The problem: You need to clean a skipping DVD or CD, but don’t have any of those expensive disc-cleaning fluids or kits.

The fix: Try wiping the disc with a vodka- or mouthwash-soaked cloth. Alcohol, which acts as a powerful solvent, will easily remove fingerprints and grime from a disc. A bottle of alcohol-based mouthwash may do the job as effectively as an expensive bottle of DVD-cleaning fluid, for a fraction of the price. Swabbing a CD with Stoli will work just as well as a disc-washer kit.

If all else fails, or you don’t feel like wasting perfectly good liquor, the hippie guy down the hall in our dorm used to swear by the toilet method. Place the CD or DVD upside down at the bottom of the bowl, then flush, producing a mini-cyclone which will swirl through the hole in the disk. (Flush the toilet, first, of course). This method has not been independently verified for obvious reasons. Another, unverified last resort is to try boiling a DVD or CD-ROM that won’t play at all.

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