Anybody here using any type of CD cleaner/scratch remover? There seem to be tons of them out on the market, are any of them worth anything? I try to take good care of my CD's but a few aging ones are showing some wear...

I use auric illuminator. Not so sure about its "CD enhancement" capabilities, but it cleans CDs well and makes most skipping CDs stop skipping (unless there are deep scratches, in which case nothing will fix it). Also, there tends to be less dust build up on auric treated CDs.

For cleaning I used distill water. I haven't have a need to do scratch removal yet.

When you are cleaning, make sure you are cleaning from the inside to the outside and not in a circular motion. Scratches cause by cleaning in a circular motion can not be corrected by error correction.

Rinse with water. Distilled is best, but COLD tap will work in a pinch.

For cleaning something like a finger print, I buff with a soft, almost warn-out, 100% cotton t-shirt or 100% cotton diaper (cloth diapers are great for dusting, waxing cars, etc.)

If its still skipping, first try a fill method:

For treating scratches that cause skips: Rain-X in the automotive department. 2 DROPS FILLS the scrates. Spread with a cotton ball(don't press). Let dry for 20 minutes. Buff with the above mentioned t-shirt or cloth diaper until ALL the haze is gone and the surface looks transparent. One treatment will last for years. (At one time Armor All was thought to work, but it chemically reacts with the polymer surface of the disk and will degrade it over time. It also has to be retreated while the rain-x treated disks haven't needed retreatment after 16 years (the oldest treated one)

If its that doesn't do it, your looking at a resurfacing method that polishes away a thin layer of the surface. I don't recommend this unless you are sure that nothing else works.

I've used the Rain-X treatment as needed at home (5 or 6 disks) but mainly us it at work to repair data CDs/CDRs for the job ("hey AR, my 6 year old used this as a frisbee") and customers - I've been a professional computer geek (todays title is "IT Manager") for 14 years.

If you can see a scratch in the platter itself or can see it from the top, you no longer have a cd: you have a coffee coaster.

Hope this helps.

Wash them with warm tap water and dish soap, like "Dawn." Use this procedure:

Rinse the disc under the tap to remove any hard particles. When you're sure the hard stuff is gone, put a dot of dish soap on the disc and work up a lather with the soft pads of your fingers. Rubbing from center to edge is the recommended way, but it's hard to work up a lather that way. I rub gently in a circular motion. Be extra careful with the label side of the disc -- believe it or not, a scratch on that side is much more likely to make a disc permanently unplayable than a scratch on the shiny side. The only thing protecting the reflective aluminum layer is a coat of laquer and the label.

Rinse the disc thoroughly, and dry it with a soft, clean cloth. If you're confident that the cloth contains no hard particles, rubbing it gently in a circular motion will dry it thoroughly. I've used this method hundreds of times, as I can't seem to keep my kids' grubby hands off my CDs. I've cleaned everything from dirt to peanut butter off my CDs and have never damaged a disc with this method.

Good answers here.

I just RINSE first with cool or warm water. Rinse alot to get grit off.

Then I use a wet cotton ball that has a little dishwashing soap on it. Don't push down when you do it. I do center to edge to center cleaning, then round and round.

Then rinse and rinse and rinse. Use a clean cotton ball to loosen up soap film. If you are rich or.... , use distilled water.

Dry with soft towel, tapping it, not rubbing it.

For scratches, well, I clean as above, then try to duplicate CD on computer with GOOD copier.

Sometimes, car wax worked. Sometimes toothpaste. But ANY scratch remover can make things worse. Really.

That's why I use copies for portables. Or Minidisc, or MP3 Jukeboxes.
I NEVER take my masters outside my house.

Last resort, buy a new one from a new store or eBay.

I make backups of my CDs in lossless compressed LPAC format.

It's more convenient than backing up with another audio CD because you don't need to rip it again... and it prevents you from taking out the backup for playing, thus defeating the purpose of backup. It's also easier to work with for processing, EQ, etc.

I dunno about scratch removal, but washing / brushing away dust on CDs before playing them is a top priority for me, since CD lens cleaning is such a pain in the ass

for dust and fingerprints n stuff, I use water + soap, for more sensitive cases, add few drops of kodak photo-flo (makes water glide like butter). For scratches, clean, then buff. I wonder if anybody's tried that scratch remover stuff for cars.

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Fred, I'm not sure what you mean by "round and round" but you should never rub/clean a CD in a circular motion -- always do it in and out (center to edge to center). A circular motion runs the risk of creating a scratch that runs along the data grooves, which can't be overcome by error correction.

Yeah, I know about bad bad round and round. But I do that after the dirt is off to remove soap film. It is a cardinal rule not to go round and round, but I am a sinner.