how to clean a CD?

I have several CDs that we play often, and they are beginning to hesitate, and/skip.  the only cloth I have now is glasses cleaner.  I wipped one several times, one way, and that helped.  Would wipping it more help? Would it be best to get a special cleaninng cloth, and liquid cleaner?

Comments

[Mahmoud Alaa]

here is the link

[maemole]

Wipe it off using a dry clean towel.

[PotatoCoffee]

Buy some CD cleaner.

[reconmarine33]

This seems to be a simple cleaning stage. Get a napkin and the put some Clorox
(or any other window cleaner) on it and the rub CAREFULLY on the disk. Then, rub off the cleaner with something soft, I suggest a sweatshirt or t-shirt and then you're done. Good luck.

[gogglecrab]

i have a method that seems to work quiet well for me, just take some baking soda and put some in a small dish then slowly add water to it until it become a paste.
Then apply it to the Cd with a clean cloth in an outward motion starting at the center and go to the rim(never do circular motions) then let it sit on the Cd for 5 to 10 min.Then wipe it away in the same manner, it's worked for almost all my Cd's!
Good Luck!

[NE patsrock]

just put some Clorox on and wipe it with a damped towel

[penguinparty123]

listen, if your cd is skippin then u need to get a propper disk cleaner, that fills in all scratches with resin. which repairs the disk. so buy one, or replace the disk. i hope this has been of some use 2 u

[jrg3ni0us]

What you should do is find a cloth that doesn't produce lint and gently rub it along the grooves of the CD. If that doesn't work, add a weak mixture of water and dish soap. If THAT doesn't work, then you probably have a scratch.

[build52]

get some arm & hammer tooth paste. Rub it on the cd then get a towel and wet the towel and rub the wet towel on the cd until the tooth paste is gone. then use a dry towel and dry the cd and that will work for the scratches.

[coolpizzadude]

I recommend using a microfiber cloth and regular tap water and wipeing the disk in one direction until it's clean. If the disk is scratched then your best just buying a new disk or getting the disk refurbished.

[Flatout Knex]

DO THIS

[Xentel Corp.]

You can use a relatively cheap method for cleaning a CD. Go in the market and ask for a CD cleaner. This would cost you under Rs.100.

[mmme99]

Put windex on a paper towel and wipe away.

[Cobalt59]

I just breathe on it then wipe it off on my shirt (make sure that it is not embroidered or made of rough fabric).

[AwesomeSwordGuy]

add peanut butter
rub it around
wash it off

[TSC]

That sounds like a way to mess up your cd! Have you done it?? And if so does it work or does it just get more mess up?

[NatNoBrains]

You serious?

[AwesomeSwordGuy]

yes

[NatNoBrains]

OK...

[patriots8888]

(removed by author or community request)

[TSC]

That sounds like a way to mess up your cd!

[NatNoBrains]

Just buy a CD cleaner! Duh!

[venom1539]

I've heard that if you put white toothpaste on it then rub it off works but i'm not sure. Check it out on youtube.

[AwesomeSwordGuy]

rub some vaciline to the shiny side and then wipe it off.

[arv_christos]

Use some glue to fill the scratches
It is very difficult to do but it helped me with my old ps2 cds

[Foaly7]

Peanut Butter (click it. not mine, but click it.)

[HeyJD]

Usually just water and a soft cloth works. Make sure your wiping the CD from the inside(middle) to the outside. Do NOT wipe around in circles as this could wreck your disk.

[northantrim]

(removed by author or community request)

[DBMods]

If you want to buy a scratch remover go to www.amazon.com and search scratch remover. They have some that are like $2000 but the $30 ones work just fine.

[DBMods]

Go to youtube and search "how to clean a CD with toothpaste". It really works!!!

[skyheart]

how to clean a cd its easy just wipe it a tissue or a napkin or a soft towel or if you mean't cleaning the cd on your computer just delete all the stuff in the cd ok hope you do it.

[Taekwondoman]

If you have a glasses cleaning cloth or another soft, lint-free cloth, you can clean it by gently rubbing it from the center to the outside. Don't go around the disk in circles, just rub in straight lines. My friend told me once that toothpaste can help, but I am not entirely sure that it would work, so I would just use the cloth to clean it. Liquid cleaners will not make much of a difference, if any at all.

[arv_christos]

I have heard two ways: 1st Clean it with some alcohol,then use some water and then use some toothpaste.Then Clean it again with water 2nd Use a banana skin

[Earths_hope]

first, get your cd then your glasses cloth and put some purified water or LIGHT cleaning liquid on it, as long as you are fine with that on your glasses cloth and then rub not gently but not harshly either OUTWARDS not round and round or you will strip your cd and disperse your dvd/cd data into mooing and pictures of cows (well, maybe not cows,but it will seriously mess your cd up)

[apotofhoney1]

you would want to get a disk cleaning kit but if you cant you can just use a soft shirt

[cupcake43]

buy a disk cleaning kit you can find it at most walmarts and game stores

[tristianrings]

tooth paste or saving cream , glass cleaner is bad i have heard the amonia makes the plastic softer and easier to scratch have yet to test it though

[mind freak]

spit on the cd and clean with your jeans .... :-D

[Seleziona]

HAhaha

[Alex Lamont]

What I do it get my grinder or buffer equiptment out and get a 24000 grit sand paper disk and slowly buff away at it very lightly.

I being serious it works

[Lee Wilkerson]

Well, I've never heard of 24000 grit, but if it works. Eyeglass grinding compound works really well, too, if you can find it.

[iamdan]

just use some windex and a SOFT paper towel. DO NOT wipe the cd in a circular motion, go in one direction

[Lee Wilkerson]

Please do not recommend a 'soft paper towel'. Paper towels are made from wood fiber and will scratch glass not to mention your plastic CD. Use newspaper (made from cloth fiber) or soft cloth.

[Apple_4_life]

 a simple solution is a microfiber cloth (clean and completly dry) and start from the center and gently come straight back (dont go in a circular motion or you will scratch the cd even more)

[lilyfrancis]

Find a medium-sized clean container (big enough to submerge a CD). Squeeze out about a tablespoon of hand dish soap, or window cleaner into the container. You can also buy an all-natural cleaning liquid that is made of distilled water. Fill whatever cleaning solution you used with water to make it soapy. Put your dirty CD in the soapy water and leave for about a minute. Remove CD and rinse it off in warm, running water. Repeat process if necessary. Shake off excess water and allow to air dry.

[Clintonlion]

I use a high quality clear auto wax. Apply just like you would on a car. Works for most scratches and dirt. hope this helps.

[Dweevil]

I use a light spray furniture polish (Pledge, etc) to fill minute scratches. It also works for scratches on glasses and doesn't smell like bananas~

[highvoltage]

I always wipe some peanut butter over it and then wipe it off, the grease seems to fill in the cracks and it plays great after.

[knex_mepalm]

 Apply ethanol and rub, we have music that repeats then jumps, we tried it and it worked perfectly, apply a small amount of ethanol and slowly rub for 1-3 minutes then test, if it does not work in 2 tries, the disk has an internal problem

[MrSander]

I have another weird (maybe not as weird as a banana) proposition, when my xbox or favorite dvd's wont play anymore I put them on the FREEZER 4 a couple of hours, and believe me, if the xbpx reads it, everything will do aswell

[BoredInClass]

Whenever my CDs are particularly dirty, I use toothpaste.

Sounds wierd, I know.

But just smear the thing in the stuff you'd normally clean your teeth with... and maybe rub it in a little.  This has been known to fix [very] minor scratches, and I've even fixed that dreaded "skipping" with this method, unorthodox though it may be.

This doesn't usually work on heavy-duty damage, but I'm pretty sure it depends on the 'paste brand ;D  Use minty Colgate [the kind in the multi-colored tube], that's been my tried-'n-true for quite some time.

Hope this helps ^^

[DELETED_Haon]

run it under a tap with cold water then wipe of the water with your shirt

[vwluvrs]

I use high grade liquid metal polish,,, www.properautocare.com/flmepofipare.html Use a soft SOFT rag, and polish as everyone else says, from the middle to the edge,, Never around the radius.

[iPodGuy]

Blue toothpaste and warm water is my first solution in my "fix a cd" arsenal.  Works almost every time.

[Ole-Grizzly]

One trick I've used before with marginal success (it works for the shallow scratches but will not fix the deep ones) is to rub it with a banana.  Not kidding!

Take a banana and go in radials from the center (like bike spokes). Coat it really good, get it really really gooy.  Thwipepe it off with a finger' until you get most of the goo off.  The banana fills in all the little cracks. you then wipe it cleaner with tissue paper again in radials.  Don't rinse it with water, that will take out all the banana goo.  Just clean it andwipe it down with tissue paper until its not sticky and more or less 2 dimensional again.

One thing however, always whipe in radials, never in circles around the whole disc.  That scratches it worse.  Always whipe in radials, overlapping them to cover all the area.

This banana trick works on other things as well.  Shallow scratches in eye classes, small nicks in plastics.  You can even polish wood with a banana peel.

Give it a try, as I said, it works well for shallow scratches, but in no way can fix deep gouges.

[Fizzxwizz]

I had this problem a while ago so I looked around this site, one of the unusual methods that worked for me was using toothpaste!  I recall being told once that you should not  rub it in circles, because then the dirt is  ground into it. Instead, wipe from the center to the edge in the same direction every time.

[NachoMahma]

.  I was an early adopter of audio CDs and data CDs. I've been using CDs and CDRs for many years and have never found an effective way to polish a disc by hand.
.  When I have a misbehaving disc I will rinse it well in warm water. If necessary, I will add a drop or two of liquid soap to the surface and gently wipe from the center to the edge. If that doesn't work, I take the disc to a local video store that has a polishing machine.
.  Same with DVDs and DVDRs.

[frollard]

As others say:  Cleaning with a moist cloth and gentle detergent is best for the first step.  If that doesn't work then you might have some problems.

Hold the disk up to a light.  Can you see any scratches THROUGH the reflective metal surface?  if so it's boned, permanently - as the data is literally ripped off the disk.

Still in the game?  You might try resting the disk shiny side up on a flat firm smooth surface, like a piece of felt.  Use a VERY SLIGHTLY more abrasive cloth - like felt, and polish gently in radial strokes (like the spokes on a bicycle), from center to outside.  You can put a LITTLE force into it, and this may make extremely fine scratches, but should not visibly mar the surface. 

Next step is using a product like a skip doctor or professional resurfacing to sand a very fine layer off the disk to smooth out any gouges that are too deep to polish out.

You mention its an audio CD - I would recommend putting it in the computer and using a program that can rip cd's...old classic like CDex, iTunes, or even windows media player with the error tolerance set very low - it will try a lot harder to read the data than a standard cd player will - and try to reassemble the missing or broken data.  Then you can burn a replacement disk - use that replacement from now on, and keep the original safe.

[jeff-o]

Look at the surface on an angle.  Do you see scratches and smudges?  Polish until the smudges are gone.  If there are scratches and it still skips, you can buy a CD polishing kit or you can take it to a used music store where they'll probably be able to polish it for you.

[lemonie]

Washing-up liquid & water, with gently cleansing is good for general "dirt". polish from the centre to the outside, rather than in the same direction that the track runs.
If it's badly scratched... it needs heavier-polishing, ask me about that.

L