Source Tips - Source of Free Tips & Tricks

The wonderful aroma of freshly popped popcorn fills the area. A smidgeon of warm butter runs off the top and drips down the side of the bowl. Your soda fizzes as it touches the ice. You’re snug and comfortable on the couch with your pajamas and blanket. You hit play on the DVD player and wait in anticipation. The Dolby Digital THX sound pleases your ears. Your movie will begin in 30 seconds … WAIT! … the DVD is stuck at the main menu. There goes the movie.

You know this scenario because you’ve been there before. Dejectedly, you open the DVD tray and see the evidence of the previous viewer’s children. Fingerprints, sticky candy goop and a couple of smudges. There goes movie night.

Well, I have good news for you! There is no need to ruin movie night any longer. Cleaning a DVD is simple. You just need to be careful not to scratch the disk. Follow these procedures and you’ll be returning to your bowl of popcorn in a jiffy.

First, you’ll need some common household supplies:

A bottle of Isopropyl Alcohol
A cotton ball
A cotton towel or cotton t-shirt

Once you have your supplies, follow these steps for cleaning your DVD:

Open the bottle of Isopropyl Alcohol and slightly wet the cotton ball with the alcohol. Set the cotton ball (dry side down - you do not want to get dirt or dust on the wet side of the cotton ball) on a table or counter top.

Insert the index finger of one hand through the hole in the middle of the DVD. Be sure that the label side of the DVD faces down and the shiny side of the DVD faces up.

Pick up the cotton ball. Using the wet side of the cotton ball, begin wiping the shiny side of the DVD. Wipe only from the center of the DVD disk, in a straight line, to the outside of the DVD disk.

CAUTION: Many people are inclined to wipe the DVD disk in a circular motion. Do not do this. You are more apt to scratch and damage the disk when wiping in a circular motion. Wipe only from the center of the DVD disk, in a straight line, to the outside of the DVD disk.

Rotate the DVD disk on your index finger and continue wiping from the center of the disk to the outside of the disk until you have wiped the entire shiny side of the DVD.

Discard the cotton ball.