Cheap n’ Easy CD-DVD Scratch repair

[ihaveanosebleed]

There are some repair kits on the market that use either abrasives or chemical softeners to remove scratches. I paid about $15 for one kit a while back which was essentially 3 tiny sheets of micro-grit sandpaper. I did use it a few times to recover data on scratched CD’s and it worked pretty good for light scratches.

So I came across a badly scratched CD the other day that my PC could not read and I couldn’t find my little repair kit. I started thinking of what I might be able to use instead. I needed something lightly abrasive but not too abrasive. I found what I was looking for in a cleaning product called “Old Dutch” Cleansing powder. Similar to “Comet”.

I took a paper towel, put some powder on it and some tap water and started rubbing the CD surface. I got the same affect as my repair kit. The powder devolves in water so the more water you use the finer grit you end up with. You need to rub straight up and down line from the inside to the outside edge, never circular. I was able to recover all the data from My CD and make a new burn. and it was much easier and faster that my repair kit would have been.

[TylerDurden]

Yup, and like Ive always said Car polish works just as well if not better because it actually has the oils (or silicone, depending on what you use) to bring back the luster of the discs surface.


Other people have also mentioned toothpaste. I have not tried it but I hear it has worked on other things that are very similar to cd disc matierial.





Tyler!

[rookie.dk]

One question -

When using car polish do you still need to rub straight up and down line from the inside to the outside edge?

and, are the difference in which brand/product one should use... there are many different types of car polish out there.

cheers

[TylerDurden]

Yeah i never use swirl rotations to buff my discs. Just go up and down like stated above.

As for the type of polish. Just use a finishing type. Anything that you would finish off using on your car should work fine with your discs.



Tyler!

[skykid]

So if it was to be Colour Magic Black is that recommended or would it have to be clear?

[TylerDurden]

Sorry but I dont know what Colour Magic Black is.





Tyler!

[crazygamelover]

This may be some what of a repetitive reply in terms of my methods for removing scratches. I have posted this a few times to help alot of new members but since it is a sticky now, I will share my success in this regard, once more.

1st of all toothpaste does work pretty good but I have had more success with car polish as TD has mentioned. Simply use an old cotton t-shirt with a small dab of polish/toothpaste and rub it in vigorously until the smaller scratches vanish. Use a back and forth motion when doing this by hand.

As for the difference in my method, I use an electric orbital car buffer with the fluffy buffing pad. I do not recommend the terry cloth buffer pad as it leaves the little circular buff scratches. These pads can be bought at any store which sells orbital sanders. In my case, I bought mine from Sears. Some Big Lot stores carry them for right around $10 (buffer) and $5-$10 (pads) depending on the quanity in the package. If I remeber correctly, it was $5 for one and $10 for three. I use Turtle Wax but just about any polish will work.
The buffer does go in circles however instead of from side to side as previously mentioned. It still works perfectly and because it has the fast rotating motion, does extremely well even for some of those deeper scratches. Just a small dab of polish/toothpaste is all you need. As it spins, it creats a small amount of friction heat and buffs the surface to a new like finish. Depending on how deep the scratches are will determine how long to apply it to the buffer. Just check it periodically.
When buffing, place the buffer upside down so the pad is upright. Then gently with a firm grip, hold the shiny cd/dvd surface to the pad. You may have to rotate occassionally if the scratches are covering the entire disk.
That pretty much covers my tutorial on removing scratches.
Happy gaming and may you never have a problem in regard to scratches ever again.

[Warlock]

I also use car polish.

[skykid]

Originally Posted by TylerDurden

Sorry but I dont know what Colour Magic Black is.





Tyler!

Its a car polish but in black, as it is for black cars and restores it colour and fills in scratches, so that you would only notice them if you were up close to it.

So since it is a black car polish will it turn the disc/scrathes on the disc black?

or should i try find a normal white car polish?

Haha...the clour magic stuff would be good on PSX discs...

[crazygamelover]

@ skykid
The specific color polishes are not recommended as they will most likely change the color of the disk surface or settle into the scrathes and make them black lines. You could test this theory just to be sure but plain ole turtle wax is what I use and it works fine.