How do I clean my DVDs

• Many times, all that a disc requires is a quick dusting, ideally using a soft cloth which has been specifically designed to clean a CD. To remove dust from a DVD or CD, use a soft, lint-free cloth. Hold the disc in a pincer grip with one finger along the edge and another in the hole in the middle, without touching the shiny portion,and gently move the cloth radially outwards from the middle. Do not rub the disc or move the cloth in circular motions, and make sure to avoid following the circular lines on the disc.

• If the disc still looks dirty after dusting or if you are having trouble playing it, a more serious cleaning effort may be required. Several companies make special chemicals for the purpose of cleaning DVDs, but you can also use household cleaning supplies. One of the best cleaners is rubbing alcohol, but you can also use a warm water and mild soap solution instead if you wish. Avoid any heavy duty solvents when you clean a CD, as they can damage the disc.

• Apply the cleaning solution to a clean lint-free cloth, and wipe the disc, again radially. When you clean a CD with a liquid material, make sure to wipe the excess liquid off, and never put the disc back into its packaging when it is still wet. Allow the cleaned disc to dry completely before attempting to play it again. When you clean a CD with alcohol or a specialized cleaning solution, many times the cleaner dries so quickly that this is not a major concern, but check for spots and/or marks which may interfere with clean play.

• Even after cleaning, a disc may fail to play properly because of scratches. Some companies manufacture products which are designed to resurface discs, smoothing out scratches so that they will play again. Depending on how severe the damage is, these products can be quite effective, but it is a good idea to back up the data as soon as you have repaired the disc, in case it could fail again.

Let me know how this works for you.
Benjamin

It is always suggested that you use or buy a cd or dvd cleaner with it's cleaning solution, but I have discovered something that works well. Sometimes when you get movies or games from your local movie store they are scratched and have finger prints all over them and skip or freeze when you play them the following steps will help you solve that problem.

This will not remove deep scratches and I like to suggest you take your disc to your local movie store or game store like Game Zone and in most cases they will clean your disc for free or for a very cheap price. They will usually only do one or two discs at a time, but it never hurts to call and ask if they will do this for you. You can also purchase a disc cleaner from most stores that sell electronics and is not expensive. They have ones that you manually turn the disc with a rotary knob or you can purchase a more expensive device that is battery operated or plugs into your home outlet.

1. Wet the cd or dvd under your sink.
2. Apply a small amount of regular dish soap to your finger.
3. Rub the the soap onto the surface really well until you have a nice lather making sure you have gotten all the surface. Do not under any circumstances use any type of abrasive materials as this will only cause further damage.
4. Rinse the dvd or cd really well to make sure you have all the soap off.
5. Pat dry first to get most of the water off, then finish drying with a soft non abrasive cloth (soft cloth material only). A lint free cloth works very well.
6. Place your cd or dvd back into the player and enjoy.

This process works for game discs, dvds, and cds.

You can also purchase a cleaning kit that will help remove scratches and clean your discs. The product is not expensive and can be purchased at most stores that sell electronics like Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Radio Shack, Circuit City, etc. The following is an example picture to give you an idea of what to look for (you can also purchase the electric ones, but they will cost a bit more). This is a manual one where you turn the knob.


Here is an example of a cleaning kit you can purchase to clean your optical lens inside the dvd player. You can also use it to clean a disc with the solution and lint free cleaning cloth included in the kit.