Clean CD or DVD ROM lens with a brush?

Infopackets Reader John R. writes:

" Dear Dennis,

Have you heard anything about those CD / DVD ROM disc + brush cleaners causing damage to the drives? Someone told me this a long time ago and I've never cleaned my burner since. I was in Circuit City the other day, and the rep told me he uses his all the time to clean his burner. What do you think? "

My response:

I honestly don't have any statistics on this matter or a definitive answer, but I personally would avoid using any abrasive surface on an optical lens (such as the disc + brush combo). The lens is a glass-like surface and any scratch caused by an abrasive brush running across it might do more harm than good. Besides that, there's no guarantee that the brush will clean off all the dirt -- and if you've got a smoker in the house, the problem may be a build-up of film on the lens.

In my opinion, you'd be better off taking the CD ROM drive apart yourself and cleaning the lens with a q-tip dipped in an alcohol-based solution -- but only if you're having problems reading or writing CDs.