A dvd in a dvd player.

Quick Tips

  • Microfiber cloths are a quick way to clean a DVD.
  • Rubbing alcohol is used to clean DVDs
  • Window cleaner, similar rubbing alcohol, is a great style to clean pasty residues and clay off of a DVD.
  • Cheque the DVD for deep scratches by holding it up to a bright lamp.
  • If you lot accept small scratches that are interfering with your picture show watching, you can e'er utilize toothpaste to polish them out.
  • Using these methods to clean a DVD actually does work!

Words only cannot describe the kind of dismay ane feels when a DVD received from Netflix or Blockbuster makes information technology half way through a pic and then refuses to play toward the climax of a film. Whether it's just regular maintenance on our drove of Frasier episodes, or an emergency resurfacing of a movie nosotros've been waiting for months to be delivered, we'll teach yous how to clean a DVD and become y'all back to your regularly scheduled programs…well, not scheduled, obviously, since you tin can lookout man 'em whatever fourth dimension.

The pros and video-philes volition tell yous that y'all need to wipe a DVD in a straight line from the middle of the disc to the outside border of a disc because DVD lasers are pb astray more oftentimes past a circular scratch or a scratch that follows the path of the laser than past a straight scratch, perpindicular to the path of the laser. Also, never apply a paper towel or any paper product to clean your DVDs because these products often accept pieces of dirt and particles that volition scratch the surface of the DVD.

Steps to Cleaning a DVD

  1. microfiber cltoh Microfiber cloths are a quick way to clean a DVD. These are the aforementioned kind of cloths people use to clean eyeglasses, monitors, and laptop or LCD monitors. Because of microfiber'due south very tight weave and the synthetic materials used to make microfiber, grit and particles of clay are attracted and lifted upward into the microfiber, which prevents you from simply spreading the grit around and scratching the DVD further. Every serious DVD collector should take i of these and launder it regularly.
  2. rubbing alcohol by dvd Rubbing booze is used to clean DVDs and simply almost every sensitive piece of engineering out there because it doesn't human activity like stiff solvents do, and information technology evaporates rapidly without leaving a residue. Commonly a i:one mixture of 90%+ Isopropyl booze and water will do the trick. Merely dab a small, clean cotton cloth into the mixture and wipe in direct lines from the center of the DVD to the exterior border. To dry the DVD, just permit it sit down for a moment or two in a vertical position.
  3. Bottle of windex by dvd Window cleaner, like rubbing alcohol, is a great way to clean viscid residues and clay off of a DVD. This isn't a very "organic solution" only it works. Like rubbing alcohol, window cleaner is not a very potent solvent, and it evaporates quickly without leaving rest as well. Instead of spraying the DVD, spray a little flake onto a soft, cotton wool fabric and wipe from the middle of the DVD to the outside edge—leaving it to dry by propping it up in a vertical position for a few minutes.
  4. DVD up against the light Bank check the DVD for deep scratches by holding it up to a bright lamp. If you tin see lite through the scratch, this means you've actually damaged the layers of data protected by the clear plastic. If this is the example, then it is mayhap time to find yourself a new copy of the DVD, or if it will play, and so copy the DVD yourself using something similar DVD Shrink to compress and burn the contents of your disc to a DVD-R or DVD+R to forbid skipping.
  5. bottle of toothpaste by dvd If you have small scratches that are interfering with your picture show watching, you can always use toothpaste to polish them out. Toothpaste is a natural abrasive; that's how it cleans your teeth, and it will do the same for a DVD. Avoid extra-whitening formulas. Just dab a little bit of Crest or Colgate on that DVD, mix information technology with a little h2o and with either your finger or a minor slice of cloth, vitrify those scratches abroad. Just be conscientious not to over to it. DVDs aren't as resilient as your teeth.
  6. dvd Using these methods to clean a DVD really does piece of work!To test these theories, I used a DVD-R that I've been using as a drink coaster for over a year. On this particular DVD, I used rubbing alcohol to clean it, and toothpaste to polish the scratches out. Sure, information technology's non as shiny as it used to exist, but it works now.

DVD Cleaning Kits and Solvents

Sometimes information technology'southward hard to find a DVD cleaning kit at your local Target or Wal-mart, if not for the size of the store, than because they're rarely in stock, but DVD cleaning are a plenty on the market today. Several reputable brands and products are listed in Amazon for your perusal. DVD and CD cases are adept things to accept if your collection consists of burned DVDs. DVD wipes made of microfiber from such brands every bit Memorex and 3M (also labeled Scotch) volition help keep your DVD drove spick-and-span. For those more serious complications like deep scratches or especially scuffed DVDs, there are too a number of kits to help you resurface your DVDs at home instead of having to pay a CD/DVD shop $3 to do information technology for you lot.

More DVD Cleaning Products

Bottle of Brasso Metal PolisherBrasso metal polisher is yet another household product people are using to clean their DVDs, or to remove scratches from their DVDs. Actually, only scratches. Because Brasso is an abrasive like toothpaste or whatsoever other polishing substance, information technology works by grinding down a very fine layer of the clear protective blanket on the DVD, to help the light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation read your DVD better. Small dabs of this stuff and a soft cotton material should do the trick. You can social club bottles of Brasso from Amazon.

resurfacing machineYour local record shop, cd shop, dvd store, whatever, should take aresurfacing machine in-house to aid y'all set up any DVDs that may exist more important to yous than a bottle of toothpaste. The going rate for a professional person resurfacing is nearly 3-iv dollars per disc.