Question: Have you ever had your Apple watch band stick so that you can't remove it, which enrages you to the point that you eat a whole can of salt & vinegar Pringles? Me neither. Until last week.
My blog works this way: When I learn about or do something, I then take it upon myself to show you how to do that thing no matter how big (building a pizza oven out of clay and straw) or small (how to chop an onion). I'm really just living my life and then showing you how I navigate it with my mistrusty sidekick Philip.
I'm still in the organizing hell that a LOT of people get themselves into at the beginning of the year so you're going to hear a lot about that once I'm ... you know, once I'm organized.
Right now the basement is just getting put back together, the dining room is full of stuff I either have to sell or donate.
At the moment I'm feeling low grade panic attack every time I look around my house.
I'm still at the point where everything looks worse than it did to begin with. If I was performing open heart surgery I'd be right at the point where the heart was fixed but you can't see it because the chest cavity is a mess of blood and goo and gauze.
I've also just discovered I really like the show Succession which means instead of slugging through the quicksand of Homesense accessories & wicker baskets the purge revealed - I'm either watching Succession or thinking about watching Succession.
Or talking about Succession even when it clearly isn't appropriate. Like in the midst of a post on how to fix a watch band.
My first step after being wronged by my Apple watch band was to eat potato chips which I find is always an excellent first step when faced with challenges.
Then I did my research, tried a few things, ate more things and found success with using isopropyl alcohol to release my watch band.
And now you're going to learn how to do it as well.
Materials
- Cotton swabs
- Isopropyl alcohol
- Potato chips (optional)
Would you like to save this stuff?
We'll email you this post, so you can refer to it later.
Prep Work
Eat all the potato chips.
Method
The Apple watch band is normally removed by pushing in the tiny buttons on the back of the watch face. This releases the latch that holds the band in place. IF IT WON'T RELEASE that means it's stuck. Probably full of dirt.
- Use a cotton swab soaked in Isopropyl alcohol to saturate the button that's stuck.
- Leave it for 5 minutes to soak.
- Using your fingernail or a sharp, non metal object like a manicure stick or skewer, press on the left side of the button, then the right repeatedly, to help unstick it.
- Now try to remove the band.
Repeat this process if it isn't successful the first time. Once your band is removed,
- Clean the button with a toothpick, working the dirt out of the crevices.
- Wipe with isopropyl alcohol again to make sure it's clean.
- Clean the channel the band slides into the same way.
Then you can attach your new band.
Video
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Kat - the other 1
Ha! I've never even seen one of those critters before. I thought it was going to be stuck to your arm or something. Hehe. 🙄😜
Sabina
I just unashamedly spent three days binging Feud: Bette & Joan after I watched Feud: Capote vs The Swans and realized it was considered season 2. LOVED IT!
Lynn in California
Perfect timing! I needed this info before I took a ball peen hammer to the back of the swatch to force it😁. Thanks again!
Janna Webber
Four days ago, I found myself in this exact situation, except I did not have any potato chips in the house. Then I decided I would just never be able to buy a new band until I bought a new watch. Then, this morning I opened my email and remembered why you are my favorite person!!! 💕
Cara M Powers
I think if we look carefully we WILL find there is medical evidence that eating potato chips does have cognitive benefits. So many things go more smoothly after a portion is consumed.
Kat - the other 1
Eat chips. Take nap. Eat more chips.
Solve world problems.
That must be my problem, I have no chips. So sad. 😥
Nina
I was lost on this post too, having never worn a digital watch. In the days of wind up and battery analog watches I tried for about 20 years to wear them, but they always stopped working on me. Apparently I'm one of those people whose body rhythm interferes with the clockworks. But with clocks everywhere now (phones, ovens, walls, etc) I don't need a watch. Actually, sometimes I don't want to know what time it is...
Randy P
Before I retired I actually did wear a wristwatch daily which means that for the past 10 years when I really do need to know the time, I just look at my phone. The 'fanciest' timepiece I've ever owned was made by Timex or Casio and cost under $30 at Walmart, so seeing how an Apple band operates was educational. I'm used to the spring pins.
🌵Las Vegas Pam🌵
I usually just use a hammer to fix my watch. You have the same watch face that I use. I try switching around but I always come back to this watch face. I try analog occasionally but I like the digital numbers since it’s easier to know EXACTLY what time it is in case I want to be in sync with NASA. I’ve bought several bands but I love the Milanese loop. The knockoffs don’t even come close to the real deal. I bought a cheapo copy on Amazon and it was just trying to be something it’s not. I bought the Apple Milanese loop right after I purchased a new Apple Watch and I thought I’d compare a knockoff out of curiosity. Nope. Really not good. I can’t use the type that use the hole and buckle (as the off white one in your picture) because I have a form of arthritis and my hands have been incapable of doing certain motor skills - opening Snapple bottles require a strip of sand paper in my palm then I drop the lid- So I needed a magnetic closure for the watch.
Isopropyl alcohol is my go-to to fix a lot of things. On electronics I use 92% alcohol as no moisture is left behind. It removes price tags and other sticker goo without resorting to an oil based remover. Canned air is part of my arsenal and I keep double sided tape in a holster for quick draw use.
I’ve never had a band sticking issue but your fix makes perfect sense. Salt and vinegar potato chips are 100% necessary for thinking up the correct answer to any problem. If I don’t have any, like right now because I may have eaten them all 3 days ago and am now purposely avoiding buying them due to how weak I am and know I will just eat every last one I have in the house. Which makes me realize just how dangerous it is to NOT have those chips at the ready-I hope I don’t need to do any serious thinking. Movie theater buttery popcorn will have to do but come on, I’d maybe be able to solve world hunger if I had salt and vinegar potato chips. Popcorn will only get me to the point where I can download a line drawing of Martha Stewart so I can make my own Wooly Willy magnetic drawing-fun games for Christmas Cards.
Terry
I agree, the magnetic ones are the bomb. Do “the kids” still say that? Of, the kids are in their 40s. Oh well. I do find the knock offs have unacceptably catchy edges now; I have older ones that were better made but none now match that quality. But the leather covered magnetic ones are still excellent so if you nee-eed to match your band to every occasion, as I shamefully do, they’re a wonderful alternative to Apple’s costly originals.
The isopropyl alcohol is a great fix, thanks, Karen, as always. Do you also use it to clean the skin debris off the back of the watch? I’m nervous to use something on those fragile sensors.
Cris
Do you have a Blog❓if not, you should! I have arthritis to.. and don’t wear a watch because anything heavy on my wrist,hurts.
🌵Las Vegas Pam🌵
To Terry & Chris- The Apple Watch was never on my “must have” list. I admit, I am an Apple junkie. It started in the seventies when a couple of guys who looked tired, dusty & lost ambled into my workplace. At the time I was a gold and silversmith in the college town of Claremont at the far east edge of Los Angeles County a couple blocks south of old Route 66. The tall skinny fellow wanted to show me how their invention would one day revolutionize daily life by doing things that creatives never want to do. Manage the books. Keep track of inventory and then conveniently store this stuff on an internal disc. Naturally, as a time traver wanna-be, I was super interested as Steve J. and Steve W. walked me through the contents of a magical hand made wooden case which upon opening, revealed one of the first Apple II personal computers being marketed & shipped. Woz was still skinny with long hair and intense as the hot outside sun of Southern California-but truly a geek, nerd, gear-head and any other positive words I could dredge from my lexicon. The other Steve told me “Touch it.” I side eyed him. “Go on Pamela, type something. Feel it.” I swiveled and indeed typed a sentence “How much does this thing cost?” Steve J answered “it’s only about $1,298.” I coughed and laughed and likely snorted like a wild pig right before it charges. This was 1977 and I was an artist who worried about how I was going to pay my rent on the first each month. I was rebuilding a car at a friend’s house and they wanted it out ASAP. My days consisted of opening the jewelry store, fixing and sizing and designing just the right thing for that special customer. Claremont is filled with people who have a lot of disposable income. I was not one of them. I was 20 & on my own since 17 and recently graduated from a university (not a snotty private Claremont school- ha! But one of the chain of California universities, so I was considered by the locals as undereducated and sadly poor.)
I had maybe $65 in my bank account and I survived by being friends with the Greeks who owned a restaurant around the corner where I learned to love lemon chicken soup and fresh hot homestyle Greek flatbread.
I did not buy an Apple 2. I wish I had those young men’s business cards today.
My son finally convinced me to buy an Apple Watch. It has become part of me. I’m on my second one and can’t imagine life without it. I’ve left home driving towards the freeway and turned to go home because I left it behind. I use it constantly.
I will not list all my devices but I love HomeKit with smart bulbs. A touch of color from a silk white Chinese lantern transforms a room.
Karen always expands on her world by magical sorcery. Her words strung together are beautifully woven together and make a stuck watch band latch into a kingdom from my memory- it’s raining and stormy today. Desert storms are the best thing ever (unless you live near or on The Las Vegas Strip) it floods.
I am about to reimagine an antique mirror. It’s nice but boring. Decoupage may be in its future.
Beth
These are great tips! Thank you
RJ
I didn't get this one. First ever. I thought the watch was stuck on your wrist. ?Only me??
Sarah
Nope, I couldn't figure it out until almost the end of the post!
Cinder
Yup! Me too 😏
Alice
Me too!