CD Cleaning

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I see the kids were eating ice cream sandwiches while they dug through the DVD collection again. With kids in the house, it's inevitable that whenever I want to listen to a CD or watch a DVD, I have to clean the discs before they will play. Luckily, I spent several years working in a CD manufacturing support group and learned the easiest way to clean discs and get them working again. Here, as simple as it may be, is my favorite solution for cleaning discs.

- Mix a large amount of water with a few drops of dishwashing soap.

That's it. No expensive commercial cleaning solutions and no plastic washing devices for my discs. I know it doesn't sound complicated enough or mysterious enough, but it works. This solution works most of the time if you:

• Use a soft cloth and wipe the solution on the disc starting from the inside hub and wiping to the outside edge of the disc. Never rub hard or in a circular motion. Don't rub around the disc because you might scratch the disc creating an un-repairable problem.
  
  
• Dry the disc with a soft dry cloth. Again, wipe the disc from the inside to the outside. Straight out. Don't go around the disc at all because you might create scratches that are parallel with the tracks.

Why does this solution work most of the time? On most CDs, and especially rented DVDs, playability problems are caused by fingerprints. Fingerprints are oil-based and the dishwasher detergent is designed to cut through and remove oil. If this method doesn't work, you might have a disc with sever scratch or even a scratch on the label side of the disc. Scratched discs can sometimes be repaired with CD scratch removal solutions or CD repair services.

Fixing CD scratches 

Dishwasher soap and water won't fix scratches but will make many discs playable.

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  CD Aces provides information and articles on compact disc technology including CD repair, CD packaging, and CD-R labeling.