Cleaning Rubberized Watchbands

Have you ever noticed that there is one part of a watch that can be particularly difficult to clean? That one part is usually the watchband. After all, it's not like you can wipe it off as easily as the watch itself. Not to mention this is the part of the watch that is the closest to your skin, and is always soaking up the sweat, dirt, and grime that you are exposed to throughout the day. If you happen to have a rubberized or plastic watchband though, you are in luck. Cleaning watchbands such as these is actually pretty easy. All you need to do is use one of these methods.

• Baking soda. Use a little bit of baking soda (also known as sodium bicarbonate) when cleaning watches. Simply rub a little bit of the sodium bicarbonate onto the watch band with a damp coarse cloth. This will act as a coarse cleanser and allow you to get the vast majority of the dirt and grime off of the watch band. After having scrubbed the watch band with the baking soda, rinse out the wash cloth and wipe down the watchband again. Repeat this as necessary until you have removed all the baking soda from your watchband.
• Rubbing alcohol. Another way that you can clean a watchband is by using a little bit of rubbing alcohol. When using rubbing alcohol to clean a watchband, never pour it directly onto the watchband itself. The reason for this is that the rubbing alcohol could accidentally get onto, and into, the watch causing damage that can be costly to repair. Rather pour some onto a soft washcloth. Use the damp washcloth to wash away the dirt and grime. Rinse the washcloth after cleaning, and then use the washcloth to rinse off the watchband.
• WD-40. WD-40 can be used in much the same way as rubbing alcohol, however a little caution should be used when using this method. WD-40 has a tendency to break down petroleum products (such as plastic and rubber). This means that this method should only be used when no other method will work. When using the WD-40 to clean your watchband, follow the same procedures that you use when using rubbing alcohol.
• Denture cleaners. If you can remove the strap from the watch, then you should have a really easy time to clean your watchband. After removing the watchband from the watch, place it into a glass filled with water, and then place some denture cleaner (such as Polident) into the glass as well, and let them sit over night. The denture cleaners will get your watch band nice and clean. All that you should have to do in the morning is rinse and dry off your watchband before you can use it again.