How to get glue off a CD

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J-h:n
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How to get glue off a CD

#1 Post by J-h:n » Tue Mar 25, 2008 5:02 pm

Now there's a DJ skill if there ever was one.

While listening to the last Hey Mr Jesse show I went straight to Amazon and ordered the only available used copy of Kid Ory Plays the Blues (you can get it as a MP3 download, but I very much prefer to buy CDs). The condition given by the seller was "used - like new", so imagine my disappointment when I find that there is a big chunk of glue right across the underside of the disc! There were traces of paper, so it looks like some idiot actually glued a paper sticker to the CD. None of my CD players nor the computer will play it at all.

I tried washing it with warm water and detergent, and then cleaning it with alcohol, none of which helped. I haven't dared try any solvents since I'm not sure if they will damage the disc. I could of course complain to the seller and hopefully get my money back, but I want this record, dammit!

Is there anything that could be used to clean the disc without risking to ruin it? Gasoline? Acetone?

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tornredcarpet
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Re: How to get glue off a CD

#2 Post by tornredcarpet » Tue Mar 25, 2008 5:38 pm

I'm a big fan of peanut butter + a little elbow grease- the poor man's goo gone.
And of course, you have to clean off the peanut butter once you're done.
Jesse (Los Angeles, CA/Hampton Roads, VA)

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Cyrano de Maniac
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Re: How to get glue off a CD

#3 Post by Cyrano de Maniac » Tue Mar 25, 2008 10:19 pm

J-h:n wrote:Is there anything that could be used to clean the disc without risking to ruin it? Gasoline? Acetone?
I don't have any practical experience using those solvents for this purpose, but I would suggest you experiment on some worthless CD first. Also, I know there are different formulations of the plastic used for CDs (some are brittle, some you can manage to put a permanent 90 degree bend into), so even success on a test article isn't a guarantee for your particular disc.

One thought that comes to mind is to put the CD in an environment where it will get nice and warm, but not directly exposed to heat. And idea that comes to mind is putting it under a black shirt/blanket/whatever in a car in the summertime. That should loosen up the adhesive, perhaps to the point where something known to be safe such as alcohol can finish the job.

Finally, some Google research indicates that vegetable oil might work. Let the oil thoroughly soak down into the goo (I imagine for several hours), and then water should be able to wash the goo away. The oil will leave residue, but I suspect dish soap will clear that away.

Brent

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Re: How to get glue off a CD

#4 Post by SoundInMotionDJ » Wed Mar 26, 2008 7:00 am

J-h:n wrote:The condition given by the seller was "used - like new", so imagine my disappointment when I find that there is a big chunk of glue right across the underside of the disc!
Which side? The "top (i.e. label side)" or the "bottom (i.e. shiny side)?"

The top of a CD is a very thin layer of aluminum covered with another very thin layer of "stuff" that the label is printed on. You CAN NOT clean glue off this side without destroying the CD.

The bottom of a CD is a reasonably durable plastic disc (i.e. the protective "clear" disc you get on a spindle of CDRs). This you can clean. Solvents are not the way to go.

If the glue is on the bottom, I would take a plastic scrapper (credit card?) and mechanically remove the glue from the CD. Work from the center out, and use the least force that will work. Then I'd take a CD scratch repair tool and run the CD through that. Then I'd make a copy of the CD and put the original away.

--Stan Graves

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#5 Post by remysun » Fri Apr 18, 2008 3:30 pm

My message got lost. I said how my Scunsi steamer melted some gunk that adhered to my carpet. It melts grease. Great on blinds. Got it at Walgreen's.

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#6 Post by Lawrence » Sun Apr 20, 2008 8:57 pm

The other stuff that got deleted pertained to the discussion of using polishing compound and then car wax with your own rag on the UNDERSIDE of the CD.

The top side (with the writing) is just a thin membrane that contains the digital information. The underside of a CD is just regular plastic, which provides the CD with its physical structure, and through which the laser reads the ditigal information contained on the top side from underneath. You can buff scratches and foreign materials off the bottom side rather easily using car polishing compound and then car wax.

Toothpaste also works well: a mild enough abrasive to clean but not damage it. (I have used that toothpaste trick to buff superficial "frosted" scuffs from watch crystals, too.)
Last edited by Lawrence on Sun Apr 20, 2008 8:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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#7 Post by Lawrence » Sun Apr 20, 2008 8:57 pm

We also discussed different machines cleaning discs, including using a buffing wheel attached to a machine grinder and the "Disk Doctor" scratch removal machine that is available at Fry's.

I advised against the disc doctor. The buffing wheel is arranged with rubber spokes that frequently collapse during use, which causes an abrupt and useless motion on the buffing wheel. Very frustrating.

I also noted that many CD stores use a buffing wheel attached to a machine grinder-wheel, with car wax or polishing compound as a buffing agent. It buffs the CDs VERY quickly to a perfect shine.
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#8 Post by SoundInMotionDJ » Mon Apr 21, 2008 4:07 pm

More to the point...what did you try, and did it work?

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#9 Post by J-h:n » Tue Apr 22, 2008 9:04 am

SoundInMotionDJ wrote:More to the point...what did you try, and did it work?
Okay... This turned out to be some extremely hard glue, and I haven't actually gotten the disc back in shape yet.

First I soaked the chunk of glue in oil for a few days to soften it up, then I cleaned it and attacked it with a variety of plastic tools. No luck - the stuff was just too hard.

Then I went to work with some car wax on a cloth (I don't own a grinder wheel, sadly). Sloooow going, barely noticable effect. OK, car polish. Elbow grease. Go go go. After about an hour and a half I had most off the goo off, but not all, and the disc was of course really scratched up. I decided to take a break. Somehow that break hasn't really ended yet.

And I ordered the scratch repair device that you recommended. Hasn't turned up yet. I'll get back to you when I've tried it.

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#10 Post by Lawrence » Tue Apr 22, 2008 9:31 am

The Disc Doctor will NOT get glue that resilient off. Not even if it worked perfectly and the rubber spokes did not collapse. It is designed to get very superficial scratches off, and the rubber-spoked wheel is designed to NOT put that much pressure on the CD.

Also, soaking a CD in oil is NOT a good idea because the oil will weaken the adhesion of the data layer onto the plastic disc. The data is kept on a very thin sheet of foil-like "paper," which is adhered to the plastic. That adhesion is much better on printed CDs (manufactured by music labels) than CD-Rs, but the data layer can peel off on both types. If you have ever broken a CD-R, you should know what I mean. I have accidentally soaked a CD-R in oil (sun tan oil on a CD I took to the pool), and the data layer bubbled off and then just peel off completely like a beer label off a bottle.

Here are two things to try short of getting a buffing wheel. First, every glue has a solvent that can break it down. However, some solvents will damage the plastic of the CD so deeply (cloud it up and make it translucent instead of transparent) that you can't buff it out.

Second, the buffing wheel just reduces the elbow-grease necessary to do the buffing. You can still buff it out like you tried with car wax, but just use slightly more abrasive compounds. The problem you ran into is that car wax is a VERY fine abrasive (read: not that abrasive). The very fine abrasive is necessary to get a very smooth, shiny finish on a car. However, to strip something like that off, you will need a much harsher abrasive.

In terms of car buffing compounds (which would be safe to use on a CD), polishing compound is more abrasive, and rubbing compound is more abrasive, still. Steel wool also would be more abrasive, but still short of sandpaper.

Once you use a more abrasive substance, then retreat back through the less abrasive substances to get back to a transparent, shiny finish. For instance, if you use steel wool, then buff it with rubbing compound, then polishing compound, then paste car wax, then liquid car wax for a perfect finish. Car wax will not be able to buff out the scratches from steel wool or rubbing compound.
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#11 Post by J-h:n » Tue Apr 22, 2008 2:20 pm

Lawrence wrote:The Disc Doctor will NOT get glue that resilient off. Not even if it worked perfectly and the rubber spokes did not collapse. It is designed to get very superficial scratches off, and the rubber-spoked wheel is designed to NOT put that much pressure on the CD.
I'm sure you're right; I'll save it for when I'm down to fine scratches.
Lawrence wrote:Also, soaking a CD in oil is NOT a good idea because the oil will weaken the adhesion of the data layer onto the plastic disc.
Yes, I just dabbed it onto the glue, on the underside of the disc.
Lawrence wrote:Here are two things to try short of getting a buffing wheel. First, every glue has a solvent that can break it down. However, some solvents will damage the plastic of the CD so deeply (cloud it up and make it translucent instead of transparent) that you can't buff it out.
That was my original thought, and my original fear. Everybody advised against it, probably with good reason.
Lawrence wrote:Second, the buffing wheel just reduces the elbow-grease necessary to do the buffing. You can still buff it out like you tried with car wax, but just use slightly more abrasive compounds. The problem you ran into is that car wax is a VERY fine abrasive (read: not that abrasive). The very fine abrasive is necessary to get a very smooth, shiny finish on a car. However, to strip something like that off, you will need a much harsher abrasive.

In terms of car buffing compounds (which would be safe to use on a CD), polishing compound is more abrasive, and rubbing compound is more abrasive, still.
I actually meant rubbing compound when I said "car polish". That's what I used after I gave up on the car wax. It worked, only it still worked very slowly. I don't think I dare move up to steel wool; I'm plannng to keep working with the rubbing compound, then polish off the scratches using gradually finer compounds, then try the Disc Doctor for the final finish. I'm just putting it off because it's a pain.

People, just don't glue stuff to CD:s, OK? It's not worth it.

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#12 Post by Surreal » Tue Apr 22, 2008 8:54 pm


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#13 Post by Lawrence » Wed Apr 23, 2008 11:33 am

That's not glue, its lube.

Wait a sec... gotta wipe off my monitor.

Nope, I was mistaken. Just strings. 8)
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