How to Clean Dirt, Stains, and Grime from Your Apple Watch Bands

Wash Your Bands in the Laundry

You can put your Sport Loops and even your fabric bands in the laundry. Just drop them inside a mesh laundry bag and wash them with your clothes.

Don’t have a laundry bag? No problem, toss your bands into an extra sock and tie it at the top so the bands stay inside. But don’t forget to pull out the bands before you throw your clothes in the dryer.

Use an Ultrasonic Cleaner for Metal Bands

Metal bands clean up quickly in an ultrasonic water bath. As an added bonus, the bath not only cleans the exterior part of the band but also gets into all the nooks and crannies of the metal mesh.

It’s an excellent investment, too. You can buy an ultrasonic cleaner and then use it to clean silverware, jewelry, and more.

Use an Empty Gatorade Bottle

Don’t throw away that Gatorade or soda bottle. Rinse it out and save it for washing your Apple Watch bands.

1. Drop the watch band into the bottle and add some hot soapy water (Dawn dish soap works well).
2. Screw on the cap tightly, and then give the bottle a vigorous shake.
3. Agitate it for about 15-30 seconds and then let the band sit in the detergent for about 20 minutes or so.
4. After the soaking, you can pour off the soapy water and add plain water as a rinse to remove the soap.

Spot Clean a Leather or Sports Band

Both Leather Bands and Sports Bands clean up quickly with a facecloth. A bit of warm water and some scrubbing is enough to clean most bands. For pesky stains, you may need to use some soap and extra elbow grease.

While the Sports Bands can handle virtually any cleaner, you should clean a Leather Band with a detergent compatible with leather.