How Do You Clean Your CD's?

I just blow on them and rub in one direction across my shirt. Try to avoid buttons.

I use static control cloths from the place where we purchase our eyeglasses. They either come with my glasses or are free when I stop by. When I pick up a used CD that looks like a pizza pie, I clean it with hi-grade electrician's alcohol.

I have never cleaned a CD, and i've been playing them now for 15 years. I've never cleaned a CD player either.

A blast of canned air for effective dusting. Soap & water for fingerprint smudges & then clean terry-towel dry, wiping from inside to outside radially.

I breath moist air on them, then wipe them with the cleanest T-shirt I can find...that's within reach of me. Where are Megasam and RegBlazer when we need them? Now THEY know how to clean CDs.

Blueskygolf, zippers are just as damaging as buttons if not more so.

Sc53, I must admit to running a CD cleaner in my transport every few weeks. It's actually cleared up some graininess. I imagine the laser has a tough time weaving in and around those lint balls. Refraction anyone?

I use a Discwasher rotary cleaner (don't think it's available now-but Radioshack or your local CD store sells a similar kind of product for about $15) which I may have to replace shortly as I'm on the last of the replaceable pads. You spray the disc with a cleaning solution, which is isopropyl (sp?) alcohol based, insert it, and crank away. Wouldn't be without one, especially for used CD's and rental DVD's. Then I treat 'em with Auric Illuminator.

I do like some of the others, I just lick them and then rub them on whatever T-shirt I'm wearing. Sometimes I notice they'll get little marks that will only come off if I use my bare fingernail. If I'm feeling tender I run some water on them and then scrub. But I always wipe from the inside out-never along the grooves. Its usually whatever disc I want to play NOW that needs cleaning so I'm impatient even though I have one of those fancy Alsop cleaners like HDM mentioned.

Good ol Windex with amonia d works very well.

I'm with Bob on this one. I use dish soap and water for greasy fingerprints and then blot dry. I normally use and recommend Palmolive Anti-Bacterial for tasks such as this. Not only does it soften your hands while you do the CD's, they are hypo-allergenically clean enough to eat off of : ) Sean
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I told her to use Dove, but she just wouldn't listen to me.

Nitty Gritty digital disc cleaner. It's about ten years old and still works great.

Some Blockbuster rentals I have rented had been used as a pizza pan. I just let my dog lick them clean. I turn the discs so he only licks in one direction. We both love this method. (Free doggy meal w/ rental.)---Caution; you cat's toungue may be to rough!

Avguy-- sometimes you bust me up, LMAO ;>) Cheers. Craig

I agree Craig and know where George is coming from. After running into problems with DVD rentals from Blockbuster "skipping" or being unreadable half-way through the movie, i clean ALL of them now. I told the manager at the local store that they need to clean their discs and the employees responded: "we don't have the proper tools to do that". I just laughed and explained the "quick and dirty" method of dish soap and warm water. They were amazed and swore that it would ruin them. Oh, the little minds and unbelievers... : ) Sean
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I would caution using anything with ammonia in it. If ammonia can eat the backing on a mirror, I would be leary about it. I recommend as others have already, soap and water. I have also heard that a good dishwasher soap may be a good choice as it will leave no residue.

I've been using windex with amonia for about five years and my discs are still in excellent condition. absolutely no problems ever.

I would never recommend using any "windex" type products. These contain various chemicals & additives that could damage the surface, or, at the least, leave a film of some kind. I use the smallest pin drop of dishwashing liquid (only clear kinds, NOT Dove), after wetting the disc with water, preferably distilled. If the disc is wet, carefully & lightly using a smooth fingertip will not incur any friction or scratches on the surface. If you do not have smooth & soft fingertips, I would use a soft, lint-free cotton fabric very carefully. And as others have pointed out, cleaning motion should be in a radial motion only, not in the direction of the "grooves". Rinse well with tap water, followed by a final rinse with distilled water. Then gently blot the water with a soft, cotton terry cloth, taking care not to drag it across the whole disc.

i use automotive-type plastic polisher, but only if i encounter a disc that's wisibly marred or has tracking problems. this stuff will ackshully remove wery fine scratches. best to polish in a direction from edge-to-center of the cd. also works great on motorcycle face-shields.... ;~)

doug s.

Sedond: There is a similar product that is made for fiberglass boats. I have never made the trip to South of LA to pick up another bottle (to try on CD's). I used it for years on my wife's plastic snowdome collection and the stuff would polish out minor scratches without fogging the clear plastic.

dekay, any decent automotive paint/body parts/supply shop should have it. mebbe even pep-boys, tho i haven't checked.

doug s.

I'll start by taking a small bottle up to my mechanic's, who also has a body shop. I am really cheap.

The cat hiss method - I have 2 cats. one likes hard rock,etc. the other classical and jazz. Anyway if I am playing a classical or jazz so I can just sit and read my cat Bashful hisses if she hears static or whatever from the CD. So I stop the player clean the disk and reload. She then will either hiss again or lays down,I figure it's clean if she lays down. Go figure cats.
take care and enjoy the music
Denny

Use Micro-Smooth and Optrix from Mapleshade. Go to www.mapleshaderecords.com, each produt costs about $16.95+s/h. The Micro-Smoth is good for about 300 CDs,Optrix for about 100CDs. The sound improvement is extreemly noticeable.