Dial cleaning with Polident 5 Minute Cleaner?

Has anyone used Polident 5 minute cleaner specifically? It's not that I don't have the patience to wait overnight, but this is all the store had. Will it hurt do you think to leave the dial in it overnight? Also, should the dial be completely submerged? Should I treat porcelain the same as melamine?

Thanks,

Tref

Hi Tref,

5 minutes might mean exactly that. If this product does in 5 min what the other took overnight to do, the ingredients or compounds might be more concentrated or arranged in a slightly different sequence to render a quicker result.

Probably not a problem because it is designed for the same purpose - to soak dentures. But don't take my word for it. If you do use the 5 min cleaner, I'd suggest to set the timer.

Can you compare the order or % of the ingredients on the label?

Barb

Hi Barb,

Your advice sounds good, and it certainly wouldn't break my heart to have this become a 5 minute proposition. I don't have any of the regular tablets to compare these to. The directions say 5 minutes, but that it's also ok to soak your dentures overnight. I guess I can just lift the dial out and take a peek after 5 minutes.

Never having done this before I am unsure if the dial should be completely immersed, or if it's even safe to do for melamine dials. I just know that I have some dials that I'd sure like to see cleaned, and the idea of making the hairline on one of them much less noticeable is very appealing.

Thanks,

Tref

Tref,

Here is the link to a topic in Pocket Watch discussions that mentions different products people use to clean their dials:

https://ihc185.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/1086047761/m/4391095851

I tried efferdent on a porcelin dial and completely submerged it. I only left it in for 30 minutes but it looked a lot better.

-Steve

Steve,
Thanks for the link. So with your experience of completely submerging a porcelain dial that answers two of my three questions. Thank you!

The last (but not least), thing I need to know is how this works on melamine dials, or if they should even be subjected to the Polident bath.

I've read in several topics that a lot of people favor the liquid comet method, and I may try that yet. But if the Polident cleans these things to my satisfaction then I'll likely use us the 80 count box of them that I bought before I try the Comet.

Regards,

Tref

I would be very careful using anything on a melamine dial. hey tend to be kind of chalky with age and thus could become somewhat porus. I would proced with great caution when trying to clean a melamine dial.

Thanks Aaron!. My searches bore no fruit but that could just as easily be due to the strings I entered and where I entered them. Do you know of anything that can be done to clean up melamine dials that have just gotten dirty over the years? Is it the consensus that nothing can be done for them?

Regards,

Tref

I personally have not tried. I have several that have gotten dirty and have chosen to leave them. They can get real bad real fast and I dont want to chance it. Check this one out. I have chosen to just leave it be. Although I dont believe there is much that can save this one.

Yeah Aaron, barring chips that's about as bad as they come. I wonder if a very, very weak solution of bleach for those without hairlines or cracks might whiten them.

ALL WHO ARE READING THIS PLEASE NOTE THIS IS JUST A QUESTION. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO BLEACH YOUR MELAMINE DIALS UNLESS SOMEONE HAS REPORTED IT AS BEING TRIED AND TRUE.

Regards,

Tref

Hi Lin, You know a rubber is an Eraser over here, Be careful. Only joking, Ged.

Thanks Lin. Between you and Andy you've convinced me that I should just accept them for what they are and move on. I'm glad I asked though because I might have made a grievous mistake otherwise.

Regards,

Tref

Tref,

The only thing I've found to clean plastic or metal dials is a cleaner called "Novus Plastic Polish No. 1". That being said, it doesn't do a very good job of cleaning. It does a very good job of not taking any of the original finish off. It's mostly just good for taking surface dirt and goo off, but not anything in cracks or oxidation. Those are things you just have to live with because 99% of the time if you try and do an aggresive cleaning you will make the dial look funny. Polident, Comet, Ammonia, ultrasonic, etc. is just for enamel dials.

Frank "407" Kusumoto

Thanks Frank. I think that the observations that Aaron, Lin, and you have made pretty much sum it up, as does my experience last night.

I took the melamine dial off my Dad's 992B and used an eraser on it. While it did a great job of cleaning the bezel rub off the outer rim it didn't do anything for the small scuffs on the inner area of the dial. These scuffs are only surface marks, akin to what aluminum might make when you use it to mark something, but nonetheless because of the porous nature of the dial they would not come off. But the dial was none the worse from the attempt, and I'm fortunate in that there are no cracks in the it, and aside from those small scuffs it is just somewhat dull in appearance,from age if nothing else.

But once again I've learned something here. And it was a lesson that did not cost me as it otherwise would. If I had just plunked the dial in the Polident before asking for advice I would have regretted it I'm sure.

Best Regards,

Tref