[mike1127]

This isn't quite a DIY question-- but you guys know a lot about physical properties of materials, so I thought I'd ask here.
 
Is it safe to clean a CD-R with alcohol? I'm experimenting with cleaning them before burning them. I think I remember being told there is a "mold-release" compound on them.

 

[jdkJake]

Well, the alcohol should not hurt anything if that is your concern. At least as long as it is not 151 rum and you happen to light it on fire.

Personally, I only clean CD's when they are particularly dirty due to whatever or whomever last misused them. I found Dawn dish washing liquid and a soft cotton cloth work best, but, your results may vary.

I am sure wakibaki will passionately disagree with me though....

 

[tomb]

Gosh, I hope I don't get accused of being wakibaki.

Jdkjake is correct that alcohol should not have any adverse effects on the CD material.  However, alcohol is quite good at removing paint and silk-screening from glass (experienced from cleaning thousands of vacuum tubes).  So, if you have CD's that are imprinted with graphics, it might be prudent to be a little cautious with the alcohol.

 
AFAIK and have experienced for more than a decade, reasonably clean CD's will have no affect in burning, whatsoever.  You have to get them pretty dirty to cause any problems.  At any rate, even though the burning is an analog process, you're still using digital data.  It either works or it doesn't - there's very little, if any - inbetween.

 

[mike1127]

I am always open to being proven wrong or changing my mind, but...
 
With regard to burning CD-R, my experience is not "bits is bits." The brand of CD-R affects the sound, as well as the burning software, the burning hardware, and details of how you run the hardware. I am experimenting with running a CD burner from a sealed lead-acid battery to eliminate the RF noise that one gets with the usual switching power supply. I'm using Verbatim Archival Gold media (after experimenting with a few other brands) and I think I'm getting results better than commercial CD. That is, if I rip a CD and then burn it onto this Verbatim archival media, it sounds better than the original.
 
Every CD-R brand sounds different from a commercial CD, but under most conditions (i.e. not burning with the SLA battery, not using good media) CD-R is worse. It has the potential to be better under the right conditions.