Is it better to rest bare CDs face down or up?

Question

I see a lot of people leaving their cds 'upside-down' when they don't have a case for them, as if somehow the bottom side of a disc scratches easier, but somehow i think that this is the wrong way to do it...

Answer 1

Shiny side down. Label side up.

Although you might see scratches on the shiny side, the information is actually written into the label side of the CD. CD players are able to compensate for scratches on the bottom of the disc. But if the top of the disc (the label side) gets scratched, the information is gone, and cannot be read.

Answer 2

Lable face down. if the shiny side is face up then all thats gonna get on it is dust. Shiny side down you get a lot of scratches from the surface it is on. No matter what surface. And shiny side down you are gonna have to slide the disc across the surface to get it because it is so thin. Lots of scratches! Would you rather have scratches on the lable or on the disc itself?

Answer 3

I'd say face down, so the part where the music is stored is facing up, and doesn't get scratched against the surface it's resting on.

Answer 4

Label side down.

If the cd moves at all along the surface, it can get scratched. The air is less likely to scratch.

Answer 5

I like to leave them balanced on edge. the way I do this is to plop down a wad of chewing gum and then jam the CD into the gum. then when I am ready to use the CD again I just scrape off the gum with a razor blade.

Answer 6

you want it face up, but not for a long period. just like you might scratch it face down, when you leave it face up for a long time it will accumulate dust and then you will have to clean it, which would lead to other scratches.

Answer 7

either way its gonna get scratched.. buy a case

Answer 8

face up always