Not only can you clean a Blu Ray player, but you should. Regular cleaning keeps a Blu Ray player performing well, and prevents problems ranging from poor performance to discs that won’t play at all.
In fact, if your Blu Ray player is having problems, giving it a good clean is always the best first step and can resolve all kinds of issues.
How Often do You Need to Clean a Blu Ray Player?
There are two ways to know when it’s time to clean a Blu Ray player:
Regular maintenance cleaning
How often you clean your player depends to a degree on how often you use it. For a Blu Ray player that is used once or twice a week, monthly cleaning should be sufficient. If it’s used more often, it may need to be cleaned once a week. At the very least, a Blu Ray player should be cleaned a couple times a year.
To correct playback issues
A dirty Blu Ray player may cause discs to skip, distort, or not play at all. If your Blu Ray player isn’t working correctly, the first step should be to clean the disc and the player and see if that fixes it.
You may also want to clean your Blu Ray player more often if you buy a lot of used media from second-hand shops or online auction sites.
You may find that second-hand discs are dirtier, more smudged, or more scratched than new ones, and more frequent cleaning helps protect your Blu Ray player from the dirt on these discs, and also helps them play better and be more enjoyable.
How to Clean a Blu Ray Player
If your Blu Ray player has cleaning instructions or recommendations from the manufacturer, it’s always important to follow their guidelines. If you no longer have your printed manual, you can often find support for your model on the manufacturer’s website, so it’s a good idea to check their first.
For most makes and models, there are three parts to cleaning a Blu Ray player:
Clean the outer case
Most of the time, you can simply clean the outer case front and top by wiping it down with a lightly damp microfiber cloth. If the case has gotten a spill or something sticky on it, you may dampen a cloth with a mild dish soap solution and use it to clean up the spill.
If you are wiping down the back of the machine where the ports are, do not use the same cloth you used on the rest of the machine. You don’t want a dirty cloth to introduce moisture, dust, or debris into the ports and connectors, so always clean the back of a Blu Ray player with a clean dry cloth.
Clean the air vents
The cooling vents on a Blu Ray player may become clogged with dust over time. Use a soft brush to sweep away dust and keep the air flowing as it should.
Clean the lens
The best way to clean the lens of a Blu Ray player is to use a cleaning disc, like this one from Digital Innovations. There are many Blu Ray cleaning discs, and they all work generally the same way:
A conventional disc has tiny brushes embedded on the surface, that sweep dust and debris off the surface of a laser lens as it rotates in the player. You simply insert the disc in your Blu Ray player and follow the instructions on-screen.
How to Clean a Blu Ray Disc
From time to time, you may find that your discs have smudges or fingerprints on them. In many cases this kind of dirt doesn’t prevent the disc from playing well, but if there are playback problems, it’s always a good idea to clean the disc. Using clean discs also helps to keep the player itself clean and working well. Here’s how to clean a Blu Ray disc:
For simple smudges and fingerprints
- Hold the disc by its edges to avoid getting your own fingerprints on it
- Use a soft, dry microfiber cloth or chamois, and gently sweep the disc clean in straight lines from the center of the disc to the outside edge.
For very dirty discs
If the above process didn’t work and the surface of the disc is still dirty, repeat the process, but get your cloth damp with white vinegar first. Wipe the disc with the damp vinegar cloth, and allow it to dry thoroughly before placing it in your Blu Ray player.
Conclusion
Not only can you clean a Blu Ray player, but you should clean it often. Cleaning is critical in prolonging the life of a Blu Ray player and preventing skipping and playback problems. It’s also the first step in diagnosing problems with your player or your discs.