A little concerned

cbdouble07

My brother recently borrowed my Ultimate Edition DVDs and they were recently returned to me. I asked him to be careful with them since they are the crown jewel of my DVD collection. I have noticed that many of them now have some smudges, fingerprints, minor scratches. Needless to say I wasn't too happy. So before I get too upset, is that kind of stuff really a big deal on a DVD? The ones I have tested seem to run fine, at least the parts of the film I looked at. Is there an easy way to clean fingerprints and smudges from DVDs without harming the DVD itself? I'm assuming there's nothing to be done about the minor scratches but what's there doesn't seem to have done any damage.

Alex

I hear you. If you're on an affordable budget, simply use your t-shirt, but many places have fairly priced dvd cleaning products, the electronics section of walmart for example.

A bottle of the alcohol based spray and some non-abrasive lint free rags will work fine. Just be sure to use singular outword strokes from the dvd's center hole to the edge of the disc, never clean in a circular fashion like waxing a car.

Monique

Oops.

Really? Who would have thought not to rub a circular shaped thing in a circle!!! I never knew that, I hope I haven't ruined my CDs and DVDs. They should have a warning label! Am I the only one who didn't know this....well, besides cbdouble07 ? I've used that CD Doctor thing, and that goes in one continuous circle, and I notice they eventually start skipping again.

Roebuck

I've been getting some major building work done and found I'd left a couple of DVDs out of the case to get covered in sandstone dust. Much to my relief, after washing under a running tap and letting them air dry, they played perfectly despite the heavy surface scratching. Chances are your Bond disks will be fine until EON decide we all need to upgrade to Blu Ray.

A7ce

Just as Alex says , CD and DVD's should always be cleaned with whatever liquid/solution and cloth that is appropriate but from the centre of the disc straight to the outside edge ie along the radius.

cbdouble07

Alright, thanks for the help everyone! Sounds like it's not much to worry about and there are easy solutions to clean 'em. Until of course the new Super Duper Special Ultimate Edition Bond DVDs come out. I'm sure it will happen sometime.

The Sly Fox

Why is it that discs should be wiped from the inside to the outside? I've heard that in many different places, but I honestly have no idea why. A few months ago, I saw a clerk in GameStop cleaning a disc in circular motions (the disc I was about to buy, no less). I told him what I had heard, and he said it made no difference. Apparently he was right, since I still bought the disc and it worked fine.

Does it really make a difference to clean it as directed? As Alex has said, I usually just clean the disc with a t-shirt. :P It's actually softer than most cloths. I do try to clean it with the proper motions, but I will give it hard scrubbing when it just won't come clean. It's saved some non-functioning discs, by the way.

By the way: don't use Windex! I believe all solvents are the same way. I once owned a disc that was cleaned with Windex--the disc actually seemed to degenerate over time. The bottom of the disc just kept getting foggier like an old headlight on a car. After six months, the disc still played but looked horrible. I actually sold it before it completely degenerated... :v

Alex

If you look at the data on a disc it makes sense not to go against the grain. When you're wiping in circles or from the edge to the center that's akin to petting a cat backwards, , don't do it.

It probably won't hurt a few times but it's not good in the long run. Mind you, my best friend disagrees with me, so it's good he has me around.