CD cleaners

[tony340]

G'day fellows!!!
Thanks again for all the great advice everyone gave me, the system i'm having is giving me tremendous pleasure... Now to maintain the CD player, i'm thinking of getting a good quality cleaner, whats your recommendation??? I mean the usual cleaner with the brush, but any particular brand, type?? Cheers

[Smokey]

You probably do a better job cleaning if doing it manually. Take the cover off, push the tray out and then unplug it.

Use Q-Tips and pure alcohol not only to clean the lens, but also dirt that might have accommodated in and around mechanical parts.

[pixelthis]

G'day fellows!!!
Thanks again for all the great advice everyone gave me, the system i'm having is giving me tremendous pleasure... Now to maintain the CD player, i'm thinking of getting a good quality cleaner, whats your recommendation??? I mean the usual cleaner with the brush, but any particular brand, type?? Cheers

Talk about snake oil.
CD was after LP, and since meticulous cleaning was required for all things LP,
marketing types thought people would assume the same about CD.
I have had several dozen CD and dvd players, and not one "cleaner".
For one thing the only time the innards are exposed to dust is the brief time the tray is out,
for another the laser is never touched, and it is a laser, can blind you if you look at it.
It will knock off any "dust" that falls "up" on it.
THE BEST THING YOU CAN DO TO "MAINTAIN" YOUR cd PLAYER IS TO STAY THE HELL OUT OF IT.
Concentrate on keeping your CD's clean, even better, rip them to a hard drive in a lossless format as soon as you get them and store them, keeping them for backup purposes .
A lossless file on a computer , with a proper usb dac or usb soundcard can sound as good as even a high end CD player.
BUT STAY AWAY FROM cd "CLEANERS".
Unless you want to waste your time and money:1:

[basite]

you have cd demagnetizers, and some other tools to improve cd playback (which can be 'expensive', but make a difference). cleaning the disc (removing fingerprints etc) can be done with a simple tissue.

this, however, won't make such a difference unless you have a multi $$$ cdp, or your cd's are so dirty that playback simply fails.

Something else that does help from time to time is a lens cleaning kit/lens cleaner...

Keep them spinning,
Bert.

[pixelthis]

you have cd demagnetizers, and some other tools to improve cd playback (which can be 'expensive', but make a difference). cleaning the disc (removing fingerprints etc) can be done with a simple tissue.

this, however, won't make such a difference unless you have a multi $$$ cdp, or your cd's are so dirty that playback simply fails.

Something else that does help from time to time is a lens cleaning kit/lens cleaner...

Keep them spinning,
Bert.

All a bunch of snake oil.
THE only thing you need for a CD player is a CD:1:

[Brett A]

On the rare occasion i want to wash a CD, I wash it. I mean in the kitchen sink with warm water, a sponge and dish washing detergent. I just make sure it's unquestionably, abso-tively dry before putting in my CDp as the insides of my rig are not water resistant to my knowledge.

[Feanor]

G'day fellows!!!
Thanks again for all the great advice everyone gave me, the system i'm having is giving me tremendous pleasure... Now to maintain the CD player, i'm thinking of getting a good quality cleaner, whats your recommendation??? I mean the usual cleaner with the brush, but any particular brand, type?? Cheers

It will take many years for a CD player to become dirty on the inside and you might never have to clean the laser lens provided:

You don't smoke; smoking definitely leaves residue inside components.
Your CDs themselves are clean.I never have to clean my own CDs because I never touch the playing surfaces. Borrowed CDs often need to be cleaned; in that case I clean manually using pure ammonia and a clean, soft cloth. I wipe from center to the edge and not a circumferral motion which might cause scratchs that could cause read errors.

[basite]

All a bunch of snake oil.
THE only thing you need for a CD player is a CD:1:


then again, you probably never tried it, nor have you even tought of that...

please check something out first before just saying it's all a bunch of snake oil...

[emaidel]

I have the Maxell CD Lens cleaner disc that I've used periodically, but have to admit I've never heard any difference whatsoever when I used it, and seriously question whether it's ever even necessary. I have had to clean CD's once in a while: if they're dirty, or smudged, they'll often mistrack and cleaning them takes care of those issues. I still use an old Allsop CD cleaner that seems to work quite well, and should, at least until I run out of the fluid in the spray bottle. Then, I'll have to try to find something else. I find the cleaner especially useful for those filthy DVD's I often receive when renting, either from Blockbuster or Netflix, that refuse to play. Giving them a good cleaning with the device usually works, but sometimes the discs have been so badly abused, nothing helps.

Cleaning CD's isn't always necesesary (I have CD's since 1983 that have never been cleaned, and likely never will), but when something on the disc causes mistracking, whether the disc be an old, dirty one, or a brand new one, a good cleaning has often helped. I suspect spraying the disc with Windex, and gently wiping it from the center to the outside edge would work just as well as the Allsop cleaner, but since I got the Allsop for free, and I like the ease of use, that's what I will continue to use, at least until there's no more fluid left.

Lastly, there was a time when people were claiming that spraying CD's with ArmorAll would improve their sound, and I fell victim to that practice. Not only did it do nothing at all to improve the sound of CD's, but it made most of them mistrack, or not play at all. Cleaning those discs sprayed with ArnorAll became an absolute necessity, and, as far as I was able to tell, I never gunked up the lens in the CD player I was using at the time.

There's nothing at all resembling "snake oil" when it comes to the occasional need to clean a CD, but I think there is when purchasing a device to clean the CD player's lens.

[pixelthis]

I have the Maxell CD Lens cleaner disc that I've used periodically, but have to admit I've never heard any difference whatsoever when I used it, and seriously question whether it's ever even necessary. I have had to clean CD's once in a while: if they're dirty, or smudged, they'll often mistrack and cleaning them takes care of those issues. I still use an old Allsop CD cleaner that seems to work quite well, and should, at least until I run out of the fluid in the spray bottle. Then, I'll have to try to find something else. I find the cleaner especially useful for those filthy DVD's I often receive when renting, either from Blockbuster or Netflix, that refuse to play. Giving them a good cleaning with the device usually works, but sometimes the discs have been so badly abused, nothing helps.

Cleaning CD's isn't always necesesary (I have CD's since 1983 that have never been cleaned, and likely never will), but when something on the disc causes mistracking, whether the disc be an old, dirty one, or a brand new one, a good cleaning has often helped. I suspect spraying the disc with Windex, and gently wiping it from the center to the outside edge would work just as well as the Allsop cleaner, but since I got the Allsop for free, and I like the ease of use, that's what I will continue to use, at least until there's no more fluid left.

Lastly, there was a time when people were claiming that spraying CD's with ArmorAll would improve their sound, and I fell victim to that practice. Not only did it do nothing at all to improve the sound of CD's, but it made most of them mistrack, or not play at all. Cleaning those discs sprayed with ArnorAll became an absolute necessity, and, as far as I was able to tell, I never gunked up the lens in the CD player I was using at the time.

There's nothing at all resembling "snake oil" when it comes to the occasional need to clean a CD, but I think there is when purchasing a device to clean the CD player's lens.


Sure you need to clean a CD on occasion, get out the dishwashing liquid.
BUT if you take proper care of your CD's that will be a rare occurance.
If it gives you the warm and fuzzies to "clean" the lens on your CD player go ahead.
Some put rocks on top of their speakers and claim it improves the sound.
TO QUOTE THE PHILOSOPER VAMPIRE in that neat movie "30 days of night...
the things that they beleive


THE BEST THING for keeping CD's clean and organized is a CD changer.
Not for playing, but storing.
EACH ONE IS labeled with CD text, and dust never gets inside.
This is not for playing, but storing:1:

[noddin0ff]

Beyond dish soap, all you 'need' is a can of canned air to blast dust off the lens and in extreme cases a tube of Crest and a tissue to polish scratches out of the CD. Crest (regular) is a nice fine abrasive.

[pixelthis]

Beyond dish soap, all you 'need' is a can of canned air to blast dust off the lens and in extreme cases a tube of Crest and a tissue to polish scratches out of the CD. Crest (regular) is a nice fine abrasive.

just when you think you know it all,,,
AND I heard that that CREST STUFF is pretty good on teeth:1:

[audio amateur]

Beyond dish soap, all you 'need' is a can of canned air to blast dust off the lens and in extreme cases a tube of Crest and a tissue to polish scratches out of the CD. Crest (regular) is a nice fine abrasive.
This means you can use toothpaste to fill in scratches on cd's? Does it affect playback in anyway? Will any toothpaste do? thanks

[hydroman]

1. Has to be the paste type (not gel).
2. It does not fill in - but polishes.
3. None of the 'polishing' CD repair kits works worth a hoot IMHO. Just back them up as soon as you buy them as previously mentioned.

[tony340]

Hey thanks for all the information!! The trouble is, i live in Singapore, its a tropical climate and there is a hell of a lot of dust in the air! I live in downtown, the air is very dusty, so i am worried whether the player will have trouble with dust... Also my CD'S tend to have dust on them! So as all the advice goes, i still cant figure out what exactly to do? Obviously i have to first clean and store my CD'S properly in a dust free place, but whats the professional way and method to do it? And also how should i clean the player and maintain it? Thanks so much!

[gillell]

Hi all,

I read most of your posts and I have to disagree that CD cleaners are useless. I've used my CD cleaner on numerous CD players as well as my NEW DVD player. Firstly I lived in a party house so most CDs ended up on the floor and if not scratched at least with the odd wine, cocktail, beer, ash spill over it. If these are not cleaned before being put back into the player which I can assure you doesn't happen at a party very often then bits do tend to stay inside and the cleaner does clean it all up.

To clean my actual CDs I use nothing more than a soft wet sponge and a t-towel to dry it, then it's ready to go.

My new DVD player must've been sat around in dust because every 3rd or so DVD player stuffed up half way through, since running my CD cleaner through it I've not had a single problem.

I bought the Crest CD/CD-Rom Laser Lens Cleaner so I recommend that one. If you load it up through iTunes it has funny track names, but just play it from track 1 to 9 and you'll be good to go. It is recommended to be used every 20 CDs but who on earth does that?!

Good luck!