Cleaning CD-R's.

I have some CD-R's that are beginning to oxidize. I need to clean them. Does anyone know of a good cleaning solution for doing this? A good cleaner that will not destroy the surface?

Hubby says he uses Windex, but that seems to me it would be too strong. I've heard that you aren't supposed to use alcohol either, so I am wondering what to use.

Thanks in advance.

 

Hubby is on to something. I use Windex all the time. It cleans well and has never attacked any plastics that I have used it on, so it works well for CD's, keyboards, and even the delicate laptop screens.

 

Hi, Deloris ~

You could buy a cleaning product made specially for CDs, but that is costly and unnecessary. All you need is some mild detergent like dish soap, warm water, a soft clean cloth (you can buy inexpensive pads at most music stores) and most importantly, a gentle touch.

To preserve your data, clean the disc from the center out and not in a circular motion. And do not even think of using household cleaners such as Windex, Armor All, alcohol or other ****. You will end up cleaning more off your CD than you intend!

Once you get all the shiznit off your CD, dry it with a clean lint-free cloth (that's so you don't add any more dust or scratches to the CD surface). Again, rub in straight lines from the center out.

Contrary to Abraxas' isolated and atypical personal set of fortunate experiences, Windex contains ammonia and ammonia is too harsh for CDs. And using it on LCD monitor covers is just ridiculous and to recommend such is irresponsible! I have seen first hand near a hundred ruined or hazed monitors from using Windex. ALL manufacturers of CD and LCD products will disabuse you of such publicly miscontrived notions and may void certain warranties.

Again, you need NOTHING more than gentle dish soap, a clean cloth, and a little TLC.

 

Thanks to both of you guys.

The CD's in question are Graphics program CD's & clipart CD's that go with the programs that I have had for a number of years. Quite a bit of money tied up in them. I want to be sure I can make good back-up copies of them. I should have done this some time ago, but haven't.

Since they are original CD's, and not ones made from stuff I still have on my hard drive, I wanted to make sure I didn't wind up doing any damage to them so that I could get good copies made.

The soap & water sounds less dangerous to me. Maybe a little more work involved, but I just want to be sure I don't damage them.

Thanks a million again to both of you. I appreciate it.

 

This statement is tantamount to saying that soap contains lye and lye is bad for CD's. It is an error of scale.

Actually, Windex contains an ammonium salt the chemical characteristics of which are entirely different from ammonia proper. It does not interact in any way with polymeric materials.

It would appear that the makers of Windex do not believe that it interacts with plastics (and polycarbonate CD's are more resistant than most polymers). From their FAQ:
"Yes, it's great on countertops in the kitchen and bathroom. Windex® can be used on glass, chrome, stainless steel, plastic, enamel, ceramic tile, vinyl, granite, Corian and porcelain. "

I will continue to recommend Windex for CD's, LP's, and laptop screens, to friends and customers, as I have for many years.

Soap and water has the undesirable side-effect of leaving a residue the degree of which depends on the hardness of the water. A mild detergent, such as dishwashing liquid (or Zest, a bath-bar that doesn't contain soap), forms far less of these precipitants and is preferable to an actual soap (ester of glycerine).

 

Thank you Abraxas.

I did not know for sure what Windex contained as far as chemicals. I just use it to clean glass. I read stuff on labels, & half the time or more, I have no idea what it actually is talking about. Chemistry is not my strong suit.

Hubby agrees with you about the residue left behind by liquid detergent, even though our water is dead soft. Yep! It's Ozark Mountain well water. Tastes good too.

To satisfy my own curosity that has been stirred up about Windex, I think I will try it on a CD that is not all that important, but needs cleaning, then copy it, & compare it to the original with the program.

Thanks again, to both of you.

 

I was going to suggest trying different methods on a CD. Surely all of us who burn CD's have a coaster or two sitting around.

Soak one in Windex overnight. If that doesn't hurt it, you may be convinced. After all, Windex comes in a plastic bottle that may be polycarbonate, the same stuff as CD's .

 

Hi, Abraxas ~

Please believe I have no personal malicious intent with you. I do, however, strongly disagree with your recommendation nonetheless.

Your remark that my "statement is tantamount to saying that soap contains lye and lye is bad for CD's. It is an error of scale" is not only an error of disportionate scale, but non sequitur.

I did not recommend soap but rather mild dish detergent.

And, not all soaps, if any these days, contain lye. Windex® does contain ammonia - I'm holding a brand new bottle (saturday is house-cleaning day )

This is incorrect. Ammonia (N3H) is an alkaline and thus caustic, including contact with polymers.

From the Windex® website:
"5. Does Windex® contain ammonia?

All Windex® Glass Cleaners contain ammonia except Windex® Vinegar, Windex® Outdoor, and Windex® Multi-Surface Sparkling Orange Cleaner." Futhermore, "Windex® is not formulated to clean your LEXAN® windows."

LEXAN® is a polymeric material. LEXAN® is a polycarbonate per the LEXAN® website and the Institute of Plasticsâ„¢.

Despite common thought, the use of Windex® on polycarbonate is tantamount to believing withdrawal or SaranWrapâ„¢ as an effective means of birth control - a few fortunate stories generate the steam of urban legend.

Polycarbonate is sensitive to certain chemicals, especially solvents such acetone and ammonia. Upon contact with them, polycarbonate can turn opaque or cracks may appear on its surface, the very property with which polycarbonate is used to defeat. It effectively destroys the very optical enhanced coating designed to protect CDs and the protective coating and anti-glare in LCD monitors.

Using a standard "glass cleaner" such as Windex® can clean the surface of a glass screen ONLY, and provides NO anti-static, anti-smudge or anti-glare properties! The new flat plastic TFT & plasma displays will be harmed and damaged if you use a common glass cleaner as most such cleaners contain ammonia, which is not only harmful to human beings and the environment, it is also harmful to the screen's original protective and optically enhancing coating.

From Dell's® website:
NOTICE: Do not use any of the following chemicals or any solutions that contain them: acetone, ethyl alcohol, toluene, ethyl acid, ammonia, or methyl chloride. If you have a different chemical or solution and are not sure whether it is suitable, do not use it. Using any of the chemicals in the previous list may cause permanent damage to the LCD. Some commercial window cleaners contain ammonia and are therefore unacceptable.

From Compaq's® site:
"CAUTION: Do not use cleaning solutions containing fluoride, acids, or
alkalis. Do not use ketone substances such as acetone or solvents such as xylene or toluene to clean the monitor. Do not use benzene, thinner, ammonia, or any volatile substance to clean the monitor's screen or cabinet. These chemicals may damage the monitor. "

Check out Dell's® site, or Hewlett-Packard®, or Gateway®, or IBM®

etcetera ad nauseum​

Despite the incredibly large misconception, there are literally thousands upon thousands of pages that will support all the aforementioned facts. Do a proper Google and you will see.

You typically won't die if you swallowed just minute amounts of cyanide every now and then....so would you recommend putting some in your mouth? Don't make a $2,000 mistake cleaning a laptop or computer screen with a $2 glass cleaner & a paper towel & potentially rendering irreplaceable and possibly priceless data irretrievable.

It is silly to suggest arriving at a convincing conclusion by soaking one CD. You will not notice damage in one application of Windex®, but once you do, it will be too late, especially if it is something important or special per Murphy's Law.

This is incorrect. Windex® Glass Cleaner bottles are made from 25% recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PETE), the stuff used to make polyester carpet, sleeping bag fiberfill and cheap t-shirts, not polycarbonate.

 

Hi guys,

I didn't mean to stir up such a controversy. I sincerely apologize. However it is certainly a very interesting chemistry lesson.

Everybody out there, just look what you can learn by asking a "simple" question.

Ultimately the decision of what to do is mine, of course. The end result is my problem, or my joy, whichever it may turn out to be.

I know that you both are sincere in your efforts to advise me, & I do appreciate it. Thank you both so very much.

 

So there you have it. Don't use ammonia on plastics. But since you won't find ammonia anywhere except chemical factories and industrial refrigeration units, you needn't worry. The mild solution on ammonia in water (ammonium hydroxide) will do no harm.

Amateur chemists tend to think that a compound somehow retains the characteristics of its ingredients, as if the chlorine in table salt were still a noxious, poisonous substance as chlorine itself is.

But the mild Windex ammonium salt solution I have used for years is harmless and effective. The delicate laptop screens need a mild cleaner.

You will find many sites on google that recommend using Windex for the cleaning of CD's. Certainly the ones I have cleaned repeatedly for years with Windex are still in pristine condition.

You should certainly avoid using alcohol on acrylate-reinforced Lexan since it can cause it to fracture after prolonged exposure. An overnight soak will mimic long exposure.

Let us know how you make out. I need to Windex off my laptop screen .

 

Hi, Abraxas ~

Have you seen 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding'? The father in movie uses Windex on everything...it is funny as hell!

I must admit I am guilty of having used Windex due to its pervasive multi-purpose ease of use and out of sheer laziness - you just squeeze!

 

That sounds like me. I use it in the TV, since it attracts so much crud due to the static, windows, table-tops, furniture, to remove tar from the car, and on my glasses (which are no longer glass) and I want something that will cut both fat- and water- soluble build up, that unlike organic solvents, evaporates quickly.

I once had a laptop come in that someone had cleaned with charcoal lighter. That was not a pretty picture. Some of the paper towel was still stuck to the screen!

 

Charcoal lighter fluid! OMG! I may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but even I am not that dull!

I have enjoyed the chemistry debate guys. I hope others have too.

Youall take care now, ya hear!

I'll be back later.

 

Here is something that works better for cleaning tar off your car. Good old WD-40. (Almost as universal as duct tape). Just spray it on and let it set for 60 seconds and wipe it off.

 

I am back guys.

Well, Abraxas, I did the Windex. I have copied 6 CD's so far without a hitch. I used Clone CD to read image files to the hard drive, & to also burn the CD copies from the image files. Clone CD is supposed to be good at detecting any read errors, and will not finish the read function if there are any errors, minimizing the posibility of a bad copy. After getting them burned, I used a compare CD's (files) feature in another program, & every one of the copies compared identically to the original CD. No differences of any kind.

Unfortunately I will not be able to compare CD's on all of the programs I am making back-up copies for. The reason being is, that some of the programs have the files imbedded into a big single coded file that only the program can open, & read. The files are not laid out in folders where they can be accessed by just opening the CD like the ones I've already done are. I know of no program that can compare these types of concealed coded files. Certainly the one I have can't. I tried it once & it popped up an error thing.

Does anyone know of a program (preferably free) that will compare the CD's when they have this type of one file that is encoded, with the individual files contained within it?

Thanks for all your help.

 

Both of these cost money, but if I remember right, they both had some functionality for CD checking without paying. They don't compare (I don't think), but they act like a scandisk for CD's so they find any errors (almost as good):

CDRoller
http://www.cdroller.com/

CDCheck
http://www.elpros.si/CDCheck/

Here is a free program that compares 2 files and reports differences:
http://www.screaminet.com/~tswirsky/bincomp.htm#DLArea


PS. WD-40 for tar and also that sticky stuff labels leave behind. But not on most plastics!

 

Abraxas,

Sorry I hadn't gotten back to you sooner.

The free one sounds like what I'd need for comparing the type of file I was talking about, if it will indeed compare two .cdt files.

Each clipart CD has one very large file called Ps10art1.cdt, Ps10art2.cdt, & Ps10art3.cdt. That's on the Print Shop 10 Program. The Print Master 8.0 Gold has 5 clipart CD's with that exact same type of file on each one.

It would just be good to know that the copied files are good without having to put them all in & run them in the program to find out.

Thanks for your help once again.

 

Deloris:

What do you mean by "oxidize "? Rust? I've got CD's and CD-R's dating back to the beginning of time, and have never seen nor heard of such a phenomenum. I've seen dirty CD's, smudgy CD's, dusty CD's, etc., etc., but never a rusty CD.

My CD cleaning solution: A soft rag dampened with plain water.

 

Hi, davott ~

Rust is the result of iron oxidation. Different elements/compounds oxidize various ways. Deloris is referring to the cloud-like appearance similar to the oxidation of paint on an automobile after some time, which is very unusual for CDs anyway.

 

You are correct Bruce.

Probably the reason for it is the week to week changeable climate I live in, & the fact that I do not have home air conditioning, which there is a reason for that.

My medical problems prevent the use of air conditioning. I would stay sick constantly going in, & out of the cool into the hot, & visa versa during the summer, so I must live without it. It isn't very comfy sometimes, but it's better than staying in the Doctors office, or hospital all of the time. At least I live in the country under a lot of shade trees.

Humidity can play a big part in the unusual types of deterioration of many things.