Attention: DCC Gold CD's are not waterproof

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by rjstauber, Dec 5, 2005.

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  1. rjstauber

    rjstauber Senior Member Thread Starter

    I've been buying used CD's for the last few months more extensively. Unfortunately, sometimes they are pretty dirty (i.e. tons of fingerprints and other stuff).

    I've been successfully cleaning many used CD's with some lukewarm water and a tiny bit of very gentle dish washing soap. I keep the CD under running water and gently use my fingers/flat hand to clean them (I remove my wedding band before doing so). Then I carefully set the really well rinsed CD on a soft kitchen towel, fold the towel over the CD and carefully tap on it to dry it (without rubbing it). This method worked really well on many CD's which needed that treatment. Never had a problem with it.

    Until a couple of days ago. I was trying to clean a DCC Gold of the Doobie Brothers using this method. All of a sudden, the label side of the CD peeled right off. It happened so fast that before I could do anything, half of the clear coating with the printing on it was already off. I was very mad at myself. Since it was already half off, I decided to take it all off by keeping it under water. My Doobies DCC is no squeaky clean, but has no printing whatsoever on the CD. It still plays fine, and after the first minutes of kicking myself, I got over it. I can still listen to the music and have the artwork, so it is not a major deal for me (still bugs me of course). I was so glad to find it under $40.

    So, in case of other people using this method to clean CD's, don't do it on DCC golds. Not sure why this happened. Maybe somebody can explain the manufacturing of the DCC CD's. I am wondering whether the label gets printed on some clear adhesive foil and then put on the CD or if actually a protective layer of the CD itself came off. I sure didn't expect this to happen.

    Just thought I'd let you know...

    Roland
     
  2. Spaceboy

    Spaceboy Senior Member

    Location:
    Near Edinburgh, UK
    Dont pour aqua regia on them either.
     
  3. rjstauber

    rjstauber Senior Member Thread Starter

    What is "aqua regia"?
     
  4. Spaceboy

    Spaceboy Senior Member

    Location:
    Near Edinburgh, UK
    Google it.
     
  5. fjhuerta

    fjhuerta New Member

    Location:
    México City
    I managed to peel off every single thing out of my "Tears for Fears" CD, too. It never happened again.
     
  6. Raunchnroll

    Raunchnroll Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    Sorry to hear that! but its likely an anomoly - I've cleaned many hundreds of CDs similar to your method (sans any soap though) and never had this happen.

    My thoughts are (this was used right?) it was probably stored at times in a variety of environments - in a car, a backpack, maybe direct light, etc. where the temperature and humidity would have fluctuated enough to cause expansion and contraction to the point the adhesive was affected and deteriorated enough to 'let go.' Anytime one buys used CDs you never really know what their storage history has been. Still, its not like you can buy these new anymore.
     
  7. JorgeGvb

    JorgeGvb Senior Member

    Location:
    Virginia Beach
    :agree: I have never seen this before and I have cleaned 100s of CDs the same way. The only one I have ever had a problem with is the ones you can make on your own printer. The ink will run on that kind.
     
  8. AndrewS

    AndrewS Senior Member

    Location:
    S. Ontario, Canada
    Interesting... I was just reading in the DVDTalk forums about people that have had success getting previously problematic DVD's to play properly after BOILING them. I guess that's out for DCC gold discs. Not that I would've tried it anyway. Fortunately, my DCC's are not in need of cleaning.
     
  9. Jack White

    Jack White Senior Member

    Location:
    Canada
    A powerful mixture of nitric acid and hydrochloric acid. It can dissolve metal (including gold - I guess that's why it was mentioned in relation to a DCC gold disc). This is the stuff you would use if you had to get rid of a body.
     
  10. J.A.W.

    J.A.W. Music Addict

    Googled:

    Aqua Regia is a mixture of hydrochloric acid and nitric acid. It can dissolve gold, which single acids alone cannot do. Here we see that each of the acids separately has no effect on the gold but a mixture of the two dramatically reacts with the gold. To three samples of gold are added (1) concentrated hydrochloric acid (2) concentrated hydrochloric and concentrated nitric acids and (3) concentrated nitric acid. The gold reacts only with the concentrated acid mixture which is referred to as aqua regia (royal water).
     
  11. lv70smusic

    lv70smusic Senior Member

    Location:
    San Francisco, CA
    I've cleaned lots of cds and dvds this way, too, but did run into a problem with a dvd rental disc. The same thing happened that happened to your Doobies disc -- the label started bubbling up and shrinking away as soon as it got wet. I assumed that it was due to the way the artwork was printed on the disc, but nothing about it looked out of the ordinary to me before the label started getting ruined by water. Unfortunately I had to replace the disc for the video rental store because I "ruined" it, even though what I had rented was so dirty and severely scratched that I could not play it before or after my attempts to clean it.
     
  12. rjstauber

    rjstauber Senior Member Thread Starter

    Just have two more things:

    a) The peeling had nothing to do with the soap used, I got rid of the rest very easily with just plain water.

    b) Is the layer that came off just part of the printing (are all CD's printed like that? I thought they were printed directly on the plastic protective coating) or did actually the protective coating come off my DCC? I guess this could only be answered by someone who is aware of the production process of these CD's.

    Roland
     
  13. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    I've washed many CD's...never had a peel? Weird, maybe a defect? Did you scrub?
     
  14. lv70smusic

    lv70smusic Senior Member

    Location:
    San Francisco, CA
    Perhaps it's a lack of protective coating on top of the label that caused the problem. In the case of the dvd whose label I ruined with water, simply getting the label wet caused the label ink to appear to "foam up" immediately. Then any contact with the affected area caused what was printed to shrivel away.
     
  15. Dave

    Dave Esoteric Audio Research Specialistâ„¢

    Location:
    B.C.
    This is why I use only isopropynol 99% alcohol for the play side only for stubborn stains like beer and pizza along with soft toilet paper. Don't laugh I've had one of these. No soap and water for me. If there are fingerprints on the label side I just breathe on it (condensation) and wipe with a soft cotton cloth or shamy.
     
  16. Parkertown

    Parkertown Tawny Port

    What Dave said...I'd only ever attempt to clean the data side.
     
  17. Rachael Bee

    Rachael Bee Miembra muy loca

    I tried that with a Tomstone Vista Series DVD last year. I boiled it for 10 minutes with no effect. The 2nd layer part of the disc stille frooze repeatedly. The boiling didn't help but didn't hurt it either. Somebody told me this boiling stuff started with gamers who had problem discs.
     
  18. Shakey

    Shakey New Member

    Location:
    Chicago, Illinois
    It happened to my U2 October, UK made Island by Nimbus. Probably a water soluble adhesive. Some of it, the lettering, is still on the disc.
     
  19. Shakey

    Shakey New Member

    Location:
    Chicago, Illinois
    I got bbq sauce on my CD of JB, both the disc and the booklet. It happens.
     
  20. SonicZone

    SonicZone Senior Member

    Location:
    Upland, CA
    I use the same cleaning method for CDs (slightly-cooler-than-lukewarm water and mild dish soap), and I've had it happen to me only once. It was a Beatles Revolver West Germany/PDO pressing that was only a few months old at the time. The top part of the label suddenly began peeling while working the disc with my soapy fingertips. Fortunately I only lost a section of transparent label about the size of a nickel. I haven't tried to clean other PDO discs from that same era this way since then; I spot-clean those only when needed in Dave's manner now.

    I've continued cleaning other CDs with soap and water (mainly just used ones now) and can't picture something like this happening to a DCC gold. That disc had to have been exposed to some extreme conditions for its label to suddenly go like it did -- that's my thinking.
     
  21. Kym

    Kym Former Resident

    I would NEVER put a CD under running water. Yikes.
     
  22. Spaceboy

    Spaceboy Senior Member

    Location:
    Near Edinburgh, UK
    Why?
     
  23. DanK

    DanK Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Anselmo CA USA
    Too stinky. I'd just call Harvey Keitel.
     
  24. rjstauber

    rjstauber Senior Member Thread Starter

    No srubbing, just very gentle "rubbing" with my flat hand under running water. The label would have come off just under water, without any scrubbing, I'm sure.

    I will not clean any DCC like that any more. And I will be extremely careful with other CD's as well.

    Roland
     
  25. AndrewS

    AndrewS Senior Member

    Location:
    S. Ontario, Canada
    I'll see your Harvey Keitel and raise you one Jean Reno. Nothing like the original!
     
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