The quality of disk materials ands generally dusty environment back in that day could leave a residue on the mag pickup over time. This product worked best to prevent the problem if used periodically, not so much for repairing it once the drive started having read errors.
SteelyEyedHistory
No idea they made such a thing. I remember VCR head cleaners, never saw one for floppies before.
Jackpkmn
It was a very kind of environment specific thing. If you weren’t in the kind of environment you needed such cleaners you might not even realize such a thing existed. But if you did then you really needed them.
For example where I lived the red clay soil would get on and stick to EVERYTHING. It would stick to surfaces get tracked in on the floor by the dogs then dry out and flake off as a VERY fine dust that would then get fucking everywhere. You need one of those bulk water air filters to get it even a little out of the air and it would turn the water in the tank into a slurry.
Autumnwood
Yes, if the environment was dusty it may need this to keep the reading area clean. lf you know old vinyls…we had cleaning fluid and a tool for them, and there was a process to clean the needle head, which could get hair and dust on it.
I had a kit like this. But I probably only used it a couple of times 😃 all that cleaning fluid wasted.
XeniaDweller
Yes, the drive has pretty big heads and they needed cleaning
Queasy_Profit_9246
I used that, when formatting disks as DMF they got quite picky with the head, but an extra 220KB was no joke man, especially when your using 30 disks for a game.
socokid
Only in certain situations.
I used floppy drives for many many years (I’m almost 60) and never had to use a cleaner, ever. I have stacks and stacks of floppies from work I used to do, but I suspect none of them have lasted as they degrade over time.
StuE2
Yes. Very useful. The magnetic heads in a drive used to build up fibres and dirt. This was the only good thing to clean it.
But I had 2 SFD 1meg IEEE-488 drives that really wanted HD disks, but I never used them. I used them on my BBS (think early dial up reddits), and the BAM would slowly erode to the point where you could see a ring, and I’d copy the disks to new disks. After about a year of this I started seeing issues that were resolved by a disk cleaner. I started cleaning the drive after making backups monthly for a while.
iceyxixc
Reminded me of the “DVD Rewinder” lol
jimmy9800
I had one of these and a cd with a little brush glued onto it! They worked fine for regular cleaning, but if there were head issues, that wasn’t usually fixable by a cleaning disk.
Hattix
Not really. Floppy disk drives didn’t “gunk up” like tape decks sometimes did, and they had a shutter on them to stop dust ingress.
When they started showing read errors it was down to the head becoming misaligned with the stepper motor’s positioning, either the head mount twisting or the motor wearing.
The cleaning disks, like this one, could also cause the head to become misaligned, since the material in them was much thicker and higher friction than a real floppy disk’s media.
stuco89
Uh this reminds me of a CD my dad brought home that had a tiny brush in the middle od the disc. Never used it as it terrified me, it just looked wrong.
Significant_Stick213
People forget or don’t realize that in the 80s and early 90s, even in California, everyone had an ashtray at their cubicle/office.
Visiting my pops at work a few times when I was little, everyone had a cigarette in their mouth. The secretary would often bring a clean ashtray to swap out if any gets too full of cigarette butts.
Moquai82
Usefull to destroy your r/w-head of your drive.
cannibalcorpuscle
I used to scratch the actual floppy disc so it couldn’t be read. Procrastination is in my blood lol. So I’d put my schoolwork off and inevitably need to find a way to get an extra day. Didn’t work every time. But sure worked enough.
M_R_Ducs
No, it was not useful. When floppy drives broken, which was about once every other year, you just bought a new one. They were dirt cheap. Computer shops were common in most cities and even small towns.
kaptain_sparty
I liked the CDs with the brushes to clean the laser lense
30 Comments
I miss seeing stuff like this in shops
I always just blew in the slot if it didnt read
The quality of disk materials ands generally dusty environment back in that day could leave a residue on the mag pickup over time. This product worked best to prevent the problem if used periodically, not so much for repairing it once the drive started having read errors.
No idea they made such a thing. I remember VCR head cleaners, never saw one for floppies before.
It was a very kind of environment specific thing. If you weren’t in the kind of environment you needed such cleaners you might not even realize such a thing existed. But if you did then you really needed them.
For example where I lived the red clay soil would get on and stick to EVERYTHING. It would stick to surfaces get tracked in on the floor by the dogs then dry out and flake off as a VERY fine dust that would then get fucking everywhere. You need one of those bulk water air filters to get it even a little out of the air and it would turn the water in the tank into a slurry.
Yes, if the environment was dusty it may need this to keep the reading area clean. lf you know old vinyls…we had cleaning fluid and a tool for them, and there was a process to clean the needle head, which could get hair and dust on it.
I had a kit like this. But I probably only used it a couple of times 😃 all that cleaning fluid wasted.
Yes, the drive has pretty big heads and they needed cleaning
I used that, when formatting disks as DMF they got quite picky with the head, but an extra 220KB was no joke man, especially when your using 30 disks for a game.
Only in certain situations.
I used floppy drives for many many years (I’m almost 60) and never had to use a cleaner, ever. I have stacks and stacks of floppies from work I used to do, but I suspect none of them have lasted as they degrade over time.
Yes. Very useful. The magnetic heads in a drive used to build up fibres and dirt. This was the only good thing to clean it.
Pretty sure I had this exact one.
Used this exact one so much!
Memory unlocked
There’s also this horrifying little sibling
[https://allsop.com/products/ultra-pro-lens-cleaner-for-cd-dvd-players-23321](https://allsop.com/products/ultra-pro-lens-cleaner-for-cd-dvd-players-23321)
I recommend never using it
IDK how useful they were on the average 3.5’s…
But I had 2 SFD 1meg IEEE-488 drives that really wanted HD disks, but I never used them. I used them on my BBS (think early dial up reddits), and the BAM would slowly erode to the point where you could see a ring, and I’d copy the disks to new disks. After about a year of this I started seeing issues that were resolved by a disk cleaner. I started cleaning the drive after making backups monthly for a while.
Reminded me of the “DVD Rewinder” lol
I had one of these and a cd with a little brush glued onto it! They worked fine for regular cleaning, but if there were head issues, that wasn’t usually fixable by a cleaning disk.
Not really. Floppy disk drives didn’t “gunk up” like tape decks sometimes did, and they had a shutter on them to stop dust ingress.
When they started showing read errors it was down to the head becoming misaligned with the stepper motor’s positioning, either the head mount twisting or the motor wearing.
The cleaning disks, like this one, could also cause the head to become misaligned, since the material in them was much thicker and higher friction than a real floppy disk’s media.
Uh this reminds me of a CD my dad brought home that had a tiny brush in the middle od the disc. Never used it as it terrified me, it just looked wrong.
People forget or don’t realize that in the 80s and early 90s, even in California, everyone had an ashtray at their cubicle/office.
Visiting my pops at work a few times when I was little, everyone had a cigarette in their mouth. The secretary would often bring a clean ashtray to swap out if any gets too full of cigarette butts.
Usefull to destroy your r/w-head of your drive.
I used to scratch the actual floppy disc so it couldn’t be read. Procrastination is in my blood lol. So I’d put my schoolwork off and inevitably need to find a way to get an extra day. Didn’t work every time. But sure worked enough.
No, it was not useful. When floppy drives broken, which was about once every other year, you just bought a new one. They were dirt cheap. Computer shops were common in most cities and even small towns.
I liked the CDs with the brushes to clean the laser lense
Ha, if you think THAT was old school, lemme show you one of [these](https://tapetardis.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/tdk-hcl-11-head-cleaner-cassette.jpg).
Remember to keep your floppies clean.
I never had this problem with 3.5. Had it more so with CD-ROM drives.
Ah. Disk cleaning fluid. PC users catnip. “I neeeeed to clean the drive heads againnn! Nooowwww!”
i never used it back in the days
I forget these existed. I would like to forget again please.