What liquid should you use to clean an NES game? I've heard everything from rubbing alcohol, windex, or water. I've also heard some say not to use alcohol and some say not to use windex. I'm confused.

Depends whats wrong with it. I use to have a NES cleaning kit back in the days of NES now what that used I am not sure but I think it was rubbing alcohol. My friend use to use Q-tips and rubbing Alcohol to clean his games but I usually just blew in mine to get them working.

Just guessing but I don't think windex would be a good idea?

windex and lower-percentage alcohol may leave deposits on your contacts, leaving you worse off than you were before. i believe it's 91% alcohol or higher that they recommend for cleaning metal contacts.

Alcohol is fine. The "don´t use alcohol" is from the instructions on the backside of the cart, but regular alcohol for cleaning works good. An alcohol named isopropyl is supposed to be best. Personally I use electronic cleaner on a Q-tip, and I´ve managed to make dirty games work again.

That "blowing" in the cart is a myth that just won´t die You are better off wiggling the cart back and forth to make contact, blowing just adds unwanted mousture.

Using rubbing alcohol is fine. Ignore the warnings Nintendo give! It is a load of nonsense. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCLOxK6FpfA

This video explains how to clean games well: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4SCpHgWvhI

If you are looking for a easy fix, just get a cotton button, put a bit of rubbing alcohol on one of the tips and rub it against the copper tracks. You don't really need to take the case off, unless you want to do a proper clean. This method worked fine with my N64 copy of Mystic Makers for the N64 which kept freezing at a certain part.

I did have a case where my brothers copy of Sonic & Knuckles he got from ebay had a very dirty copper tracks (on the bottom). It required blowing into the cartridge to get the game to work. I basically took the case apart and just cleaned the contacts with a small white rubber. No more blowing after that!

'isopropyl alcohol' is plain old rubbing alcohol. it's not the name that counts so much as the percentage of actual alcohol in the mix. lower percentages will have more water in them (so that they evaporate slower), but that extra water will hurt your contacts.

I take my cartridges apart and use stovetop cleaner (any kind works) and q-tips on the metal contacts. The results are absolutely amazing. If you're skeptical, try cleaning with rubbing alcohol first and then stovetop cleaner. You'll be surprised by how much more grime comes off.

Unfortunately, most games require a 3.8mm security bit screwdriver to open them. The good news is that they're cheap and also work with snes and n64 cartridges. Well worth the investment

I got the stovetop tip here a couple of years ago:
http://reviews.ebay.com/The-SECRET-to-Cleaning-NES-Nintendo-G...

First, try water and a Q-tip. If you see a lot of residue on the tip, you're problem is probably solved. If that doesn't work, then you can try alcohol.

I always use 70% Rubbing Alcohol and Q-tips, and it always works. I don't blow in my cartridges anymore because I heard that excessive blowing puts unwanted moisture on the games and can cause corrosion over time. There are some problems that alcohol can't fix, but I've never run into any.

Don't use Alcohol...it ruined some of my games.

Hello, xraydash, welcome to NintendoLife.

Hi! Thanks. Been lurking awhile and finally got around to posting.

Seems like there's a lot of differing opinions about what you should or shouldn't do to clean those old games. I've tried lots of different things and never ruined one so you probably won't go wrong with any of the advice already offered.

Here's another suggestion: Before I replaced my pin connectors and really cleaned up my carts, I found that most of my "problem" games played perfectly through a game genie (with or without codes.)

wow
i was just about to make a thread for this for you guys...maybe this should be its own thread cuz it works...

you order the special tools online that let you take apart nes, snes and genesis games, spray the contacts with contact cleaner and scrub them with a green scouring pad until the bronze coloring is off on both sides. you are looking for a silver color finish on the contacts. put the game back together, and dip 2 q-tips in 91% alcohol and rub the contacts again with the alcohol covered q-tips. 2 q-tips each side. take 2 more q-tips for each side of the cart and rub them without alcohol this time to make sure they dry. use 91% alcohol to insure faster drying time. this works for all cart games. all you have to do after that is before each time you insert a game in a system is rub the cart with alcohol q-tips. you dont have to repeat the contact cleaner and scrubbing part for a looong time.

any questions ask away and i will guide you through it should you need any other help.

Depends. If it's an LJN game, use fire.

^ hahahahaha, that's a good point :3

LOL Brilliant!

Lol, yeah.

Anyhoo, use rubbing alcohol or Windex.

I would still make sure to use rubbing alcohol with the fire for LJN games.

by the way, all brasso or some weird oven cleaner does is leave behind a visible white chalky residue inside your game and you can see it. prevent all oxidation on game contacts by my true tested method above...also, store your games in a Sterilite container like i do to prevent more oxidation:
these are the actual ones i use, lol

this has all been tested on expensive games, thats how much faith i have in it.
a retro game store uses this method and ive been using it ever since
the games ALWAYS work after this.