Oh, the HORROR

I, if you might have guessed, am an anime fan. It was the original springboard that got me into Japanese culture. I've diverged since my younger days. I still like anime/manga, but I don't obsess over it anymore and it probably only takes 2 hours a month from my time. However, I still feel and sympathize with my fellow "otaku" (which is an inaccurate word that was brought over from Japanese to English).

Yesterday, my mom found a DVD collection of Chobits (which I believe is no longer in production) in our driveway (mind you, I have a long dirt driveway). We had a party last Saturday where it had fallen from a trunk. We're pretty sure it had fallen into a mud puddle (due to the soaked nature of the once-beautiful-artwork that encased the disks and the dried mud on the disks themselves). If I had been just mud, I think the disks would have been quite salvageable. However, there was some crushing going on at one point because the plastic in the case is destroyed and the disks have some serious indents from grit.

In order to aid those who love their CDs/DVDs, I shall post a quick tutorial and some alternate links on how to clean them in the event something like this happens again. (Poor unfortunate disks...)

Getting the GRIT off (Method I used)

1. Soak the disk in water, using a bowl that fully fits the disk and more. Do NOT heat the water, as that might cause the disk to warp.
2. After at LEAST 5 minutes, remove what dirt you can from the cover side of the disk. This is to prevent more dirt from getting onto the data side.
3. After removing the disk and setting it on a towel, empty, rinse and refill the bowl with unheated water. Place the disk back into the bowl. (This will be done several times)
   
4. Make sure the disk is fully submerged for another minute.
5. Take a Q-tip and let it soak in some water. Then, VERY gently brush the dirty off of the disk. I cannot stress how gentle you must be. Every extra scratch further damages the disk.
6. As the bowl fills with dirt, repeat step 3. You should be able to brush the dirt off without other dirt getting in the way.

Now that you have the grit off, you should be able to see all the damaged parts of the disk. Don't give up hope yet (I haven't, though I'm doubting).

The next step is to actually CLEAN the disk and this is the tricky part. Disks must be shiny, with no finger prints or anything on them. There are a couple options for this. You can go out and buy a soft lens cloth and some disk cleaning solution. You can do what LOC says (see below). Or you can possibly take it to a DVD rental or Used Game Store and have them clean it for you. I'm not sure if they will or not though, because you're not a customer. I'm sure if you offered to pay for the service, they might reconsider or tell you some info on how to get it cleaned. This is the method I plan to use for removing the scratches.

http://www.loc.gov/preserv/familytreasures/ftpreserv.html
http://www.loc.gov/preserv/care/record.html

These two links are run by the library of Congress and have information on how to clean and preserve your disks (and other materials).

WARNING
Disposable lens cleaning towelettes damage the disks. I noticed this myself. I'm pretty sure it was because there might have been grit, but I don't think I'll be trying again with those.