Cleaning Floppy Disks - Multiple Methods Tested!

[@elmariachi5133]

Your contributions to the community are outstanding.

[@philosoaper]

back in the C64 days I used to use a knife to cut open the edge at the top of the 5.25" floppies, remove the plastic disk inside and wash it in the sink before letting it dry and put it in a clean sleeve from I had taken from another donor diskette.... always worked just fine..by the time I moved to 3.5" disks I had pretty much figured out not to spill coke or milk on them...

[@RobSmithDev]

Haha very true

[@calebland6246]

I got excited when you mentioned your updated core. I can't wait to try it out when it's done.

[@Amn2k9]

After cleaning quite a few floppy’s when I got back into the old Amiga hobby again, I started to google a disk cleaner, and there was actually an old expired patent for a floppy cleaning machine / disk cleaner. I might buy one if you Rob created a simple one for sale. :D

[@RobSmithDev]

Oooh didn’t realise there was a patent! Interesting. Maybe I’ll design a simple version

[@lesliespeaker668]

"Let's take a look at some dirty disks. And I've got a box full of them from a random ebay purchase." Scary how this sentence's innocence depends on just a single word.

[@RobSmithDev]

😂😂😂😂

[@elmariachi5133]

Only the original leaves your floppys sparkling clean! 😀

[@Jaw0lf]

Interesting experiments and it seems cleaning helps!

[@RobSmithDev]

Sure does!

[@JimLeonard]

The idea of a cleaning machine is clever, but I need to correct a misconception in your methodology: When you can see through the wafer, that isn't caused by dirt scratching the surface; it's caused by the binder (the glue that holds the oxide layer to the wafer) degrading over time. The material becomes "gooey" and is taken off by the head itself, even if the head is perfectly clean and functional. Degraded binder is also what causes the "screeching" noise in a floppy drive -- and if you hear that, immediately remove it and clean the drive, because that sound is the binder is being transferred from the wafer to your drive heads. (This is also the cause of "brown stuff" on your cotton buds, which is never dirt and always oxide, and a sign that you're taking too much off.) As for what to do in this case, you can attempt to re-bind the oxide layer to the wafer by following the same practices as you would restoring analog audiotape, namely baking the wafer at about 58C for a few hours to re-consolidate the binder. To prevent the binder from getting stuck on the heads again, put a few drops of cyclomethicone (a lubricant) on the surface right before reading; it then evaporates afterwards.

[@CRG]

Nicely done and thanks for the shout-out. It was particularly interesting to see the data at the end and those images of the damaged disks, I though you had x-rayed it or something as it looked terrible.

[@RobSmithDev]

I might have to revisit this again and do further testing although it does take far too long lol. Yeah they do look like an xray, but just a bright light underneath:)

[@RetroGamesRediscovered]

Great video Rob and interesting about the pattern on the disc, I'd never thought about that. As with everyone else, I'm sure, I've got loads of disks to clean!

[@RobSmithDev]

I’ve still got three boxes full…. 😅

[@more.power.]

Thank you Rob you are awesome. cheers

[@RetronautTech]

Thanks for doing thus research Rob. Definitely useful! I recently bought 3 packs of 5x Memorex 3.5" disks, and on inspecting them all of them had (apparent surface) mould and produced a scratchy sound in a drive. Erk... the vendor was kind enough to refund the full purchase price (nice guy). I now wonder if I might be able to rescue some of these disks? As you found Rob, my own intuition is that soapy water would be the best bet. I actually did this back in the day for a floppy that got soaked in coffee when it was spilt on my desk. Back then, using IPA alcohol would not have been on the radar (no Amazon). My thoughts were, get the dried coffee fudge off and it might be ok, and it was! Now in this case, maybe the magnetic surface is also sloughing off these disks. But, I think its worth a try with at least ONE disk eh?

[@RobSmithDev]

If they don’t read then you don’t have anything to lose by trying!

[@RetronautTech]

@@RobSmithDev When the disk spun on the 4 I tested, it scratched the surface I think. But Ill give on thats untested a go!

[@crumplezone1]

Hi Rob, I find that a lot of floppy disks are also now going faulty like you mention because of the adhesive that sticks the media to the metal ring and any pressure then separates them when trying to clean them, the screeching sound when putting these floppies in a drive is a giveaway that the media and ring are separating in most cases so what I do now before I do anything is use a pin and dip the head in some gorilla glue and dab it carefully around say 4 points so joining the media to the ring, I then let that set and only when dry fully I will use Windowlene ( has a little vinegar in it) glass cleaner to clean the media and it also gives me great results as I found isoprop too aggressive and can remove some of the media I have used these methods many times and it works well if there are say genuine disks you want to save

[@RobSmithDev]

I did wonder about trying windalene - makes sense it would work - although I wonder if it could also break down the glue too

[@crumplezone1]

@@RobSmithDev Won`t break down the Gorilla glue gel it is the expanding type not superglue,it works great, I have saved many disks now using this method, it is belt and braces thing as it is innevatable the Media and Ring adhesive will separatebecause it dries out

[@RobSmithDev]

@crumplezone1 the isopropyl did in the tank I had. I used it to seal the pipes and a week later had all peeled off

[@crumplezone1]

@@RobSmithDev Yeah isoprop will strip the life out of most things :)

[@nekrender9713]

@@RobSmithDev Hello, Are you referring to "Windolene Original Cream" in a pink bottle?

[@rrhalo]

13:14 Guessing: Machine + IPA, for me! 15:15 OMG!

[@RobSmithDev]

Interesting result right.!

[@JohnSmith-bh4zx]

Really interesting video, thanks.

[@ctrlaltrees]

One weird trick for rescuing your old data - floppy drives hate him! On a more serious note, that MiSTer Floppy is an impressive bit of kit, great to see it in action at Kickstart even if I didn't acknowledge its brilliance at the time due to other "distractions" 😝

[@RobSmithDev]

Hopefully won’t be too long until it’s ready to release properly

[@beatchef]

The disk cleaning kit I bought on eBay consisted of a disk shutter opener and turner, and a microfibre cloth. I learned my lesson after one disk that they shouldn't have included the microfibre cloth and it completely destroyed the surface of the disk. Now I too use a cotton bud with the zig zag motion.

[@RobSmithDev]

Makes me wonder if I should start selling my own kits!

[@beatchef]

@@RobSmithDev Definitely! Drive cleaning disks too, it would help use up all the dead disks and the other 99 filters you bought :D

[@RobSmithDev]

So true lol

[@linuxjedivideo]

I wonder if something akin to rinse aid would help with the washing up liquid in the machine.

[@RobSmithDev]

Maybe although a rinse cycle could be good. Doesn’t really seem to leave any residue on the surface though which is good

[@linuxjedivideo]

@@RobSmithDev I'm more thinking how it changes the properties of water. But yea, you are unlikely to get residue with de-mineralised water.

[@wesley00042]

You've gone full Jon Richardson. You never go full Jon Richardson.

[@BrunoGomes666]

I've been using 70% ethyl alcohol and it has been working great for me. With more than 90%, I noticed that the magnetic layer was starting to come off, and isopropyl alcohol is much stronger than ethyl alcohol. I separate the two halfs of the floppy, take out the magnetic disk and use a cotton pad (usually used to remove makeup) with 70% ethyl alcohol and gently clean up the magnetic disk's surface. I was curious if you would test the 70% ethyl alcohol, as in my mind I get a bigger success rate then you did. Is it just in my mind?

[@RobSmithDev]

I suspect removing the disk completely is going to be the kindest approach all together (and quicker). But to be honest if I was trying to recover the data I would have cleaned them first because the first read was probably when the most damage actually occurred.

[@BrunoGomes666]

@@RobSmithDev that's actually what I did. So, it's possible that it has contributed for a higher success rate. But for a before and after comparison you have to read them first, so there's no way around that. 😅

[@TheImperial109]

I wonder, has anyone had one of these tarnished discs under a powerful microscope? Be interesting to see whether it's mould, dirt, or deterioration.

[@RobSmithDev]

Doing this did remind me of those experiments where they take a sample and put it in a petri-dish and leave it for a few days. I’d have done that if I had a way to know what I was looking at afterwards 😅

[@TheImperial109]

@RobSmithDev hah it could be a whole new species, quietly growing since the late 1980s!

[@iggienator]

Dirrrrrty disks, done dirty cheap! Dirrrty disks, done dirty cheap...

[@RobSmithDev]

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@ctrlaltrees]

12:01 *twitches*

[@RobSmithDev]

😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@COMATRON.]

my god how desperate am i for that mister drawbridge :O can i be a beta-tester? :) i got about 2k floppies and a wall of drives (pc and amiga)

[@RobSmithDev]

Beta test team is quite small but may be expanding it soon.

[@COMATRON.]

@@RobSmithDev please let me know - i would love to join & help out

[@6502grimlock]

B!

[@aldo8589]

the best method of course is remove the disk from the floppy and clean it outside using alcohol or water and soap, then of course insert it clean and dry, your method of cleaning the disk in the floppy sucks because It will dirty and wet the inside of the floppy

[@RobSmithDev]

I did mention this in the video

[@aldo8589]

@@RobSmithDev ah ok sorry , it happens my native lang is not english then sometimes I don't quite get have some phrases well,I also forgot to say that it is better to use water and a neutral soap than any kind of alcohol,some concentrated / strong alcohols can remove/dissolve the metal of the disk, personally I have had the better results repairing Amiga original games using water and soap only

[@RobSmithDev]

lol - that was the conclusion of the video