# Can CDs be cleaned?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-cds-be-cleaned/116119>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 26, 2002, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-cds-be-cleaned/116119 "2002-06-26T22:54:11Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\
**Post date:** [June 26, 2002, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-cds-be-cleaned/116119/1 "2002-06-26T22:54:11Z")

</div>

A bottle of soda spilled on a bunch of my CDs, soaking them. I removed the CD’s from the cases, took out the inserts and cleaned the jewel cases with water. Can I wipe the CD’s with a damp cloth? Is it safe to try to play them or can it harm my player?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![WSLer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a6a055/32.png) [@WSLer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WSLer)\
**Post date:** [June 26, 2002, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-cds-be-cleaned/116119/2 "2002-06-26T22:56:59Z")

</div>

You don;t want to let soda or any kind of juice dry on your CD’s. If it does, dampen a cloth and clean the juice/soda off. Start from the center of the CD, where the hole is, and move in a straight line out to the edge. repeat until the CD is clean.

As far as regularly cleaning them, you should use a soft cloth and use the cleaning method mentioned above.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\
**Post date:** [June 26, 2002, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-cds-be-cleaned/116119/3 "2002-06-26T23:37:04Z")

</div>

Funny, but I thought I saw a topic just like this here today. I usually clean with water & pat dry.