Cleaning Laserdiscs
Cleaning Laser Discs and Jackets
The question of how to clean laser discs has become a popular FAQ. With the decline of new retail sales of laser discs the second hand market has been ever increasing. Many of the discs have greasy finger prints and sometimes price stickers. Many laser disc collectors use and recommend NOVUS #1 as a cleaner and a polish.
Care has to be taken when cleaning discs. Most household cleaners, such as Windex, contain ammonia. Windex may work great on glass but ammonia and acrylic do not mix. Ammonia has the effect of drying out acrylic causing it to become brittle, yellowed, powdered and cracked. Novus #1 polishes to a protective non-greasy anti-static coating.
Novus #1 can be applied with a soft cotton cloth or quality facial tissue. Then it should be polished with a dry tissue or cotton cloth. Remember to wipe and polish from the center out.
For heavily scratched and scuffed discs Novus #2 Fine Scratch Remover works well for removing the scratches. Novus #3 Heavy Scratch Remover is must likely to be far too abrasive
Novus #1 also works very well on jacket covers. It removes finger prints and dirt. It does not harm the cover art. It also leaves a slight shine. It should be applied the same way as on the discs. It should be noted that if puddles are left on the jacket it will eventually soak in causing damage to the cover.
Another highly recommended product for removing stickers from discs and jackets is MAGIC GOO GONE. It is an excellent adhesive remover that does not damage the discs or cover art. This is a very useful product especially for ex-rental discs.
Once discs have be cleaned they should be stored in new poly lined paper sleeves. Get rid of the poly sleeve (aka Camel Condoms). These do next to nothing for protecting the disks and guarding against jacket punch outs. The laserdisc jackets should then be placed into a record album protective sleeve. If you use two of them one side ways and the other up and down you will never have to touch the jacket cover again.
Good luck caring for your discs.
Below are scans of the NOVUS products and Goo Gone.
Novus has a web site that lists Laser Discs and Compact discs as an item to be cleaned with Novus Plastic Clean and Shine #1
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http://www.novuspolish.com
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