How do I clean CDs with isopropyl alcohol?

CDs have grooves?

I use undiluted 91% isopropyl applied with a spray bottle ( an old Optrix bottle works fine.) I give it two or maybe three sprays and allow the alcolhol to dwell for a few seconds then I dry the CD with a radial CD cleaner. Allsop makes one. Radio Shack also sells one for about $10 which is probably made for them by Allsop. I have been cautioned against getting alcohol on the label side of the CD as it may remove the labeling.

i work in plastics and can tell you, poly based cd's (most plastics in general) and alcohol don't mix...

alcohol degrades polys causing crazing-stress cracks,brittleness. if someone has a loupe check out what happens....how can a disc become that dirty to warrant alcohol in the first place?

stick with soap and water.

It sounds like soap and water is a much more benign way of cleaning CDs than isopropyl alcohol, but unfortunately the isopropyl alcohol sounds much, much more transparent than soap and water (it sounds very similar to Optrix, but without the enhanced treble presence that Optrix seems to impart).

Do you think that an inital clean (e.g. to remove the mold release compound)with undiluted 91% isopropyl alcohol will cause significant crazing of the polycarbonate layer?

Also, I rinse the disc with filtered tap water (Pur water filter). Does anyone know if this is audibly inferior (i.e. less transparent or grainy?) than a gentle final rinse with distilled water?

P. S. - I've found that gently running a slow stream of water off of the disc leaves almost no beads so that I only need to wipe beaded water off of the edges and label side. This technique obviates the need to pat dry the read side with anything.

Hello:

Optrix sounds like a high purity isopropyl alcohol with added non-ionic optically active surfacants.

Anybody know the %isopropyl alcohol that Optrix contains?

Also, anybody experienced crazing / brittleness with long-term use of Optrix? Anybody noticed any long-term sonic degradation of CDs treated with Optrix a long time ago (e.g. using a magnifying glass, can anyone see the fine mesh of cracks - crazing - previously mentioned?)

Any insights would be greatly appreciated!