catalogs logo
catalogs.com logo

How to clean a CD

By Catalogs Editorial Staff

Wipe the slate clean when polishing your collection.

Wipe the slate clean when polishing your collection.

Compact discs have changed the world, or at least the music, literary and education scene since they debuted in force in the 1980’s. You might remember visiting your local music store to discover that the latest tunes from your favorite artists were now going to cost twice as much as they had on cassette tape (or dare we say it, 8-track).

Their storage capacity is still considerable, even in the light of DVD (Digital Video Disc) as a medium. One modern CD can hold easily 700 megabytes of information, more than enough to store 80 minutes of high-fidelity music or with text, the complete Holy Bible nearly 180 times over.

How To Clean a CD Without Going To the Cleaners

Before you continue reading about the How to clean a CD there is a special announcement we would like to share with you. Catalogs.com has negotiated special medicare rates for our vibrant community of seniors. If you are over the age of 60, you can head over to our Seniors Health Section which is full of information about medicare. All you need is your zip code and a few minutes of your time to potentially save 100s of dollars on your medicare bills.

Get Free Catalogs When You Sign Up

Don't wait, sign up and get Free Shipping Offers, Discount Codes and lots of Savings Now!

How to clean a CD (or DVD) is sometimes a nagging question. Dirt on the disc’s surface can mar not only the quality heard and seen for audio/video, but ruin the sensitive mechanism inside your CD player unit permanently.

Discs often thought to be defective merely need a good cleaning. Cleaning machines and cleaning liquids typically run $10 – $20 and up and provide varied results.

You can get equally good if not better results to the professional brands by using a little soap and water with common sense. Run some cool tap water on the reflective, shiny side of the disc. Wet the CD sparingly and extra carefully if you used your own printer labels to mark the disc. Self-adhesive disc labels can easily peel from the CD and get inside your player’s mechanism.

~
Add a small amount of liquid soap (non-abrasive and easily removed) to the CD. Using a fingertip or two, work the soap and running water all around the disc before rinsing it clean again.

Stray hairs and minor streaks are easily lifted from the CD (or a DVD) with this method, but you’ll want to thoroughly dry both sides of the disc before returning it to the player or you risk ruining the player with an electrical shock to the system. Using a terrycloth towel, rub the CD dry, using strokes moving outward from the center of the disc toward its edge.

You can use another wipe or even a pants leg or shirt arm in a pinch. You are simply drying the CD without leaving residue behind on the disc like that left by a napkin or paper towel.

Work Around the Scratch

Even with a physical scratch cutting into the disc, the soap and water method can work wonders. CDs and DVDs with a deeper scratch often freeze during play at the spot where the scratch is read by the player laser rather than the disc track. If you are renting the CD, you may want to restart the player and skip to the track immediately following the scratch to get through the listening or viewing session before you return the item to the store.

Other CD Care

A fine idea is to backup all your CD storage onto an additional medium such as a tape drive or DVDs with an enlarged storage capacity. Even 300 music CDs will fit onto a single external hard drive attached to your PC.

For under $100, you can have a music collection worth a hundred times as much permanently stored on your extra PC drive. Many fine free software music programs will assist you in backing up your CDs to your computer in this way.

 

Popular Savings Offers

 

cc

Top Deals

See All

Recent Posts

Get Free Catalogs When You Sign Up

Don't wait, sign up and get Free Shipping Offers, Discount Codes and lots of Savings Now!

Categories

Saving Tools

Follow Us

Logo

Since 1996, Catalogs.com has been considered the web's catalog shopping authority. Our trends experts have carefully reviewed thousands of catalogs and online stores and have featured only the most respected, distinctive, and trusted ones. From popular favorites to new discoveries, you'll shop and save with exclusive coupon codes!

Invitations for applications for insurance on Catalogs.com are made through QuoteLab, LLC and transparent.ly. Submission of your information constitutes permission for an agent to contact you with additional information about the cost and coverage details of health and auto insurance plans. Descriptions are for informational purposes only and subject to change. Insurance plans may not be available in all states. For a complete description, please call to determine eligibility and to request a copy of the applicable policy. Catalogs.com is not affiliated with or endorsed by the United States government or the federal Medicare program. By using this site, you acknowledge that you have read and agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.