Cleaning polycarbonate with IPA, (iso-propyl alcohol)? I agree with Dogeatpuppy on this one. I don't work in the plastics industry, but still remember what I'd learned at College about polymers.
Do not clean your discs with alcohol or petroleum products. |
Try the Sams club eye glass care kit,it is 2 dollars has a spray bottle of lense cleaner for all plastic/glass eyewear.
And get this they refill the spray bottle free whenever you take it in.You also get nose pads and nice eyewear screw driver,howzat 4 value! |
I use kodak lens cleaner or eyeglass cleaner with a non-woven eyeglass cloth from a small spray bottle. Works great and is very gentle. Photo optics and plastic eye glass lens material is very suseptible to minute scratching. Figure if it is safe on these sensitive materials it would be safe on CDs. |
Actually the "pits" are molded into a reflected layer which is then coated with a smooth protective layer. The CD surface is completely smooth - no pits to clog. |
** I don't use soap. It can clog the grooves
I believe what 7671 was referring to are the pits on the CDs, not the grooves. Now, I don't know if soap can necessarily clog these pits per se, but it can probably leave residue that could diminish the CDs reflectiveness, which is as bad as clogging them. |
I clean all my CD's with a vacuum cleaner using a crevice attachment while listening to Madonna's "Get into the Grove"! You'd be suprized at all the lost change, & missing socks that are at times found in the Compact Disk Groves during spring & fall cleaning sessions! |
my condolences to all "soap-a-holics" and "alco-holics". it's realy a time to produce some vpi or nitty gritty cd-cleaner with vacume action or something to add another category for "vpi- or nitty gritty- holics".
hint1. i simply wash my hands with hand-soap(prefere oil of olay but irish spring also will suffice) and it's sufficient. if my hands are too greasy after some mechanical job i use at first corn-oil and than hand-soap. i
hint2. jewel boxes are made so you don't have to touch and leave fingerprints on the play surface. |
Hello:
Optrix sounds like a high purity isopropyl alcohol with added non-ionic optically active surfacants.
Anybody know the %isopropyl alcohol that Optrix contains?
Also, anybody experienced crazing / brittleness with long-term use of Optrix? Anybody noticed any long-term sonic degradation of CDs treated with Optrix a long time ago (e.g. using a magnifying glass, can anyone see the fine mesh of cracks - crazing - previously mentioned?)
Any insights would be greatly appreciated! |
It sounds like soap and water is a much more benign way of cleaning CDs than isopropyl alcohol, but unfortunately the isopropyl alcohol sounds much, much more transparent than soap and water (it sounds very similar to Optrix, but without the enhanced treble presence that Optrix seems to impart).
Do you think that an inital clean (e.g. to remove the mold release compound)with undiluted 91% isopropyl alcohol will cause significant crazing of the polycarbonate layer?
Also, I rinse the disc with filtered tap water (Pur water filter). Does anyone know if this is audibly inferior (i.e. less transparent or grainy?) than a gentle final rinse with distilled water?
P. S. - I've found that gently running a slow stream of water off of the disc leaves almost no beads so that I only need to wipe beaded water off of the edges and label side. This technique obviates the need to pat dry the read side with anything. |
i work in plastics and can tell you, poly based cd's (most plastics in general) and alcohol don't mix...
alcohol degrades polys causing crazing-stress cracks,brittleness. if someone has a loupe check out what happens....how can a disc become that dirty to warrant alcohol in the first place?
stick with soap and water. |
I use undiluted 91% isopropyl applied with a spray bottle ( an old Optrix bottle works fine.) I give it two or maybe three sprays and allow the alcolhol to dwell for a few seconds then I dry the CD with a radial CD cleaner. Allsop makes one. Radio Shack also sells one for about $10 which is probably made for them by Allsop. I have been cautioned against getting alcohol on the label side of the CD as it may remove the labeling. |
I don't use soap. It can clog the grooves "clog the grooves" maybe I'm as thick as a brick, but will someone please explain this to me? "Any insights would be greatly appreciated!" |
|
I have been using Alcohol 50/50 mixture for years.I have 99% Isopropyl Alcohol.Lightly sprinkle and wipe softly form center to end.Wipe with soft cloth immediately. Do not use circular movements.I don't use soap. It can clog the grooves. Once cleaned, Do not touch the playing side of the CD!!. Alcohol will not hurt the CD's whether CDR/regular CD's. |
