How to clean CDs

[Anu Katariina]

During this summer I am going to go through my CD collection.

 

Noticed some of them have fringerprints/greasy marks from fingers, some only dust, some are ofc in need of no cleaning.

 

I had an idea: if there is a sink of pure water with no detergents, would it do harm to dip CDs in and leave to dry on a towel. Or is that a bad idea? This would be for the dusty ones.

 

Ideally it maybe would be to use a microfabric cloth and wipe. But that's a lot of work.

 

On greasy marks what would be a good substance to use? Alcohol?

 

For scratches there's nothing to be done but that's another story.

 

For sleeve plastics I use water with a hand dishwash detergent (mild) and wipe. Also the same sinking in pure water and letting dry on an airy space question applies to this.

 

Willing to hear your thoughts on this

 

 

[recursion loop]

 what would be a good substance to use? Alcohol?

Sure.

 

At least you will no more worry about dusty CDs 

 

EDIT: Just in case, it was a lame joke and not a real advice

[psytones]

im doing the same, and im mainly using a cloth that cleans sunglasses ... these guys have amazing products; http://www.enjo.com/html/int

 

[psytones]

http://www.enjo.com/html/int/products/enjo-products/plus-line/lens-enjofil-_set-of-3_/view

[psytones]

...and gnuq it like silverware

[Anu Katariina]

@r-loop: Hehe, why to edit? Oh yes, I remember: you are a daddy of 2 and your kids will read your comments in psynews when they grow up

 

@psytones: nice but those clothes aren't sold online, one can buy them only from ambassadors if I understood right. I already have a special cloth used for camera lenses but one has to be careful so that wiping doesn't make scratches. That's why I'd rather sink CDs in water and that'd be fast and easy. Maybe I experiment with a few before sinking all. Afterwards then wipe fingerprints off.

[technosomy]

any micro fibre cloth is fine

wiping from inside out in straight line, never in a circle

[psytones]

any micro fibre cloth is fine

wiping from inside out in straight line, never in a circle

[psychedelic chipmunk]

I used ethanol to clean my CDs of grease and other kind of dirt. As you said, the scratches are permanent.

 

I read some "magic tricks" on the web like 10 years ago, when I was stupid, if you rub your CD with toothpaste / banana or god knows what, then miracles happen and your CDs are clean/scratchfree again!! It doesn't work, rest assured Kinda like when your bananas turn dark and then you do something absurd with them and they are as if freshly picked.

[Digitalys]

Even though this is an old thread I feel obliged to get some misinformation out of the way. I cleaned 100ths of discs and checked what the ripping process (with EAC) does afterwards. This is how you do it:

1) To get rid of dust: Dust off the disc with a soft brush (like a makeup brush)

2) To get rid of grease, finger stains and thick layers of dust: Do NOT use any kind of alcohol on your cd's as this will eat through certain types of plastic! There are multiple plastic layers underneath the data layer. Instead use a ph neutral soap (like baby shampoo, not dish washing soap) in water (preferably demineralised, but that's not really necessary). Use a soft micro phibre cloth to rub it inside out (never in circles). Then rinse it off with water. Afterwards let the disc air dry. 

3) To get rid of scratches: This will only work on superficial scratches in the bottom plastic layers, not on deeper ones, not if the data layer has been damaged and not if the scratches are radial. I used tooth paste (must be whitening toothpaste because that has a grainy texture) and rubbed this over the scratch with a cloth. This way you polish the cd and scratch off a part of the layer, taking away the scratch and allowing the lens to read through a solid surface again. I fixed almost half of my scratched tracks with this, I kid you not! 

I gathered this info from many resources years ago. All my cd's still work.

[Anu Katariina]

On 9.12.2017 at 10:40 AM, Digitalys said:

Even though this is an old thread I feel obliged to get some misinformation out of the way. I cleaned 100ths of discs and checked what the ripping process (with EAC) does afterwards. This is how you do it:

1) To get rid of dust: Dust off the disc with a soft brush (like a makeup brush)

2) To get rid of grease, finger stains and thick layers of dust: Do NOT use any kind of alcohol on your cd's as this will eat through certain types of plastic! There are multiple plastic layers underneath the data layer. Instead use a ph neutral soap (like baby shampoo, not dish washing soap) in water (preferably demineralised, but that's not really necessary). Use a soft micro phibre cloth to rub it inside out (never in circles). Then rinse it off with water. Afterwards let the disc air dry. 

3) To get rid of scratches: This will only work on superficial scratches in the bottom plastic layers, not on deeper ones, not if the data layer has been damaged and not if the scratches are radial. I used tooth paste (must be whitening toothpaste because that has a grainy texture) and rubbed this over the scratch with a cloth. This way you polish the cd and scratch off a part of the layer, taking away the scratch and allowing the lens to read through a solid surface again. I fixed almost half of my scratched tracks with this, I kid you not! 

I gathered this info from many resources years ago. All my cd's still work.

I started the thread so many thanks for your thorough instructions. My CD's are where i left them since I posted the topic so maybe now I get some new fuel to do the necessary cleaning!

[Drosophila]

I have a few that need some cleaning too and the toothpaste trick I suspect, thanks for the tips Digitalys!

[Kai-Q]

Yup, never use alcohol and aciiiiidddd contained cleaner.
I just use glass cleaner, which you can also use for all kind of plastics, like plexiglass and an microfiber cloth.
Cause an CD or DVD is nothing more than a plexiglass disc, with an pressed data layer.