surface emulsion coming off DVD

[fred3f]

About 9 years ago I made some DVD's with a white inkjet printable surface. Now I find that when I use these DVD's the emulsion is coming off in the DVD player. I have to open up the player and clean it out. I have tried scraping it off myself before putting it in, but it is a long and messy job. I can't copy them to media without any printable surface without the surface coming off. Is there a way to copy them or remove the emulsion easily. Has anyone had experience with this?

[hech54]

Printables were always bad news. No surprises here.

[fred3f]

I was hoping for something a bit more helpful.

[CobraPilot]

Have you considered trying various solvents and/or non-dust-producing abrasives to remove the emulsion?

You might start with relatively mild ones, such as alcohol, using cotton swabs/Q-tips on a test area and move toward more aggressive solvents if necessary.

Some candidates that come to mind: Car polish, polishing compound, Goof-Off, white toothpaste, etc.

Were I to try this, I'd certainly start on my least-favorite disc of these oldies.

Good luck! Please let us know what works for you.

[hech54]

I was hoping for something a bit more helpful.

OK...."stop using printables".
How about...."copy the printables to your HDD and throw that pieces of crap in the garbage before they ruin your equipment"

What other possible solution could there be?

[SLK001]

Printables were always bad news. No surprises here.

This is news to me...

I've been using the printables for quite a while - pretty much since they came out. None of mine are failing, nor are any of the surfaces degrading. It may help us if you told us the brand of the offending disks.

[AlanHK]

I was hoping for something a bit more helpful.

OK...."stop using printables".
How about...."copy the printables to your HDD and throw that pieces of crap in the garbage before they ruin your equipment"

If you had bothered to read his post before spouting off, you might have noticed that's what he's trying to do.

Is there a way to copy them or remove the emulsion easily.

Your "advice" is just a restatement of his question, as usual lacking any useful information.

[steptoe]

I assume you mean the top surfacere of the disc is lifting off, have you tried spraying lacquer for ink pritable discs on the printed surface to seal in the printed part, then at least you might be able to copy the DVDs before you lose them totally

Its basically the same stuff used for car paint lacquer but for ink


I did try car lacquer but it has a habit of just sitting on the printed surface and taking forever to dry. Some people have even suggested normal hair spray in a couple of very thin coats. Might be worth trying in a desperate situation



Also, try looking for Photographic Lacquer, you may have to try good photographic shops or art shops to find it. Apparently this spray stuff is designed to seal photographs and ink printed images for waterproofing and help prevent colour fading with time

This 'may' help you to seal the DVDs to copy them before they fail totally

[lordsmurf]

There's nothing inherently wrong with inkjet surfaces.
Rather it's a problem of the quality of the media, as is usual.

What brand of discs were these?
Media ID is not necessarily as important for inkjet discs, when discussing the surface.
But good to know both, if that's available.

[hech54]

I was hoping for something a bit more helpful.

OK...."stop using printables".
How about...."copy the printables to your HDD and throw that pieces of crap in the garbage before they ruin your equipment"

If you had bothered to read his post before spouting off, you might have noticed that's what he's trying to do.

Is there a way to copy them or remove the emulsion easily.

Your "advice" is just a restatement of his question, as usual lacking any useful information.

Oh I'm sorry...I assumed everyone here understood English.
By the word "equipment"...I meant A/V equipment...like the DVD player attached to your television....the (more)expensive stuff.
And by "copy" I meant stick the sticky, useless, expensive equipment-ruining DVDs in a $20 computer DVD drive, rip them to your computer's hard drive and re-burn them to DVD blanks that are NOT sticky, useless, expensive equipment ruining DVDs....then throw the sticky, useless, expensive equipment ruining DVDs into the garbage. Again I'm making the assumption that the OP knows what I'm talking about or knows how to do that....we all must take chances in life I guess.

[AlanHK]

Oh I'm sorry...I assumed everyone here understood English.
By the word "equipment"...I meant A/V equipment...like the DVD player attached to your television....the (more)expensive stuff.
And by "copy" I meant stick the sticky, useless, expensive equipment-ruining DVDs in a $20 computer DVD drive, rip them to your computer's hard drive and re-burn them to DVD blanks that are NOT sticky, useless, expensive equipment ruining DVDs....then throw the sticky, useless, expensive equipment ruining DVDs into the garbage. Again I'm making the assumption that the OP knows what I'm talking about or knows how to do that....we all must take chances in life I guess.

Of course, if you hadn't explained this, he might have tried to copy the disk with a photocopier.

Valuable, incisive and helpful advice, as always.