Common household items can get your DVDs looking and playing like new.
If you are tired of irritating skips in the picture and sound of your favorite movie, or can't get your computer to load important data from your data DVDs, it may be time to clean those discs. Over time, the surfaces of your DVDs may become corrupted by scratches and dirty residue that interfere with the DVD player or computer lasers that are used to read disc information. But before you throw away your movie collection, you can follow a few easy steps to restore your discs to new condition.
Instructions
Home Remedies
1. Hold the DVD upside down so you can examine the reflective surface. Examine the disc for smudges or scratches. Determine whether the disc needs to be repaired or simply cleaned.
2. Run warm water over the scratched surface of the DVD. Avoid letting the water become too hot. Wipe the water away using a soft piece of cloth, using radial, not circular, motions to dry the water from the center hole to the outside of the disc.
3. Apply a small dab of toothpaste to the damaged area and gently rub the paste to fill the scratch in using a cotton swab and radial, not circular motions. Rinse the toothpaste with warm tap water and wipe clean from inside rim to outside rim.
4. Use regular dishwashing soap to clean DVDs that have become very dirty or sticky from dust or other residue. Apply by adding soap to approximately 1 quart of water, diluting the soap, and rubbing a bit of the solution onto the disc from inside to outside until it's clean. Use only a very small drop of the soap, as many soaps are likely to leave a film on the disc that is difficult to remove.
Commercial Cleaners
5. Purchase a CD/DVD repair kit, such as the Aleratec DVD/CD Disc Repair Plus, the Memorex OptiFix Pro or Digital Innovations Skip DR, at your local electronics store. These kits contain sets of wheels and buffers that remove scratches and restore your DVDs to working condition.
6. Open the repair kit and apply a few drops of the included CD/DVD cleaning solution onto the machine's repair wheel, making sure to follow the manufacturer's specific instructions for use.
7. Insert the damaged disc into the machine, close the lid and press the power button. Wait for the machine to indicate it has finished cleaning the disc before removing it.
Tags: your DVDs, circular motions, from inside, from inside outside, inside outside, radial circular