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Melting foam on CDs

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philadelphialawyer

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May 14, 2018, 9:18:53 PM5/14/18
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I should have checked a long time ago....but...I am suddenly discovering more and more CD box sets (usually operas) that have been on my shelves for years, which contain those nasty foam liners between the discs. Enough time has passed that the foam is starting to disintegrate, and sometimes, when I try to remove it from the boxes, it deteriorates completely into some sort of goo that sticks to the discs! Yuck! To my surprise, my go to goo remover, lighter fluid, did not work to remove the gunk. I will be going through the whole collection in the next couple days to remove these inserts. Has anyone discovered any solvent that I can use to remove this junk when it gets stuck to the front of the discs? I do not want to put these sticky discs into a disc player and end up trashing that as well. Any help or suggestions would be welcome! Thanks in advance.

Frank Berger

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May 14, 2018, 9:35:52 PM5/14/18
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On 5/14/2018 9:18 PM, philadelphialawyer wrote:
> I should have checked a long time ago....but...I am suddenly discovering more and more CD box sets (usually operas) that have been on my shelves for years, which contain those nasty foam liners between the discs. Enough time has passed that the foam is starting to disintegrate, and sometimes, when I try to remove it from the boxes, it deteriorates completely into some sort of goo that sticks to the discs! Yuck! To my surprise, my go to goo remover, lighter fluid, did not work to remove the gunk. I will be going through the whole collection in the next couple days to remove these inserts. Has anyone discovered any solvent that I can use to remove this junk when it gets stuck to the front of the discs? I do not want to put these sticky discs into a disc player and end up trashing that as well. Any help or suggestions would be welcome! Thanks in advance.
>

Have you tried Goo Gone?

smo...@hotmail.com

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May 15, 2018, 1:23:42 AM5/15/18
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It is known issue (I got rid of the foam from my cd boxes many years ago when I first read about it before experiencing it myself. I have experienced foam that crumbled, though). Don’t know how to fix the problem, but I would try googling.

Soeren

weary flake

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May 15, 2018, 1:28:50 AM5/15/18
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I've reduced the gunk with rubbing alcohol, but don't
need to entirely remove the stuff from the label side,
and let it be dirty looking. I've bought a cheap opera
set on DG from a store a couple years ago and one of the
CDs was piled with the foam-goo. I lightly rubbed it with
rubbing alcohol, which actually removed most of the
printing from the label side of the CD, leaving it blank
looking, yet it plays fine.

I remove those awful foam pieces everywhere I find it.

ro...@verizon.net

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May 15, 2018, 10:21:47 AM5/15/18
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Avoid using anything with acetone (such as goof-off, not to be confused with Goo Gone) denatured alcohol or lacquer thinner. I think any of the citrus oil products are safe and gentle. Smell nice too.

Carey

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May 15, 2018, 10:58:58 AM5/15/18
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Goo Gone’s active ingredient is acetic acid, which works well on PVA glues, but I wouldn’t try it on a CD,
myself. YMMV.

Frank Berger

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May 15, 2018, 11:09:21 AM5/15/18
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Well, I have more than a few CDs that are expendable and plenty of Goo
Gone, so when I get a chance I will test it to see if it damages the CD
in any way.

Randy Lane

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May 15, 2018, 11:09:58 AM5/15/18
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Try using features alcohol, AKA wood alcohol. Cleaner than rubbing alcohol.

Frank Berger

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May 15, 2018, 11:13:05 AM5/15/18
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On 5/15/2018 11:09 AM, Randy Lane wrote:
> Try using features alcohol, AKA wood alcohol. Cleaner than rubbing alcohol.
>

There are reports of people using Goo Gone without damaging the CD.
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