DVD Cleaners/Polishers (1 Viewer)

[Bob clamer]

I am probably in the wrong area and won't mind being flamed for putting this in the wrong thread but I am trying to find a good DVD cleaner/polisher. I'm starting to sell off some of my duplicate or older DVDs and would like to clean and polish them before sale. I had a manual SkipDr but I did not like the performance or the marks it left on the disk Any recommendations? I did find a kit by Aleratec with good and bad reveiws as well as a Memorex with mostly bad reveiws. http://www.amazon.com/Aleratec-DVD-D...9535598&sr=8-4
Figured if anyone would know what to get, this would be the place. Again, sorry if this post is in the wrong area.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Bob: Maybe I'll get flamed for this answer ...but I just go with an eyeglass cleaning spray and microfiber cloth (the kind you would buy at a LensCrafter or some other chain eyewear store). If it's good enough for my glasses...I figure it's good enough for my DVDs.

I find the results to be great.

 

[Bob clamer]

I tried using the materials that came with the SkipDr and tried one manually. Came out horrible. More scratched than before. That is why I'm looking for an automatic one. What do the video stores use to cleaner theirs before selling them?

 

[JohnRice]

Cleaning is one thing. Polishing is quite another. I think you'll find the polishers just cause more damage and should only be used in a effort to recover a severely damaged/unplayable disc.

I use rubbing alcohol and a clean cotton car polishing cloth. I know people will come in and say never to use rubbing alcohol, but it works just fine. Denatured alcohol is another matter, and should not be used.

 

[Stephen_J_H]

The local rental place uses Pledge. Go figure.

 

[Bob clamer]

Pledge!?! What about stuff that is really bad? I might try calling a couple local stoes and see what they say.

 

[Mike Frezon]

I'll bet you'd get a little bit of everything...from some people that will honestly tell you they use Windex & paper towels to those who will try to sell you an expense (Skip Dr.-type) device they have on their sales floor.

Like John said about polishes, I'll bet the rental place uses the Pledge as a hedge against deep scratches and such. But, for your private collection, a mild liquid and soft cloth will innocently remove fingerprints and body oils, etc.

After John mentioned rubbing alcohol I checked my eyeglass spritz and found it does, indeed, contain isopropanol. As he says, it does work fine. I've never had any problems and I buy a LOT of used DVDs!

 

[Richard_Gregory]

I would say use a very mild detergent in water solution (ie a drop or two of washing up liquid in some warm water) and a very soft cloth - microfibre or the stuff they use for eyeglasses which won;t scratch - to remove superficial dirt/grease/fingerprints that won;t come off with a dry cloth of the same sort. De-ionised water is best, lots of places sell it if you ask - a big hardware store will likely sell it. Clean the disc using gentle movements that are straight lines from the centre of the disc to the outer edge; don't clean wiping around the disc. That's because if you scratch it, a radial scratch will interrupt the optical path only briefly and error correction will probably cope. A scratch around the disc will tend to all be along the optical path and produce too many errors to be recoverable. Rinse with clean water and then "dab" dry with a soft kitchen towel.

Anything more than that, like scratches, you should really send them to a professional resurfacing service.

I think those scratch repair things cause more damage than they fix.

A DVD is a precision optical product. It;s really not designed to be "fixed" beyond cleaning.

I would avoid stuff with solvents or abrasives in because there's always the chance that they will attack the polycarbonate plastic making it go cloudy. It's tough stuff and very durable but there's no point in abusing it.

A professional polish removes a few microns across the whole surface, hopefuly to below a scratch - it is about 70-80 microns thick so it can be done several times - which restores the disc to "as new" but just a little thinner.

A deep scratch likely can't be fixed. If it penetrated to the metal data layer then the disc is a write-off.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Richard: I can go with everything in your post, but the only thing that sends up red flags is "'dab' dry with a soft kitchen towel." There are some really rough and abrasive kitchen towels out there...even terry cloth (which can leave behind a lot of particles on the surface). I'd recommend a chamois cloth, maybe...or stick with the microfiber.

I know what you're saying about "dabbing dry lightly"...just to absorb the residual water (heck, I'm sure I've done it myself!)...but I'd still recommend something softer.


Agree completely. Remember "DiscWash" systems for LPs?!