Getting Pencil Off Disc?

[Porksta]

A thrift store I shop at has attempted to prevent theft by putting the price on the disc itself as opposed to the case. They use a red colored pencil of some kind. When I go to use rubbing alcohol, it strips the ink off the disc as well. Goo Gone isn't much better. Should I just leave the pencil on? Perhaps try to erase it?

[Tokimemofan]

A thrift store I shop at has attempted to prevent theft by putting the price on the disc itself as opposed to the case. They use a red colored pencil of some kind. When I go to use rubbing alcohol, it strips the ink off the disc as well. Goo Gone isn't much better. Should I just leave the pencil on? Perhaps try to erase it?

If alcohol and goo gone don't work you are stuck. If it is removing the disc printing try a Q-tip followed by a quick rinse. Are these CD-Rs or something? I ask because the only things I know that can rub off silk screening are sandpaper and acetone, 2 things that don't have any business being anywhere near a CD since they will destroy the plastic too.
BTW if it is a LaserDisc, DVD, Blu-Ray or HD-DVD you can take some tape and stick it on and peel it off, just don't do it to CDs or you may destroy the disc.

[Porksta]

Nope, regular CDs and DVDs. I tried using eraser and that works pretty well, but still not perfect.

[Tokimemofan]

Weird, I don't know how goo gone or alcohol would do that. I have never seen it happen and I have. Most CD cleaners contain alcohol too.

[APE992]

Probably grease pencil. Use lighter fluid, it'll take it off without harming the disc. Or at least it should as I've done it plenty of times.

Goo gone will eat the plastic of the disc and destroy it and rubbing alcohol shouldn't be damaging the disc at all. If it is taking "ink" off the disc you've got a bootleg there as pressed discs don't have their labels printed on.

[Gameguy]

I have two Saturn games like that, though they priced the cases they used a grease pencil to write the price codes on the discs too. They kept the discs separately in a binder so this was just unnecessary and stupid.

I haven't tried to clean them yet as I didn't want to risk damaging them. So lighter fluid should clean them off just fine without damaging the silkscreen?

Porksta, could you post pics of the discs you have? I know different discs are manufactured differently with different types of top coatings, I'd just like to see what type has the ink coming off if possible. And what happened with the Goo Gone? Any damage to the discs? I know with game cartridge labels I've had some where the ink came off with rubbing alcohol but most aren't affected, I'm hoping it's the same way with CDs.

[Porksta]

I guess taking off the artwork was a bit of an overstatement - it really just got rid of the "do not copy" message. What I did was apply Goo Gone and then get rid of the trace with rubbing alcohol. I did that with the CD that is pictured and it left the blemish, although the label of the CD was like recycled paper or something, so I probably should have paid better attention.

[APE992]

Goo gone is way too potent to be using on a disc. Leave it on long enough and it'll make the disc into a gel.

[Vectorman0]

Goo gone is way too potent to be using on a disc. Leave it on long enough and it'll make the disc into a gel.

Are you sure you aren't thinking of Goof Off?

[Gameguy]

I forgot about this thread, thanks Porksta for posting those pics. I'm still not sure what I should use to clean off the discs I have, if lighter fluid actually works without any damage I'll have to get some but if I can use Goo Gone instead I'd rather use that as I'm already used to using it. I've used Goo Gone on NES boxes without damaging them, it's not like it would eat the disc but I'm worried it could discolour or take off the silkscreen. I've also seen waterdamaged discs that look discoloured, I'm a bit nervous that the Goo Gone could soak through the top layer like that. I'm probably overthinking this as the top layer on Saturn discs look different to the types damaged in this thread.

[Tokimemofan]

I forgot about this thread, thanks Porksta for posting those pics. I'm still not sure what I should use to clean off the discs I have, if lighter fluid actually works without any damage I'll have to get some but if I can use Goo Gone instead I'd rather use that as I'm already used to using it. I've used Goo Gone on NES boxes without damaging them, it's not like it would eat the disc but I'm worried it could discolour or take off the silkscreen. I've also seen waterdamaged discs that look discoloured, I'm a bit nervous that the Goo Gone could soak through the top layer like that. I'm probably overthinking this as the top layer on Saturn discs look different to the types damaged in this thread.

I used goo gone to clean some unknown crud possibly from a removed rental sticker off a spare Legend of Mana disc. Didn't damage the printing. Just air it out afterwards or rinse it.

[xelement5x]

I have a couple bottles of Ronsonal lighter fluid that I keep around to remove residue, it's worth the $3 investment in my opinion.
From mildest to harshest in my stuff I do: Water -> Ronsonal -> 70% Iso -> 91% Iso
Never really needed something harsher than 91% isopropyl alcohol, and if I did I'd probably just leave it on the game anyway since I wouldn't want to risk worse damage.

[APE992]

Are you sure you aren't thinking of Goof Off?

I thought they were the same basic thing?

[Vectorman0]

I thought they were the same basic thing?

They are quite different. Goof Off sounds like what you described as being terribly damaging. Goo Gone is extremely gentle in my experience and it's what I typically use for getting stickers or residue off of discs, plastic cases, inserts, carts, labels, etc. You should try it.

[Porksta]

New Question:

I got a black bottomed PS1 game today. The problem? The price was written in grease pencil on the bottom of the disc. Now, my usual method for getting rid of grease pencil is some Goo Gone then wash it off with rubbing alcohol. However, that is what I do for the top of the disc. Will doing so to the bottom have any ill effects? Should I just try to rub it off with my thumb?

[wiggyx]

I thought they were the same basic thing?

No, Goo Gone is orange/citrus oil, Goof Off is about 90% Xylene.

New Question:

I got a black bottomed PS1 game today. The problem? The price was written in grease pencil on the bottom of the disc. Now, my usual method for getting rid of grease pencil is some Goo Gone then wash it off with rubbing alcohol. However, that is what I do for the top of the disc. Will doing so to the bottom have any ill effects? Should I just try to rub it off with my thumb?

This may sound dumb, but have you tried water and dish soap? If it is indeed grease pen, then it should come right off with a little detergent.

[APE992]

Would be worth trying out anything on an old demo disc first. They're a dime a dozen and it would solve the question once and for all.

[xelement5x]

New Question:

I got a black bottomed PS1 game today. The problem? The price was written in grease pencil on the bottom of the disc. Now, my usual method for getting rid of grease pencil is some Goo Gone then wash it off with rubbing alcohol. However, that is what I do for the top of the disc. Will doing so to the bottom have any ill effects? Should I just try to rub it off with my thumb?

Really?! Who would put the price on the bottom of the disc in pencil! I hope that at least you got a discount on it.

I like APE992's idea, grab a CDR or something an replicate what it looks like and try to clean it off various ways. I suppose you could use a demo disc as well but CDRs are a lot more common.

[dendawg]

This may sound dumb, but have you tried water and dish soap? If it is indeed grease pen, then it should come right off with a little detergent.

This...especially if you use Dawn. Barring that, any non-abrasive degreaser should do the trick.