Home > Consumer Reviews > 3M AV-115 CD and CDRom Clean Wipes and Spray Cleaner

If you handle your CDs carefully, there's probably no need to ever clean them. But I borrow a lot of discs from my library and I have no idea how they've been treated or where they've been. To avoid possibly transferring dust and other residues into my CD drive and also to be sure the CDs play without skips or mistracking, I like to use this product to clean them first.

The package consists of a small spray bottle containing 3/4 of an ounce of an isopropyl alcohol and water solution and 20 single-use, circular, lint-free wipes about the size of a CD. Clear instructions on proper use are provided by 3M. Basically, you spray one spray of the liquid onto the non-label side of the disc and then wipe from the center out with the wipe. Not rocket science.

The product seems to do a good job. The discs are fingerprint, smudge, lint and dust free afterwards. It does not repair scratches, nor does it claim to do so.

***Update 1/15/04*** I continue to be pleased with this product. Since writing the original review, I've joined Netflix and use the AV-115 kit to clean the DVDs that I get from them. It does a fine job. I find that each wipe can be used for a dozen or more DVDs or CDs as long as it is stored in a clean, dust-free place between uses. Also, I tend to use more than 1 spray of the cleaning fluid per surface to ensure thorough cleaning.

**CD and CDRom Clean Wipes and Spray Cleaner**
It is a CD (Compact Disk) & CDRom (CD Read Only Memory) disk CLEANER. It is intended for cleaning dust, oil, and other foreign matter off of the disk surface. That is it!
It is not intended for cleaning a CD Player or CDRom Drive nor does it state that it is intended for that purpose. (CDRom does not = CDRom Drive)
This product is what it says it is and does what it says it does.
It cleans CD's of any type.

YOU MIGHT ASK YOURSELF, 3M YEAH THAT SOUNDS FAMILIAR RIGHT?
WELL THEY SHOULD. THEY ARE AN EXTREMELY INNOVATIVE AND QUALITY DRIVEN COMPANY, BUT THIS PRODUCT SHOULD NOT BEAR THE NAME. HERE'S WHY. FIRST OFF FROM THE VERY BEGINNING YOU ARE UNSURE WHETHER THESE WIPES CLEAN CD'S, CD DRIVES OR BOTH. IN A SITUATION SUCH AS THIS YOU WOULD WANT TO HAVE CAREFUL INSTRUCTIONS. I NEEDED THIS ITEM IN ORDER TO CLEAN MY SCRATCHED CD'S THAT NO LONGER PLAY WITHOUT AN ABUNDANCE OF SKIPPITY SKIPS BUT THIS PRODUCT SEEMS TO NO AVAIL. IF YOU WANT TO CLEAN DUST OFF YOUR CD'S YOU CAN USE A NAPKIN OR TISSUE WHY SPEND TEN DOLLARS ON A PRODUCT THAT REMOVES DUST. WHAT I NEEDED WAS A PRODUCT THAT HELPS SCRATCHED CD'S PLAY BETTER AND THIS PRODUCT DOESN'T SEEM TO FOOT THE BILL.

AS FAR AS CLEANING YOUR CD DRIVE, UNLESS YOU NEED THIS FOR A DISCMAN THIS PRODUCT IS OF NO USE. HEY TRY IT! BUT YOU MAY LOSE A FINGER TRYING TO JAM YOUR HAND INTO YOUR CD DRIVE. I MEAN GET REAL HOW DO YOU WIPE THE INSIDE OF YOUR MACHINE WITH YOUR HAND?