.
Veraet has excellent cloths too and they market them specific to watches.
Selvyt has dedicated watch cloths too, some of them have polish and they also have the plain ones. These are good too but I find them to be more coarse than the above cloths. 

A lot of the optical cloths available are decent too. The ones that came with my glasses are very similar to the dedicated watch cloths.

Googalies makes great microfiber towels. Some swear by Zwipes microfibers. I always test my microfibers with a blank or old CD to see if they scratch. Even though I don't apply pressure when I clean my watches, I apply heavy pressure with he CD test to see if I can induce any scratches. That was an old auto detailing trick I used to try before letting a microfiber touch the paint on the car.

I haven't had any scratching issues and I mainly use the Horosafe and the Vereat cloths.


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## blueridgewatchguy (Dec 30, 2010)

What determines whether you use the Horosafe or the Vereat? Is it just whichever is most conveniently located or cleanest at the time or does one have characteristics that makes it better than the other for various jobs? Tried any of the Cobra cloths that many car detailers apparently use and swear by? Thanks for your very informative replies as always.



EHV said:


> Me again!
> 
> The BWE Horosafe's are great as are their microfiber towels but the microfiber's are overpriced IMO.
> Veraet has excellent cloths too and they market them specific to watches.
> ...


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## Code4 (Jul 20, 2010)

This may sound strange, but I use the damp towel from my shower that morning. After I get dressed, I pick my watch for the day and wipe the whole thing good with the towel I used (even the case back).

Then when I go down stairs, I have a softer towel I use on glasses. After I clean my glasses, I use that same towel again on the crystal, bezel, and outer bracelet while I am wearing it.

THEN (as if that wasn't enough), before I put it back in the watchbox at night I run just the crystal under the sink and go over the whole watch again with the same shower towel from the morning (just to get any grime, etc... off).

That routine seems to keep them like new.


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## Bahoomba (May 1, 2010)

I don't buy the brand much, but I have a handful of small, yellow cleaning cloths provided by Stuhrling Original, and they do a great job for me. I use one twice each day, one to clean the watch in the morning and again when putting the watch away at night. They last, and I wish I had a drawer full of them.


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## EHV (Mar 30, 2010)

Both are equally excellent to me. The Horosafe is bigger so it's a tad easier to use the Veraet's on the watch head.

The Cobra's, etc. microfibers are mostly good. There is much variance in microfiber cloths and I would test them before use to make sure you think they are soft and scratch free. I have about a hundred of the things now after detailing cars for so long. I can' even remember the good one vs. the not so good ones that got used for less paint intensive tasks. I used to belong to the Autopia car detailing forum and always took their recs. because interestingly, they were more obsessive than I am...if that's possible! 

Lots of others mention the bath towels like above or even shirt tails!



blueridgewatchguy said:


> What determines whether you use the Horosafe or the Vereat? Is it just whichever is most conveniently located or cleanest at the time or does one have characteristics that makes it better than the other for various jobs? Tried any of the Cobra cloths that many car detailers apparently use and swear by? Thanks for your very informative replies as always.


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## ulackfocus (Oct 17, 2008)

Lens cleaning cloths do the job fine, but if you want something better try a Selvyt cloth. They're washable too. Most watchmakers and jewelry stores have them but they may not be for sale there. A couple watchmakers are now using Sontara cloths. Apparently their cheaper and just as good.


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## brandon\ (Aug 23, 2010)

Mark at Long Island includes a pretty good cloth when you buy a watch...

...so buy another watch to get one!

:-d


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## Raza (Jul 21, 2010)

brandon\ said:


> Mark at Long Island includes a pretty good cloth when you buy a watch...
> 
> ...so buy another watch to get one!
> 
> :-d


I was just about to say "I didn't get one!" Then I looked at my box and I did. Now I'm trying it out.

EDIT: Hey, it works really well. It even took the smudges off my iPhone. Which I promptly put back on, since my phone rang and I had to pick up.


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## NCsmky (Dec 26, 2009)

I keep 2 microfiber hand towels from the Dollar General with my watch case. I'll give the watch-o-the day a wipe down when I put it on & then again when I take it off. I also am a fan of the bath towel method as discussed by Code4. In addition, I try to keep at least 1 of said Dollar General microfiber towels in my vehicles in the event of a smudge away from home. Not that I'm OCD or anything, but I can't stand a smudge on the crystal or polished steel.


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## Ananda (Feb 28, 2008)

Microfiber cloths intended for cleaning glasses and camera lenses work just fine.


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## Steadyhands (Sep 18, 2010)

I use micro fibre lens cloths I ordered in a bulk pack from the bay. Suits for both my photography gear and the watches.


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## Eeeb (Jul 12, 2007)

Costco sells packages of microfibre cloths for automotive work. They are quite cheap and work fine on watches. Very cost effective when acquired this way.


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## dal_sing (Jun 21, 2009)

Eeeb said:


> Costco sells packages of microfibre cloths for automotive work. They are quite cheap and work fine on watches. Very cost effective when acquired this way.


Same here!


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