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How to restore the original supple feel of the sport band?

Z

zoomcrypt

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 10, 2015
51
56
Hi everyone,
The sport bands are available now in store in shanghai, so i picked up a black , green, and pink sport bands. My original one was a 42mm AW w/ white SB. The sport bands feel AMAZING when you first open the box. almost like a soft supple bar of chocolate. the texture is has this super premium smooth yet supple feel to it. But after a month of use now, my white sport band doesn't quite feel the anymore. it doesn't have that super premium buttery smooth feel anymore and maybe even feels a bit harder/firmer.

The girl at the apple store told me lots of the staff are mixing and matching two band colors for a more unique look so today i decided to go with a Tuxedo Black and White look:
IMG_2256.JPG


Really happy to finally have a bunch of sport band colors and now we have the revelation we can mix and match too for a few more color options The only problem is when i use my white sport band with my black sport band the two sides feel a bit different as explained above.

Anyways, the question is how can i restore a sport band to the original out of box feel? Is there some special cleaning solution I can use? ok thanks everyone!

Can't wait for the leather loop and link bracelet's to show up in store and also can't for the tidal wave of 3rd party bands later this year!! It's going to be so fun!
 
zoomcrypt said:
Hi everyone,
The sport bands are available now in store in shanghai, so i picked up a black , green, and pink sport bands. My original one was a 42mm AW w/ white SB. The sport bands feel AMAZING when you first open the box. almost like a soft supple bar of chocolate. the texture is has this super premium smooth yet supple feel to it. But after a month of use now, my white sport band doesn't quite feel the anymore. it doesn't have that super premium buttery smooth feel anymore and maybe even feels a bit harder/firmer.

The girl at the apple store told me lots of the staff are mixing and matching two band colors for a more unique look so today i decided to go with a Tuxedo Black and White look:
Image

Really happy to finally have a bunch of sport band colors and now we have the revelation we can mix and match too for a few more color options The only problem is when i use my white sport band with my black sport band the two sides feel a bit different as explained above.

Anyways, the question is how can i restore a sport band to the original out of box feel? Is there some special cleaning solution I can use? ok thanks everyone!

Can't wait for the leather loop and link bracelet's to show up in store and also can't for the tidal wave of 3rd party bands later this year!! It's going to be so fun!
Click to expand...
The only way for it to feel fresh out of the box after a month is to continually buy more every month
 
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iBlazed said:
Also from what I've previously read, the manufacturing processes are different for the different colored bands and that some are hard or softer than others.
Click to expand...

yeah but my white band definitely feels different a month later now. when i opened my new black sport band i had that same luxurious feeling and impression i had on day one of getting my watch and the white sport band :(

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Wackery said:
The only way for it to feel fresh out of the box after a month is to continually buy more every month
Click to expand...

yeah once all the third party stuff comes out i just might be getting new bands every month! LOL
 
zoomcrypt said:
yeah but my white band definitely feels different a month later now. when i opened my new black sport band i had that same luxurious feeling and impression i had on day one of getting my watch and the white sport band :(
Click to expand...

It's always going to be like that for anything. I wish my Apple leather iPhone 6 case felt and looked the same today as it did when I first got it. When you use things, they change from the state they were in when they came out of the factory.
 
It's true, I took my M/L band that I didn't use in the box, and it's definetly softer than the M/S band I'm using frequently. Hopefully you can restore that feeling :(
 
Both of my sport bands feel the same as they did out of the box. I've had the green since launch day and I received the black 2 weeks ago. I wear one or the other daily and run and bike with both. When I received the black it felt just like the green I had been wearing for 2 weeks.

It may depend on a person's chemical make up and how they sweat. People have different reactions to different things.
 
They aren't dyes, but the way I understand it is that the coloring agents have to be used in such great amounts that they actually change the feel of the elastomer slightly.

I would expect that the difference is most noticeable from back to white. I've heard in other types of rubber/silicone products that black has the largest amount of coloring agent and modifies the native properties of the material the most.
 
Perhaps it's the other way around since black weights the least and the white band weights the most??

Max Girth said:
They aren't dyes, but the way I understand it is that the coloring agents have to be used in such great amounts that they actually change the feel of the elastomer slightly.

I would expect that the difference is most noticeable from back to white. I've heard in other types of rubber/silicone products that black has the largest amount of coloring agent and modifies the native properties of the material the most.
Click to expand...
m
 
more info

i opened all my bands now and compared them.
- black, feels so super soft/supple and buttery. has a slippery feel
- green, feels harder and doesn't have that super soft/oily feel, feels like my white band does now
- pink, feels soft and oily, very nice
- i compared the white band I've been wearing a month to the extra strap that I don't use and the one i don't use has the nice soft/oily feel

fluoroelastomer is a rubber so I'm going to go pick up some rubber conditioner like stuff that's used for car door seals and stuff and see how that affects the ones that have lost that slick oily feel.
 
I have a pair of blue band that came with the watch and I bought a black sport band with silver pin.

The black one is a little bit stiffer than the blue version.
 
zoomcrypt said:
i opened all my bands now and compared them.

- black, feels so super soft/supple and buttery. has a slippery feel

- green, feels harder and doesn't have that super soft/oily feel, feels like my white band does now

- pink, feels soft and oily, very nice

- i compared the white band I've been wearing a month to the extra strap that I don't use and the one i don't use has the nice soft/oily feel



fluoroelastomer is a rubber so I'm going to go pick up some rubber conditioner like stuff that's used for car door seals and stuff and see how that affects the ones that have lost that slick oily feel.
Click to expand...

Come back and post your results. I certainly would be interested in hearing if it helps at all.
 
My white band that shipped with the watch has lost all its supple feel. Pink band that I received last week has lost its supple feel on the non peg side but the peg (hole) side for some reason still feels like new

Just copped a black band that I'll have in a couple weeks. Hopefully that'll hold up nicely
 
I don't have my SG Sport yet, but from the sounds of it, it doesn't sound like Apple used top notch rubber/silicone. I have SEVERAL watches, and their rubber/silicone bands feel exactly the same many months later. I have an Oris watch, and the band feels the same 4 months later, and I wear it quite often. Even my lower end watches like my Invicta watches, the rubber/silicone feels the same YEARS later.
 
My white band feels soft and great. I recently just bought the green band and it feels thin and not as comfortable. Is anyone else experiencing this?
 
Would I be correct in assuming those of you with stiffer-feeling bands have already tried washing with mild soap and water?

My black sports band just arrived on Thursday (it's Saturday/nearly Sunday) now and it's still feeling nice and rubbery.
My white sports band has definitely lost the magical buttery feeling it had out of the box, I'm sad to say
(came with my aluminum Sport, end of May)

Definitely interested to hear how that rubber conditioner helps -- is it a spray? or some sort of cream? (I'm a n00b with car care products or how one would apply to a watch strap lol)
 
Maybe it's because I've worn it every day and just not noticed a difference but my BSB still feels the same to me now as it did on release day.
 
zoomcrypt said:
yeah but my white band definitely feels different a month later now. when i opened my new black sport band i had that same luxurious feeling and impression i had on day one of getting my watch and the white sport band :(

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Try using some mothers rubber leather conditioner it’s like armor all spray it on a few times let it soak in it does make it feel better not like the original but close


yeah once all the third party stuff comes out i just might be getting new bands every month! LOL
Click to expand...
 
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