Cleaning a CD (Label Side)

Got a weird one for you all.

I ordered a CD from Japan. I knew it was used and in somewhat worn condition. Unfortunately, it arrived and looked like it had been pulled from flood waters. The booklet and tray card were badly water warped and the booklet can't even be opened without tearing pages completely. The real treasure? Part of the booklet adhered to the CD and now there's this paper crap stuck to the disc.

The disc plays fine and, after a partial refund, the thing ended up running me $6 and change, so I can't really complain, but I'd love to figure out a way to clean this crap off of the disc. It almost powderizes when I try to scratch it off and I'm not sure what solvents I can use without taking off the image printed onto the disc itself. For that reason, I've held off using rubbing alcohol which may melt the crap away.

Any suggestions?

Also, any ideas as to if/how the booklet can be salvaged? it's like the ink on the pages got gooey and stuck to the facing page. I don't know if this is a case of exposing it to humidity may make it "unhook" or if it's just garbage, but I figured I'd check before I tossed the thing.

Fortunately, the disc came in a cardboard sleeve that's mostly unharmed, so I have the artwork and track listing even if I have to chuck parts of the thing.

I bought a used disc at a thrift store with the same problem (sadly, it happens to be Mastedon's Lofcaudio, which would be worth some coin if it were in decent shape...)... the paper crap stuck to the disc doesn't affect play so I just left it on there. I'm afraid if I try to get it off I'm gonna eff up the CD.

My go-to recommendation is Goo Gone. Test a small area first though. It could take off the label ink too. I used it to remove Sharpie ink off of a used disc once. Some ass-clown put his initials on the disc.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

My go-to recommendation is Goo Gone. Test a small area first though. It could take off the label ink too. I used it to remove Sharpie ink off of a used disc once. Some ass-clown put his initials on the disc.

Yeah that's the stuff I always use to get rid of the "trouble" areas on cds although I've never had paper stuck to a cd so I have no idea if it would work in that situation.

I may attempt the isopropyl first just to see if that does it. So long as i don't let it soak in, it shouldn't take the ink off immediately - unless anyone has information to contradict that.

If that doesn't work, I may seek out some goo gone.

Have you tried soaking the cd in warm soapy water? That should loosen the paper - after all, water made it stick to the cd.

does water damage cds??

Gilbert wrote:

does water damage cds??

My main concern was inducing a nasty case of disc rot. I know it's not exactly a majority of discs that'll succumb to that, but since this is an import, it's a wildcard there...