Thread: How to deodourise a G-shock!

After receiving a "Smokey" smelling G-Shock Guassman from an ebay win and receiving some helpful hints and tips from fellow WUS G-Shockers, I decided to devise my own experimental "How to..."

This "How to" is not very technical and only really just an experimental method that may work to various degrees on a case by case basis. As well, it is also for a bit of fun.

I thought of this method to deodourise a G-shock (or watch of any kind) because being a NOS watch, I was still a little reluctant to submerge it in soapy water (or similar) for days at a time or give it a wash just to remove the strong smelling cigarette smoke. Especially because the strap keeper in this instance is a fabric type material, not resin. This can also apply to watches with leather or fabric straps.

So lets begin.........

1. Materials required:
1 x Stinky watch. (In this case, a MIK Gaussman)
1 x Container of baking soda. (Note: container must be large enough to accommodate the size of your watch as well as have enough baking soda in it to cover the watch)
1 x Sheet of paper towel.
1 x Roll of sticky tape. (You won't use the whole roll...)


2. Place the watch on the sheet of paper towel.


3. Tape up paper towel with watch inside to form a pocket. Ensure that you tape all edges to make a seal tight enough that baking soda cannot easily enter the chamber containing the watch.

Tape paper towel


Watch in paper towel pocket


Tape seal both ends of pocket


Sealed pocket with watch inside


4. Place sealed pocket into the container and cover well with the baking soda.


5. Put lid on container and let stand for a few days.


6. Remove sealed pocket from container and shake off excess baking soda.




7. Cut open sealed pocket and extract watch.


Watch inside pocket with minimal baking soda residue.


8. Have a smell of the watch and see if it has been deodourised!


In this case, the scent of cigarette smoke has lessened in strength / intensity but still present. I have put the watch into another pocket for a few more days in the baking soda and I'll be pretty happy if 90% of the scent is gone.

we are talking about a g-shock, not a vacheron. i usually take a toothbrush to it with some colgate. mmmmm minty freshness. if you are concerned with the movement, just take it out.

The strap keeper on this particular watch is a bit of a concern regarding toothbrush and toothpaste. Hence, I thought up this idea. Which as previously mentioned was experimental. I did manage to get rid of about 60% of the initial smell so a partial success I suppose.

Originally Posted by Sili

The strap keeper on this particular watch is a bit of a concern regarding toothbrush and toothpaste. Hence, I thought up this idea. Which as previously mentioned was experimental. I did manage to get rid of about 60% of the initial smell so a partial success I suppose.

I just did that with two watches for 2 weeks in the baking soda and they came out still supper stinky. At this point I'd rather they smelled like anything else. Does soaking a g-shock in gasoline kill it??? I'm gonna try a few things and I'll let you know how they work...Vinegar???

I recently took apart and cleaned my DW-6100. I removed the strap and bezel and put them in a small plastic container. I filled the container with Simple Green cleaning spray until all parts were submerged. Then, for the actual watch mechanism, I sprayed some of the Simple Green on an old toothbrush and scrubbed away until all of the dirt/grime was gone. I held it under the faucet for a few seconds to get the Simple Green off, and sat it on a paper towel to try.

The next day, I removed the strap and bezel from the container, and scrubbed it all with the toothbrush.

Please note that when I did this, the Simple Green caused some of the paint on the bezel to come off when I scrubbed it. In order to avoid this, just dilute the Simple Green with water; there are recommended rations printed on the bottle. I didn't mind really, becuse the watch is just my beater.

Now my watch does smell minty-fresh




Jimmy

I had the same problem, with a cologne/cigarette smoke smelling Gaussman that I got used from Japan.
For people that live here in the US, there is a popular dish soap brand called DAWN. They make a green variation called "ODOR ERASER". I Just put a few drops in my hand and hand washed the watch under a faucet... after a couple of washes, the smell was gone. This stuff works well, if your willing to get your watch wet.

Roo

alternatively, rice or coffee can be used to reducing the odour,
imagine a g-shock with coffee smells, a man's favourite and perfect combination.

Place the watch in a ziploc with a few pieces of fresh or recently bought charcoal.

Check it 24 hours later and if there is still any hint of the odor, replace the charcoal in the bag with some new charcoal.

This is an old trick that people that RV have used for years when they forget to clean out the fridge and the food rots. You can bleach and scrub and baking soda the inside of the fridge but the smell will never go away. The trick is to buy a bag of charcoal, poke some holes in the bag and place it in the fridge for a week. After a week it smells like new.

Easy fix that works and causes zero damage to your watch.

Buy some charcoal at the store. Place about a dozen pieces of charcoal inside a ziploc and insert your watch. Let sit for 2-3 days.

Remove from bag. If it still smells, remove the old charcoal and replace with fresh charcoal.

This is an old trick that people use in their RV's when they forget to empty the fridge/freezer. I have seen a fridge that was full of maggots and made grown men vomit when they smelled it. They tried gallons of bleach, boxes of baking soda, soap, pinesol..........and it still was so bad you could not stand to be inside the RV.

I took a small bag of charcoal, NOT MATCHLIGHT, just regular 100% hardwood charcoal and put it on the middle shelf of the fridge. I took a knife and cut the middle of the bag open.

2 days later, there was zero odor. Works like a charm.

I recently did this to an older model purchased off of ebay. It still smelled after 5 days in a sealed bag with crushed charcoal. Soaking the entire watch in a mixture of lemon juice and water got rid of the smell