Anyone actually using acetone for cleaning? (excluding shellacked parts)

[Reacher01]

I am just starting repairing watches as a hobby I am in the process of putting together all the required tools and consumables.

After days of research about cleaning fluids, I'm almost positive that pure acetone is a viable choice as a cleaner, at least if the pallet fork and balance wheel are not cleaned with it. 

(reason why I want to try with acetone is because I'm already familiar with it and also I have a couple of unopened cans).

I would be using a home made cleaning machine I'm working on.

Rinse would be IPA.

 

Would this work or am I missing something?

 

 

[mikepilk]

I'm not aware of any reasons why you cannot use it. But, you still need a cleaner for the balance and pallet fork.

If you don't want to invest in some proper watch cleaner, you can buy refined naphtha quite cheaply, which cleans well and is safe with shellac. (Or if you are going to rinse in IPA, you could just use lighter fluid).

 

[Reacher01]

Thank you for the reply, is refined naphtha used without a rinse on the balance and pallet fork?

[mikepilk]

3 minutes ago, Reacher01 said:

Thank you for the reply, is refined naphtha used without a rinse on the balance and pallet fork?

You need to rinse, as any naphtha leaves an oily residue. You can read (ad nauseam) on here about IPA dissolving shellac, but, as long as it is a brief rinse, you will be OK. When I used IPA, I limited my rinses to 30s-1m in the ultrasonic. I imagine a brief dip and jiggle by hand will be enough to remove oily residue, then blow dry with a puffer.

[Neverenoughwatches]

1 hour ago, Reacher01 said:

Thank you for the reply, is refined naphtha used without a rinse on the balance and pallet fork?

I'm with mike on this one. I did look at cleaning with acetone, for some reason i think i  decided against it. . Remembered, one of its initial ingredients is benzene which is carcinogenic. 

Edited September 26, 2022 by Neverenoughwatches

[mikepilk]

It's a shame that the "proper" watch cleaners are not sold in smaller quantities - like 1 litre. The cheapest I found is Elma WF Pro - 2.5 litres from Cousins is about £30. I use refined Naptha and IPA rinse for years, as I'm only a home hobbyist. 

They do clean well enough. But since switching to Elma WF Pro, it does clean better and gives the metal a nice shiny finish. And the 2.5 L will last me a long time.

[Neverenoughwatches]

2 minutes ago, mikepilk said:

It's a shame that the "proper" watch cleaners are not sold in smaller quantities - like 1 litre. The cheapest I found is Elma WF Pro - 2.5 litres from Cousins is about £30. I use refined Naptha and IPA rinse for years, as I'm only a home hobbyist. 

They do clean well enough. But since switching to Elma WF Pro, it does clean better and gives the metal a nice shiny finish. And the 2.5 L will last me a long time.

Me too, it looks and smells like wee. Though this is not the reason i use it. 

[Reacher01]

58 minutes ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

I'm with mike on this one. I did look at cleaning with acetone, for some reason i think i  decided against it. . Remembered, one of its initial ingredients is benzene which is carcinogenic. 

It burns your throat like a MF when you even slightly inhale it. So I was planning to only use it in a very well ventilated area.

Which is not a bad thing when working with solvents, I believe.

But on the other hand, having to also find another cleaner for the balance and pallet fork makes me want to just use one thing for everything and make it faster.

I'm still on the fence on this.

[mikepilk]

40 minutes ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

Me too, it looks and smells like wee. Though this is not the reason i use it. 

The Elma Suprol Rinse smells FAR worse 

12 minutes ago, Reacher01 said:

It burns your throat like a MF when you even slightly inhale it. So I was planning to only use it in a very well ventilated area.

Which is not a bad thing when working with solvents, I believe.

But on the other hand, having to also find another cleaner for the balance and pallet fork makes me want to just use one thing for everything and make it faster.

I'm still on the fence on this.

According to Wiki, it's not very toxic :

"Acetone has been studied extensively and is believed to exhibit only slight toxicity in normal use. There is no strong evidence of chronic health effects if basic precautions are followed.[71] It is generally recognized to have low acute and chronic toxicity if ingested and/or inhaled.[72] Acetone is not currently regarded as a carcinogen, a mutagenic chemical nor a concern for chronic neurotoxicity effects.".

You need to use any of the cleaners in  a well ventilated area. I use a heated ultrasonic with the chemicals in small open beakers. You can see the vapour evaporating from the surface, so I have a window open and fan on - still stinks tho !

I'd be interested to hear from anyone why you can't use acetone for cleaning watch parts.

[Neverenoughwatches]

1 hour ago, Reacher01 said:

It burns your throat like a MF when you even slightly inhale it. So I was planning to only use it in a very well ventilated area.

Which is not a bad thing when working with solvents, I believe.

But on the other hand, having to also find another cleaner for the balance and pallet fork makes me want to just use one thing for everything and make it faster.

I'm still on the fence on this.

Yes mate always have some kind off extractor or at least a well ventilated area. Please dont inhale it even slightly lol. I imagine it will dissolve shellac as well as IPA and unlikely we will ever have a one cleaner cleans all product. 

1 hour ago, mikepilk said:

The Elma Suprol Rinse smells FAR worse 

According to Wiki, it's not very toxic :

"Acetone has been studied extensively and is believed to exhibit only slight toxicity in normal use. There is no strong evidence of chronic health effects if basic precautions are followed.[71] It is generally recognized to have low acute and chronic toxicity if ingested and/or inhaled.[72] Acetone is not currently regarded as a carcinogen, a mutagenic chemical nor a concern for chronic neurotoxicity effects.".

You need to use any of the cleaners in  a well ventilated area. I use a heated ultrasonic with the chemicals in small open beakers. You can see the vapour evaporating from the surface, so I have a window open and fan on - still stinks tho !

I'd be interested to hear from anyone why you can't use acetone for cleaning watch parts.

Agree with you mike, it is used for loads of things including nail polish thats used worldwide. But when i checked it out a while back to use for cleaning i read that one of its raw ingredients was Benzene that immediately put me off using it. So yes I agree we are inclined to believe its safe to use but then again do i trust what i am inclined to believe ? Hardly ever lol.  A different subject altogether but grain foods are probably the biggest contributer to stomach issues from mild to extremely serious. Are we told this mainstream er no, if we look for it evidence is there and very convincing. If we stopped using grain foods worldwide health issues would reduce dramatically. How would that effect world economy ? Very hard to say. Warburtons would be bankrupt . Pharmaceutical companies also, not quite so funny.