I just inherited 800-1000 CD's and a lot of them are filthy

Essence of music spray

The free stuff is expensive.    March them to a use record store  sell them now.  

Worst case, ie badly scratched, rip them to your PC using Exact Audio Copy, which if you give it enough time, will do what the name says, assuming a disk is readable at all.

Otherwise, what everyone else - cleaner + microfiber cloth.  I've never tried polishing out scratches, but now have ideas.... Thanks guys.

Novus Cleaner...with Microfiber cloth. Polish with Novus - holy crap it’s the very best for Plastic and Acrylic. Seriously.

Dishwasher delicate top rack

I used eyeglass cleaner and it removed most everything. I think what's left might be fingerprints that after 20-30 years are permanent. I've played a few and I can't hear anything out of the norm. Maybe I'll try the Novus and see if it removes the marks, and if I can hear a difference. 

JD

Costco eyeglass cleaner and microfiber drying towels. Cheap and easy. 

Wash them with dishsoap. If alot of them are scratched badly and it’s worth it to you to save them a two wheeled bench grinder, two jeweler’s buffing wheels and compound works wonders. You have to be careful or you will burn them with too much pressure.

Microfiber is absolutely the way to go.  Avoid paper towels, tee-shirts, tea towels, cotton, linen, etc.  I learnt the hard way with previous pairs of spectacles.  A couple of large microfiber cloths are inexpensive, they dry easily, and they are washable.

curiousjim,

Use paper towels at your own risk. Cloth is best! I bet you're glad you saved those old tee shirts.

^^^ Micro fiber is the way to go. Really cheap at Costco.

I have found it best to use micro fiber cloths and not cloth towels.

David Pritchard

You can also dry them with clean towels. Dry straight across, and avoid circular motions! 

That "Novus" plastic cleaner should be fine. I use Novus #1 Plastic Clean and Shine. Remember to clean at a 90 degree angle (so they say). You can also use it for the jewel boxes. In my experience, CD players are very forgiving of surface scratches. 

For an all around good CD cleaner, go to Walmart and buy a spray bottle of eyeglass cleaner. Its about two bucks a bottle and is every bit as good as the expensive stuff.

Frank

You can use a wash in Dawn (or any detergent) and tap water. Then a spray rinse with distilled water and air dry vertically. No need for any special cleaning fluid.