Best way to clean a cartridge port

[Neb6]

Recently I did some contact cleaning on some cartridges for an Atari 8-bit computer. It helped a lot.

Now I suspect that my ColecoVision may have dirty cartridge port contacts.

Cleaning cartridge contacts is pretty easy, but is there a recommended way to clean the cartridge port?

[Captain_N77]

Some people suggest using cleaning cloths, like the ones that are used to clean eye glasses, and covering the edge of a credit card with them. Then, push it in and out a few times.

The only way I've ever cleaned them is putting some alcohol on a clean toothbrush and give it a little scrub. Just make sure it's unplugged and give it some time to dry out before plugging it back up.

[Tanooki]

I'd do what the captain there said and have. Thin cleaning cloth, wet with 91% isopropyl alcohol, wrap around a license/library card/credit card, and pull in and out of the slot until the rag stays clean doing that. That proof of alcohol dries super fast if you don't just soak it, but do have it unplugged while doing the cleaning. I'd suggest a cleaning kit but Nintendo I think was the first one to think up something like that for retail.

[Arkanoid_Katamari]

I've always used alcohol with cotton swabs. Seems to work ok, but I imagine the credit card is better.

[Tanooki]

Cotton swabs will get hung up in the pins and pull fuzzies off that will get stuck in there and could be an issue.

[InsaneDavid]

The only way I've ever cleaned them is putting some alcohol on a clean toothbrush and give it a little scrub. Just make sure it's unplugged and give it some time to dry out before plugging it back up.

This is what I've always done. When I see the old cheap five pack of generic toothbrushes at a dollar store I buy a few packs and keep them around specifically for this. The cloth on card method works as well but I have had a rogue pin catch the cloth and either get bent or pull off some cloth fiber that then needs to be picked out of the slot.

[wiggyx]

I use what's known as "illustration board". It's a thick, heavy paper board and it comes in a number of thicknesses, which is great because you can find a thickness for pretty much any and every cartridge port out there.