My impression as relates to "One-Dip" is that it is a chemical that's very effective at dissolving oil. The emphasis I've always heard here, is on the word "dissolves". And that seems quite a bit different than the word "clean". Put another way, what may differentiate a solution like "L&R Extra Fine" cleaning solution from "One-Dip", is that L&R has other substances ( "surfactants" ) that not only dissolve debris, but keep it in suspension so that what's been removed does not settle back onto the surface.

I've long thought that "One-Dip" was really intended to be a 'last resort' way to remove oil from hairsprings that traditional cleaning solutions were having trouble with. Although "One-Dip" will certainly remove oil from things like balance hole and cap jewels, it seems that using a traditional, cleaning solution is the better way to go.

Or, so this fellow has long thought!

Michael.

 

https://blog.esslinger.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/42.0500-42.0501-42.0509-Troop-Balas-One-Dip-MSDS.pdf

Lighter fluid is naptha. Naptha is not a chemical, but a mixture and varies in composition. Naptha is flammable. Generally you do not want to use flammables in your ultrasonic. Dedicated watch cleaning and rinsing solutions are expensive but do their jobs better and more safely than most home brews.

https://www.marathonpetroleum.com/content/documents/Operations/Tesoro_SDS/Naphtha_SDS_Tesoro.pdf

SDS should be available for all commercially sold chemicals…good source of information to evaluate safety concerns.
Regards, BG

 

For this hobbyist, Hexane in a small glass vial works great. Safe for impulse jewels, cap jewels and pallet jewels during few minute quick “swish”. Dries almost instantly and cleans hairsprings very well.

Obviously, use precautions with any of these chemicals. Well ventilated area, never use it in cleaning machines, etc.

 

For this hobbyist, Hexane in a small glass vial works great. Safe for impulse jewels, cap jewels and pallet jewels during few minute quick “swish”. Dries almost instantly and cleans hairsprings very well.

Obviously, use precautions with any of these chemicals. Well ventilated area, never use it in cleaning machines, etc.

https://www.fishersci.com/store/msds?partNumber=H3064&countryCode=US&language=en

Current Intelligence Bulletin 2: Trichloroethylene (TCE) (78-127) | NIOSH | CDC

Preliminary evaluation of the carcinogenic activity of trichloroethylene in laboratory rodents by the National Cancer Institute indicates that this material is a potent liver carcinogen

www.cdc.gov

.

Hexanes make TCE look almost inviting…at least in 1975, when it was still used as an anesthetic.

Current sds:

https://www.fishersci.com/store/msds?partNumber=T3414&productDescription=TRICHLOROETHYLENE+CR+ACS+4L&vendorId=VN00033897&countryCode=US&language=en

To be clear, using either of them under the wrong conditions would be harmful…so don’t use them other than as recommended by the manufacturers and in compliance with local jurisdictions.

Regards, BG

 

One dip is my go to for balance assemblies and cap jewels. It works great. I don’t splash it on like cologne or test taste it. . It evaporates completely and quickly, so there is no residue to worry about.

 

I am a low quantity tinkerer, mainly Seiko's. When I was researching cleaning products someone suggested reading the L&R watch cleaning/rinsing product spec sheets. In there you will find they do not contain anything new but purely mixtures of the regular 'known' cleaners i.e. white spirit and naphtha in the main albeit they use their lesser known 'raw' names. So from this I use a mixture of white spirit and naphtha. After US cleaning I brush wash them in isopropyl alcohol. For more delicate parts, held together with adhesives, I hand wash/brush in isopropyl alcohol. As for the balance assembly I used Tetrachloroethylene, also known as perchloroethylene (AKA Perch) for a while, but after online comments now use renata essence. NOTE: all are used in small glass pots placed into my US machine tank using water as the medium.

 

Napthas and white spirits are mixtures…(for that matter, so is gasoline).
The mixture of chemicals can vary and still meet the specifications for the product.
However, the specification as an industrial solvent may not be consistent enough for a watchmaking solvent depending upon the exact chemical composition (which the sds will not provide, since these are trade secrets).

Look at the SDS for L&R 112…and pay attention to the ammonia related organic constituents. These are really what make the US cleaning solutions more effective cleaners than the rinsing solutions.

Finally, as a matter of chemistry, I would not be inclined to use a polar hygroscopic compound (IPA) as a final rinse after using non-polar alkane-based solvents for cleaning and rinsing. Further, if you are using IPA, it should be at least 90% and you should dump it after each use (did I mention it is hygroscopic?)…water is the enemy.

(That said, a colleague who was Rolex trained and is now working out of his home uses 90% IPA and claims that is a technique that was taught in training). If you are not familiar with “azeotrope”, look it up. There are 100% alcohols (which are not produced by distillation) used for ”drying” tissue specimens (among other industrial and lab uses)…as soon as you crack the cap, they are absorbing moisture from the air. Use once then dispose. These grades of alcohols are not found at the hardware store.

You all use what you want…(the watch components don’t care what you use)…but if you want to have industry-standard results, then use proven, dedicated watch cleaning/rinsing solutions.

Regards, BG

 

Even with their Trade Secret ingredients, newer commercial cleaning solutions are impressive esp. L&R ones. Funny how far things have advanced. Apples and oranges comment I know, but I started in this hobby working on old Westclox alarm clocks. In an old Westclox service manual from the 1930s, Westclox themselves recommended placing a complete running movement in a pail of gasoline and tripping the alarm hammer side of the movement to agitate cleaning and just re-oiling the assembled movement. LOL

While I'm sure this was never a thing for jeweled wristwatch movements, I can imagine old-timer watchmakers disassembling movements, cleaning in Naptha or similar and pegging-out jewel holes and calling it good.

 

…While I'm sure this was never a thing for jeweled wristwatch movements, I can imagine old-timer watchmakers disassembling movements, cleaning in Naptha or similar and pegging-out jewel holes and calling it good.

This is worth a read: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasoline

There was a time when partially disasssembled cleaning was a procedure recognized by Bulova. Remove the hands, dial, hour wheel and cannon pinion. Remove the barrel bridge and barrel. Remove the shock jewels. Open the barrel up and place in a basket along with the barrel bridge, ratchet wheel & screw, and hour wheel and cannon pinion and shock jewels and run through a Watchmaster. Reassemble and lubricate accordingly. This only with movements which do not have capped train jewels and preferably with watches that are cleaned regularly. No disassmbly of the train, nor removal of the balance. No pith and peg. And not industry standard for professional watchmakers today. Not a chronometer grade procedure.

Regards, BG

 

Going back to the original post, yes, One-Dip is toxic. One does not need an MSDS sheet to determine toxicity, one whiff is enough. Why risk one's health using a highly toxic liquid when there are much less toxic alternatives, i.e., L&R or Zenith cleaning solutions that are at least, in my experience, as effective as One-Dip?

 

I really appreciate everyone’s input. Super helpful!

 

I do use 99.9% IPA.

I have just purchased and tinkered a couple of BIG BEN alarm clocks from the very early 1900's. The manufacturer's cleaning spec goes. Remove the balance, let the movement run down in gasoline, a few times, give it a thorough going over with a brush, set it aside till the gasoline thoroughly dries then oil with a good quantity of clock oil. The suggestion for this is motor oil 10-60. I did not use their cleaning method but totally disassembled the movements and cleaned them using my watch method BUT I did use the motor oil only what I had in my garage 5-40.

 

As I'm reading over all the comments on cleaning clocks and watches and all the industry-standard and technical considerations that folks are marshalling in support of either their favorite substances and how to use them--or things they do not like that should not be used--I'm thinking of all the folks who did what they could with what they had at the time, and of all the Souls who have long since left us...their days ended, and the timekeepers they so diligently worked on long since gone silent and set aside.

Michael.

 

From the advice given to us on this forum and many other places throughout history, the use of alcohol would be a no-no on jewels that are held in place by Shellac. Is this incorrect advice?

I do know that I don't have any alcohol and would never use it. It does have it's purpose, just not in watch cleaning. It seems a step too far when the ingredients in rinsing solutions suffice.

That being said, I do have one dip. I have been advised to use it to quickly evaporate oils from cap stones and balance wheel hole jewels. I keep the fluid stored in it's original sealed can and also the zip lock bag it came in. When I need it, I use a pipette and suck out a few drops and place it in a shot glass to dip the jewels in. I then place the glass in a place far away from me to finish evaporating, near an open window. I also close up the can and place it back into the ziplock bag again. I use as little as possible.

 

From the advice given to us on this forum and many other places throughout history, the use of alcohol would be a no-no on jewels that are held in place by Shellac. Is this incorrect advice?

I do know that I don't have any alcohol and would never use it. It does have it's purpose, just not in watch cleaning. It seems a step too far when the ingredients in rinsing solutions suffice.

Correct.
If you use IPA to clean balances and pallets, you're eventually going to loosen up an impulse jewel or a pallet jewel. Modern Seiko movements seem to use something that isn't shellac on these jewels, but I'm not willing to test that theory out in IPA. The small amount of water in IPA could also flash rust some hairsprings. IPA doesn't clean anywhere near as well as One-Dip and some deposits on cap jewels are very stubborn.

Use the One-Dip and use common sense precautions as you described. One-Dip exists in the hobby for good reasons. I use Hexane which seems to behave exactly like One-Dip anyway and you can buy it on Amazon or at the hardware store, but I've used One-Dip too (pricey). I use a couple of ounces per year of the stuff (if that) under controlled conditions in small glass vials and I don't splash it onto myself like aftershave lotion. I think I'm going to survive OK.
Hexane is a well known substitute for One-Dip in the hobby. It cleans extremely well and evaporates almost instantly.

There's nothing wrong with using IPA for general pre-cleaning of other movement parts or as a final rinse. Use the 99% stuff, not the stuff from Walmart. The other hole jewels in a movement generally aren't secured by shellac. They are interference fit (press fit).

 

One-dip works fine.

Just pay the neighborhood kid a fiver to do it. The hyperactive kid that drives everyone nuts.