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 Post subject: Caring for your laserdiscs
PostPosted: 04 Oct 2011, 21:24 
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Rotted laserdiscs

Some of the newer LD players from the 90's had a HQ Circuit button (effectively a filter) that you could turn on to mask the speckles visible during playback. For a mildly rotted laserdisc this worked well.

NTSC laserdiscs manufactured from about 1985 onwards usually have both a digital and an analogue soundtrack. This can be a lifesaver if the digital soundtrack is defective. Just switch to the analogue soundtrack and chances are it will play perfectly. I have quite a few music LDs where this is necessary, especially Sony ones!


Warped laserdiscs

Every single warped LD I have ever received I have managed to salvage to some degree or at least improve. Just take the disc out of the card jacket and leave in its inner polythene sleeve. Place it on a perfectly flat surface with an evenly distributed heavy weight placed across it. Leave it in this position for a few weeks then flip over and repeat, rotating occasionally. You will find that it eventually flattens out. The worst disc I ever received was warped by almost 1.5 inches when I set it on a flat surface! This now plays perfectly. Worst case the outer sector of the disc may exhibit some signs of not being flat (herring bone pattern visible on screen) as the laser has to rescan portions of the disc but it will still play. Don't forget to store your LDs vertically to avoid the same thing happening again and keep them away for heat sources as well!


Scratched laserdiscs

There are a range of cleaners available to dramatically improve both the cosmetic appearance of a laserdisc and more importantly the playback quality if the disc is scratched. Laserdiscs are much more tolerant of scratches in general. For a really badly scratched disc I use Novus 3 polish which is a heavy scratch remover. I then move on to Novus 2 (a fine scratch remover) and finally Novus 1 which is a shine and polish - always use a fresh tissue or cloth for each different grade of polish so you don't keep undoing your good work as the higher grades are effectively mild abrasives! Novus 1 is all you need for gently cleaning a grubby LD that has no scratches. Take care to not contaminate the label or spill liquid round the seams of the discs as some LDs are not actually that well joined. I've received some examples of LDs where the seller was a little over enthusiastic when cleaning the edges and you could see it had actually leaked between the 2 sides of the disc!


Sticky laserdiscs

Most people who have large LD collections will likely have some discs whose edges have excessive glue overspill. This was a common problem for some Japanese EMI LDs in the early to mid nineties. Whilst the discs play perfectly they are a nuisance to handle and insert into their sleeves. These are the most time consuming to rejuvenate, however it can be done. For a really bad disc you could use a block of light sandpaper to help remove some of the excess glue working your way round the disc gradually. Take care to keep moving round the disc so you don't end up with a square rather than a circle! It will likely clog the sandpaper very quickly though. As with the Novus polish you can work you way through various grades of sandpaper until the edge is more uniform and free of glue. Afterwards you could even paint a nice little coloured edge on the disc if you wish - I've seen this done on some music LDs I received and it looked really cool.

Replacing Inner Sleeves

After I've spent time cleaning laserdiscs it makes sense to put them in a new liner so they don't get all contaminated again. I actually prefer the circular bag inner sleeves that originally came with LDs to the paper ones which some collectors use. I suspect I am in the minority though, but my reasons are as follows: The circular plastic sleeves do not cause friction on the inside of the jacket whereas paper does. I therefore find them far easier to insert and remove from a jacket without causing damage to the jacket or the paper insert which most Japanese releases came with. The paper sleeves also don't last very long as they tend to have weak spots on the edges and discolour with time. For anyone who is interested the circular inner sleeves can be easily bought on places like Ebay from various Japanese sellers - in Japan they are still very popular for protecting LPs so are readily available. Elsewhere in the world they are not so common. The sleeves themselves being made of plastic will not last forever. On a really old discovision LD which I bought when I removed the disc from the sleeve the original inner plastic sleeve just crumbled into a pile of dust! The actual disc and outer jacket were fine so it was easy to replace the sleeve to make it look like brand new again.


Outer Sleeves

I personally prefer polythene sleeves to the really thick PVC sleeves because PVC gives off toxic gases which are both harmful to your health and unpleasant. All of my LDs have new outer jackets fitted so the sleeves do not deteriorate any further from the condition they arrived in and I never handle the actual covers directly to avoid stains which can occur. Ringwear and edgewear caused by friction are very common and yet so easily avoided if you always use jackets.


Missing OBIs

For the laserdisc completist a missing OBI is unacceptable!
So what should one do about it?
With modern scanning technology a nice copy of the OBI can be produced to replace a worn or missing OBI provided you can source the original. This is where a friend who has the original really helps. This works best for certain types of OBI - the side or top OBIs but not so well for triangular or ring OBIs unless you are prepared to pull them apart to copy and then stick them back together again!


Last edited by laserdisc_fan on 05 Oct 2011, 20:26, edited 1 time in total.
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 Post subject: Re: Caring for your laserdiscs
PostPosted: 05 Oct 2011, 15:30 
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The only thing I would add is that personally I greatly prefer polylined 12" innersleeves to either the circular plastic or plain paper - they are excellent, durable protection and, unlike the plastic-only sleeves, they are easy to insert into and remove from the jacket. I've used them for years (for my vinyl as well, of course). You can purchase them through Bags Unlimited.

- Mark
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 Post subject: Re: Caring for your laserdiscs
PostPosted: 07 Oct 2011, 06:41 
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I use the Novus #2 scratch remover too, and it works really good.
For regular LD cleaning though I now use the Mobile Fidelity Shine-Ola which comes in a 2oz spray bottle and includes a microfiber cloth. You don't need very much (about 2-3 sprays per disc side) and you just wipe it dry.
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 Post subject: Re: Caring for your laserdiscs
PostPosted: 08 Oct 2011, 04:54 
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chileboy wrote:
The only thing I would add is that personally I greatly prefer polylined 12" innersleeves to either the circular plastic or plain paper - they are excellent, durable protection and, unlike the plastic-only sleeves, they are easy to insert into and remove from the jacket. I've used them for years (for my vinyl as well, of course). You can purchase them through Bags Unlimited.

- Mark


Good to know. I'd been making my own by combining the common half-circle clear sleeves with a paper sleeve.
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 Post subject: Re: Caring for your laserdiscs
PostPosted: 11 Oct 2011, 09:39 
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Thanks chileboy!
Bags unlimited link rocks !
Very Grateful for that !!!
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 Post subject: Re: Caring for your laserdiscs
PostPosted: 15 Oct 2011, 16:15 
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I do not know of any source in the world that currently sells inner or outer sleeves for the smaller 8" size laserdiscs.
I guess it is a pity that they were not the same size as a 7" vinyl single because if they had been there would be zillions of options available.

Regardless you can make you own so your mini LDs get some TLC as well!
Buy the normal 12" size square inner poly sleeves and outer poly sleeves which are commonly available.
Place the 8" LD inside the sleeves and mark with a pen just beyond the size of the jacket and also mark the size so the inner sleeve will fit inside the jacket.
Then use an inexpensive bag heat sealer to seal down the lines and trim excess away for both outer and inner sleeves.
e.g.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Plastic-Bag ... 4aaf98da16

There are loads of different ones available.

Hey presto - perfect sized inner sleeves for your 8" LDs and also nice little outer jackets just the right size too.

The nice thing is you can make generous outer sleeves and even cut and fold a flap if you want to make outer sleeves just like some of the original Japanese LDs used to come in.

Now there is no excuse for ringwear and edgewear on your baby LDs!
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 Post subject: Re: Caring for your laserdiscs
PostPosted: 03 Dec 2011, 23:55 
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when i removed the sticky edges i used either a rubber eraser or bestine.

you can get it at an art supply store and it's a rubber cement thinner.

also if you just rub at one spot you will start to ball the glue up and the you can keep doing it until you get around the disc.

i know lighter fluid could work but i've never tried, it works on removing price stickers, and won't leave an odor like goo gone.
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 Post subject: Re: Caring for your Laserdiscs
PostPosted: 04 Dec 2011, 22:12 
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Everyone here may already have all this info, or indeed their own favourites, but when I was a mere beginner in this lovely field, I would have paid for this type of info. I am working on the assumption that if it was helpful to me, it may be helpful to others.

For general replacement and care of my discs, I usually shop from Sounds-wholesale on eBay...

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/SOUNDSWHOLESAL ... 4340.l2563

They have supplied me with bulk packs of PVC single protectors, PVC gate-fold protectors and poly-lined paper sleeves and they give a good quick turn around. They also offer different thicknesses and grades of protectors so it's not just the PVC type that I usually use. They are a good all-round 'go to' LD/LP shop.
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 Post subject: Re: Caring for your laserdiscs
PostPosted: 03 Jan 2012, 07:24 
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Today the fabric store here had their annual New Years day sale. I got some of the microfibre cleaning cloth material. This is the one with the suede type feel to it, which works good on laserdiscs and cd's too. It was on sale for half price. You can cut it into whatever size pieces you want. (the curved scissors works best to prevent fraying)

So for around 14.00 cost I got and made five large 17" square ones to put the LD on when cleaning, and eleven 8" square smaller ones. You can wash these too, so their re-usable. Here is a pic of a smaller one.


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 Post subject: Re: Caring for your laserdiscs
PostPosted: 12 May 2012, 07:51 
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i use normal kerosine (rokel) for removing scratches on ld.
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 Post subject: Re: Caring for your laserdiscs
PostPosted: 25 Jan 2013, 19:13 
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Evening all. My 1st post, and I was wondering please if I might be able to impart on someones wisdom?

Basically, I am looking to get PVC sleeves for my collection. Will 12" record sleeves work please? On measuring a laserdisc, they are a tad over 12" but I can't find sleeves that are bigger, and everyone seems to refer to what they use just as record sleeves! Just want to check before I make a big order and find I have a load of useless sleeves!

I thank anyone in advance who can please offer some advice. Cheers.
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 Post subject: Re: Caring for your laserdiscs
PostPosted: 25 Jan 2013, 19:48 
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record sleeves will work fine, look at bags unlimited they have 2 sizes.
i like the smaller ones for single LDs and they will work on some double discs, but some are a little snug.
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 Post subject: Re: Caring for your laserdiscs
PostPosted: 25 Jan 2013, 22:55 
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rein-o wrote:
record sleeves will work fine, look at bags unlimited they have 2 sizes.
i like the smaller ones for single LDs and they will work on some double discs, but some are a little snug.


You're a superstar. Thank you. So I'm cool with 12" record sleeves. Sweet, as the cool kids say.
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 Post subject: Re: Caring for your laserdiscs
PostPosted: 21 Apr 2013, 07:42 
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I guess camera lens cleaning cloth would work in the same way?

Warped discs? I have yet to come across one. Read the tip above and I recall reading it elsewhere I think it was on the inner sleeves of some Warner Laserdisc titles. Tips on caring for Laserdiscs.
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 Post subject: Re: Caring for your laserdiscs
PostPosted: 21 Apr 2013, 15:16 
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laserbite34 wrote:
I guess camera lens cleaning cloth would work in the same way?

Warped discs? I have yet to come across one. Read the tip above and I recall reading it elsewhere I think it was on the inner sleeves of some Warner Laserdisc titles. Tips on caring for Laserdiscs.


Warped discs straight from the factory were pretty common in the mid-80's, especially Fox titles made in the US - they seemed to be made from a softer plastic - I'm sure they weren't but with the warps and such, they sure seemed that way. The initial p0rn titles such as Insatiable, Up N Coming and Deep Throat also had lots of warps right out of the shrink wrap - several were so warped that they cut a circular groove from their outer edge in the bottom of my top loading LD-1100 player - once the disc got up to speed, they flattened out, but by the end of the side, the disc was scraping a groove in the player again. I'd open the lid and there would be grey plastic shavings all over the inside. Obviously the plastic the 1100 was made out of was softer than the disc plastic, since there were never any shavings from the discs themselves.
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 Post subject: Re: Caring for your laserdiscs
PostPosted: 23 Apr 2013, 18:32 
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where can you find the novous cleaner? I have a sticky disc and taking it out of the sleeve it left a little smudge on my copy of 1984.
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 Post subject: Re: Caring for your laserdiscs
PostPosted: 24 Apr 2013, 02:08 
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xtempo wrote:
where can you find the novous cleaner? I have a sticky disc and taking it out of the sleeve it left a little smudge on my copy of 1984.


Just search on Ebay for 'Novus plastic polish'. There are loads of different people selling it. Remember to buy the correct grade.
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 Post subject: Re: Caring for your laserdiscs
PostPosted: 24 Apr 2013, 05:34 
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for me it will depend on the scratch, if it's a heavy scratch i'll use #3, lighter scratches #2 and as like a windex
that is for plastic thats what #1 is for, just cleaning off plastic and won't damage like windex.
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 Post subject: Re: Caring for your laserdiscs
PostPosted: 24 Apr 2013, 20:55 
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I won an auction that has all 3 and the cloth in it.
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 Post subject: Re: Caring for your laserdiscs
PostPosted: 17 Jun 2013, 17:36 
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FWIW, I use the following product to keep my LD storage cabinet dry. It's cheap and it works great!

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000H0XFCS
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