{"id":6744,"date":"2015-06-10T22:14:30","date_gmt":"2015-06-10T12:14:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.soulbridgemedia.com\/news\/?p=6744"},"modified":"2015-06-10T22:14:30","modified_gmt":"2015-06-10T12:14:30","slug":"g-shock-cleaning-basics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.soulbridgemedia.com\/news\/?p=6744","title":{"rendered":"G-Shock cleaning basics"},"content":{"rendered":"

Not so long ago we did a write up for the G-Street<\/a> gang with a run down of basic cleaning, like any publication they did their own edit so in case you missed it, here’s the “directors cut” in its entirety.<\/p>\n

\"DSC_4963-8\"<\/p>\n


\nG Shock Cleaning part 1 \u2013 Basic cleaning<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

There are 3 basic schools of thought when it comes to how G\u2019s are treated. 1. Keep \u2018em clean 2. Treat \u2018em mean 3. Stay fly and multiply.
\nFor team number 2, G\u2019s are bought and worn for their intended life purpose, to be beaten like a rented mule. Dirt, grime and battle scars are worn proudly like the ears of their slain on a necklace, Universal Solider style\u2026 much to the dismay of others who have to handle the watch with tongs if its left on a bench.
\nThose in the number 3 camp, and lets face it, its who we are or at least are aspiring to, have enough G\u2019s in our collections to disperse a week\u2019s worth of dirt over 7 watches (or more) so it can take a lot longer for them to accumulate the same amount of wear, but it will happen eventually. So for the benefit of longevity, comfort of wear and housemates\/GF\u2019s\/wives everywhere a bit of regular cleaning goes a long way.<\/p>\n

>>These tips are by no means the be all and end all, these are what have worked for me over the years, however with the variety of models, textures and finishes, your mileage may vary.<\/p>\n

Why clean?<\/strong>
\nDirt and grime attracts more dirt and grime and over time the salts and acidity from sweat can deteriorate the resin and affect the finish. Sweat and water can also collect in these areas, which if near small metal parts like screws, pins or pin springs, can rust or seize them. Comfort is the other main reason, coarse particles or other residue can lead to skin irritations. While much rarer, some functionality can also be lost like the ease of pressing buttons or the ability to charge a solar model.<\/p>\n

Know thy enemy – Common culprits:<\/strong>
\nA1. Scuffs and markings<\/em> \u2013 Shows as darker or shinier mark, common when bumped on hard surfaces or grazed during regular wear. Appears mostly on corners and edges of non-glossy resin.
\nA2. Dirt and grime<\/em> \u2013 usually a combination of dust or dirt with sweat oils and water to get a lovely toe jam paste which forms around pins, casebacks, buckles, raise or embossed sections, where the band meets the case on the underside etc. Grime can also appear as a discoloured coating with an uneven texture. (see fig 1a, 1b)
\nA3. Salt\/sweat\/chlorine residue<\/em> \u2013 shows up on darker coloured resin as crusty white marks, a bit like a high tide line, you\u2019ve probably seen the same marks on the brim or front of your regularly worn cap. Just like the high tide line, these marks appear where it -was-, not where it \u2013is- so its not uncommon to see them on the top surface of the band and lug area where the band meets the bezel. Can also collect in embossed areas and buckle holes (see fig 2 and 3)
\nA4. Paint<\/em> \u2013 paint splatter from work or an out of control custom or taking on a wall or door jamb with the G emerging victorious, taking a souvenir with it.
\nA5. Welding splatter<\/em> \u2013 ok maybe not so common but a special note for those welders out there frivolously melting resin left and right\u2026 just go with stainless steel and spare me the heart ache. Please.
\n(This one goes out to Ben who\u2019s done himself a right mischief, get well soon buddy!)<\/p>\n

Actung Baby \u2013 Warning <\/strong>
\nIf your resin still looks new, then don\u2019t go gung ho and try to clean it for no good reason. Use passive methods only, running water, light sponging etc. anything abrasive can and will mark the resin, this includes tissues and cotton tips if the right kind of pressure is applied, it may be very light and only visible on certain angles but spare the elbow grease for your beaters. Persist with the least abrasive methods ie. Soap, sponge, warm water, where ever possible.<\/p>\n

Clean up your act <\/strong> (for matte resin)<\/p>\n

\"DSCN3639-7\"<\/p>\n

1. Rub one out \u2013 Erasers (for A1 above)<\/em> \u2013 This, at best, is a temporary fix with only a medium success rate depending on the scuff but its always worth a try since its simple and non-damaging. Take a regular pencil eraser and rub it on the smoothed or marked spots. Far from a new to old restoration but it will dull some spots and bring back a bit of that out of the box velvety look. For tight spots use the small eraser on top of a Pacer. (see fig 4)<\/p>\n

2. At the car wash \u2013 Soap, dish detergent (for A2, A3)<\/em> \u2013 This is the quickest and easiest way most will say to keep your G clean. Multitask while in the shower or create a weekly\/monthly bath time ritual. Use a soft sponge to lather and lightly scrub stubborn areas. Make sure you rinse and dry it well afterwards, soap\/detergent build up isn\u2019t much better than the grime itself. Use a cotton tip to get around edges and into crevices and buckle holes.<\/p>\n

3. Mum\u2019s the word (for A2, A3 above)<\/em> – Mum\u2019s know a thing or two about cleaning so its no surprise some of their go-to\u2019s work as well.
\nToothpaste<\/em> \u2013 has a fine abrasive which can help move some stubborn marks with the help of a fine toothbrush also leaves dank straps smelling minty fresh. You can also use it as a polish for restoring shagged crystals (glass on the case). I have not needed to do this yet but there are plenty of folks who champion it.
\nVinegar<\/em> \u2013 add a generous splash to a bowl of warm water and wipe\/sponge over. Use a cotton tip dipped in it for detailed areas. Rinse thoroughly then give it a soap bath (as above).<\/p>\n

4. Chemical brothers \u2013 Isopro and Acetone (for A4 above)<\/em> \u2013 Like taking off your shirt to eat, things are getting serious if you\u2019re breaking out the solvents.
\nFor stubborn salty marks or stains Isopropyl (or Isopro) can help. Its an alcohol based solvent commonly used to clean electronic equipment and whiteboards. You may have come across it in the form of Isocol (green bottle with an alligator). If you had zits at school or got a graze you probably dabbed a bit on it, which burnt like all buggery.
\nWhile mostly mild to resin it still has some corrosive properties and can take the finish or many surfaces if you get carried away, so start with a lightly damp (not wet) cotton tip on the underside of the band to test it.
\nAcetone \u2013 basically nail polish remover, will have no problem stripping most oil based paints and clear coats on resin. So take extra care! But if you\u2019re reaching for this its most likely to remove paint, and if you\u2019re painting you\u2019d probably already know how to use it. If not, same as with the Isopro, use very sparingly with a barely damp cotton tip. If it is to remove paint splatter take as much care as possible to very lightly wipe the paint but not the resin. Let the acetone do the work, not the scrubbing action.
\nFor thick dried splatters, try scratching it off with a fingernail or toothpick first, take care not to over to it and have your nail\/toothpick skid off and mark the resin. If the paint is still wet, try dabbing it off instead of smearing it.
\nIf however you\u2019re stripping colour or the clear coat for a custom, then go to town with it, just don\u2019t scrub too hard as marks will be left in the resin which will show up after the dye job.<\/p>\n

You can also use this method to remove the clear glossy coat from jelly resin to leave a matte finish since the colour is in the resin, not the paint coat.<\/p>\n

Some of the cleaning arsenal:
\n\"DSCN3615-6\" \"DSCN3641-9\"<\/p>\n

Dem Feels \u2013 Glossy and Textured resin<\/strong>
\nThe above is ideally for plain matte resin. Anything with a gloss, satin, textured or printed finish, take extra care and caution. Personally I\u2019d stick with soap and water where ever possible.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re particularly concerned about trying to keep your new resin as pimping as possible, choosing a model with a glossy finish will help repel dirt and grime very well. The trade off however, once the clear coat gets worn down to the base coat it looks rather rubbish and without this protective coating, wear occurs much quicker down to the bare resin. Of course the other trade off is you\u2019ll have to wear glossy resin which could be a tough pill to swallow for some.<\/p>\n

\"DSCN3668-10\"<\/p>\n

Common sense and care<\/strong>
\nUse it. The above processes are all reasonably straight forward but if you\u2019re in any doubt or get carried away, I nor G-Street can be accountable, but if you think about it, you\u2019ll have a new beater and a reason to buy a new G so that\u2019s not really that bad is it? \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

Stay tuned for part 2 \u2013 Advanced cleaning and resin removal.<\/p>\n

—
\n>>Special thanks to Troy for the loan of his PRG3000 Protrek (not that he had a choice since it was already in my possession \ud83d\ude09 ) for this article since I couldn\u2019t find a G dirty enough!
\n—<\/p>\n

Fig 1 (a). \u2013 Grime isn\u2019t always very noticeable and is usually only visible under certain angles. Here you can see a broad coating around the \u201cPR\u201d and localised build up around the raised lettering especially around the \u201cTR\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"DSCN3575-2\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Fig 1 (b). \u2013 Slightly different angle shows more of the coating<\/p>\n

\"DSCN3592-3\"<\/p>\n

Fig 2. \u2013 Sweat salts and the like collecting in the embossed area on the band<\/p>\n

\"DSCN3569-1\"<\/p>\n

Fig 3. – Sweat salts and the like collecting in the buckle holes<\/p>\n

\"DSCN3595-4\"
\nFig. 4 \u2013 Normally for grime its better to use warm soapy water and a sponge but here is an example of the eraser technique, note the visible difference around the K.<\/p>\n

\"DSCN3607-5\"<\/p>\n

If you have any questions about the processes in this article, want to talk about G’s in general or just geek out with some toy talk head on over to The G Collective<\/a> – a closed group we have created with a couple buddies to do just that (:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Not so long ago we did a write up for the G-Street gang with a run down of basic cleaning, like any publication they did their own edit so in case you missed it, here’s the “directors cut” in its entirety. G Shock Cleaning part 1 \u2013 Basic cleaning There are 3 basic schools of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1992,2646],"tags":[2513,2649,1021,2647,2031,2648,2228,100,2650],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.soulbridgemedia.com\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6744"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.soulbridgemedia.com\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.soulbridgemedia.com\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.soulbridgemedia.com\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.soulbridgemedia.com\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6744"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.soulbridgemedia.com\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6744\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6774,"href":"http:\/\/www.soulbridgemedia.com\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6744\/revisions\/6774"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.soulbridgemedia.com\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.soulbridgemedia.com\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.soulbridgemedia.com\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}