Tips for Cleaning Dirty or Damaged CDs or DVDs

We have “defective” discs returned more often than you would believe that are scratched and dirty due to mishandling.  Here are some suggestions we found for care of your DVDs.

1. Handle discs carefully by the edges only.

2. Inspect the surface of the disc for damage or contamination, to see if it needs to be cleaned. Canned compressed air is excellent for removing dust.

3. If needed, rinse carefully in clean, warm water to remove any grit that could cause scratches when the disc is wiped.

4. If any debris or film remains that needs to be removed, clean gently with warm water and a mild detergent (e.g., dish-washing detergent), eyeglass cleaning solution, isopropyl alcohol or a commercially available CD/DVD cleaning solution.

5. Gently wipe dry with a lint-free, soft cotton cloth. Use a wiping motion moving from the center of the disc to the outside edge instead of wiping around the disc. If wiping does cause any scratch, an “inside to outside” scratch will cut across the data tracks around the disc instead of running along them and damaging additional data.

6. If any residue or film remains, wipe with alcohol and a soft cleaning wipe.

7. Remember to clean the case, too.

8. If a disc is still damp, store upright (on edge) to allow to air dry.

9. Insert thoroughly dry disc in appropriate disc drive to attempt to read data. If the disc isn’t readable, try a different disc drive. Different drives have different optical qualities with varying thresholds of error correction ability.

10. Data on the majority of discs is likely to be readable after following these steps. For those discs that still cannot be read, contact Susan at susan@ccpvideos.com.