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Ding dong! That's wrong.
 technofile
Al Fasoldt's reviews and commentaries, continuously available online since 1983

T e c h n o f i l e
A plain and simple guide to taking care of CDs and DVDs


Aug. 28, 2005


By Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2005, Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2005, The Post-Standard

   What's the best way to hold a CD or a DVD? Does it matter if your Spice Girls disk has a glob of peanut butter on it?
   These are just two of the many questions I've been asked over the last few months about taking care of CDs and DVDs. This week I'll take a slightly irreverent look at safe handling of CD and DVD disks.
   I like the peanut butter conundrum too much to let it wait. Suppose you get peanut butter glopped onto your favorite CD? No problem, right? CDs are made from tough plastic, so peanut butter is no big thing -- right?
   Ding dong! That's wrong. The problem when you've junked up a CD or DVD with peanut butter (or jelly or cream cheese -- all you closet binge eaters know what I mean) isn't what happens to the CD. It's what happens to the inside of your player or your computer's CD or DVD drive.
   Anything that's sticky can glom itself onto the innards of the drive. Not only could this turn your 32X CD burner into a 1X model, it could mess up the tiny laser lens. And that could make all disks unplayable, including your prized bootleg of The Band's basement tapes.
   Always keep dirty disks away from your equipment. If you can't clean them, don't play them.
   So that means you have to clean them right. Don't be afraid to swish now and then. (Stop laughing. I'll explain.) By "swish," I mean you should stick the disk into a clean sink full of warm water, add some mild detergent (Ivory Liquid is very safe) and wave it back and forth in the water. Then wipe the disk in a straight motion from center to edge with a wet, soapy paper towel.
   Swish it some more, then rinse it in clean, lukewarm water. (I shouldn't have to say this, but I'd better: Make sure the disk is completely dry before you put it back in the drive.)
   (Go ahead. Ask the question. I know it's coming. You want to know if a bath in soapy water will hurt the disk, right? The answer: Not at all, as long as you make sure it's dry before you play it.)
   Here's a gotcha. Do you know how to hold CDs and DVDs? Most people do it wrong.
   Don't hold CDd and DVDs by the rim, with your fingers splayed out. It's too easy to drop the disk that way. Hold them by putting your thumb against the rim and one finger in the center hole. When you're taking the disk out of the player or the drive, catch your finger in the center hole first and lift it out.
   Now for a social question: What single butt-headed act do millions of people do just about every day? (You're not allowed to give a sassy reply. That's my job.) Answer: They take CDs and DVDs they've just played and lay them down on a gritty surface like the top of a TV set. What's even worse, they stick them there with the label facing up.
   Uh-oh. The sensitive side of CDs and DVDs is the side that doesn't have a label. Gritty surfaces scratch them easily. (You say the top of your TV isn't gritty? Take a CD you don't want any longer -- something by the Beastie Boys, maybe, or rather ANYTHING by the Beastie Boys -- and rub it across the surface, label side up. Then take a look at the scratches. You might be appalled.)
   So be sure to protect the non-label side from mishandling. While you're checking out the underside of your disks, here's a trivia question you can bug your friends with: What's backward about CDs and DVDs?
   Give up? It's the way they play -- from the inside out. The disk records and plays from the hub on out to the rim. (Why'd they do that? To keep warped edges from ruining the disk. Most CDs and DVDs aren't recorded all the way out to the edge, so warps in that area usually don't cause a problem.)
   One more tip: The folks in the CD and DVD business say the biggest problem is a mangle in the evil tray. (I know it sounds like something from Lord of the Rings, but stick with me.) If you don't center the disk in the tray, it can pinch the sides of the disk when it closes. Mangles from the evil tray can ruin a disk for sure.