How to Clean DS Games

By Johnny Kampis

Updated September 22, 2017

Items you will need

  • Cotton swabs

  • Rubbing alcohol

If you have trouble getting a game to work in your Nintendo DS, you may need to clean the cartridge. These small game packs have an exposed chip that can cause the game to not operate properly if it gets dust or debris on it. Care should be taken when cleaning these small games because getting excess liquid in the interior of the cartridge could permanently damage it.

Take a dry cotton swab and carefully dust off any debris on the chip.

Use rubbing alcohol if the dry cotton swab did not remove caked-on dirt. Dip a clean cotton swab into the container of rubbing alcohol and get just a drop or two of the liquid on the swab. Remove any excess alcohol by rubbing the swab on the inside of the container.

Rub the swab across the chip, working it into the cracks to clean all the exposed parts of the chip.

Let the chip dry for several minutes before inserting the game into the DS.

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