Cleaning DVD discs

Shady3011

Are there any home methods that work best? I once got this suggestion to use a banana peel, but that just sounds crazy to me.

Esh

Do you mean for cleaning or for repairing scratches? Big difference.

Shady3011

Let's assume both for the sake of this thread.

defreak

I have heard Brasso Metal Polish works on scratched discs, but I have never tried it myself because I never had any DVDs damaged to the point where a normal wipe with a microfiber cloth didn't fix it.

Whatever you use to wipe the disc, just remember to wipe from the center outwards, instead of in circles.

MushroomStick

Most discs just need to be wiped off. Never use a paper towel/tissue/toilet paper/etc. for this, you'll just scratch the disc worse. When I used to work at a video rental place, we used to use cotton t-shirts to clean off dirty discs. The worst scratches are the ones that form concentric rings from the center of the disc, or anything that's deep enough to touch the aluminum. Most players/game systems will be able to muscle through other kinds of scratches. If the scratch is bad enough, you can try buff it out like you would buff out a scratch on a car; but, to be honest, it's usually not worth the effort.

Shady3011

What works best for wiping off smudges? I've usually used warm running water and a clean cotton shirt. Is there shirt material I should avoid using?

Esh

Shady3011 wrote:

What works best for wiping off smudges? I've usually used warm running water and a clean cotton shirt. Is there shirt material I should avoid using?

Why would you use water? Just use a clean, soft cotton shirt.

MushroomStick

Esh wrote:

Shady3011 wrote:

What works best for wiping off smudges? I've usually used warm running water and a clean cotton shirt. Is there shirt material I should avoid using?

Why would you use water? Just use a clean, soft cotton shirt.

Depends on what they got on the disc, sometimes water just makes things go faster. Typically, just the shirt will be enough though. I don't know that other shirt materials are necessarily bad, its just that cotton is plentiful and I've never seen it scratch a disc.

Esh

MushroomStick wrote:

Esh wrote:

Shady3011 wrote:

What works best for wiping off smudges? I've usually used warm running water and a clean cotton shirt. Is there shirt material I should avoid using?

Why would you use water? Just use a clean, soft cotton shirt.

Depends on what they got on the disc, sometimes water just makes things go faster. Typically, just the shirt will be enough though. I don't know that other shirt materials are necessarily bad, its just that cotton is plentiful and I've never seen it scratch a disc.

He said smudge, not nacho cheese. ; )

Wassermelone

Toothpaste.

Seriously. Its a slight abrasive so it will remove a small (very, very, very small!) layer of the cd's coating that gets scratched. Which will even it out with any minor scratches. I have used this multiple times on many discs with great effect. Google it!