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.

[RkShaRkz]

i don't want to sound dumb or anything, but i used toothpaste (yes, regular toothpaste) a couple of times and it worked......
the way i did it is like this:
- apply the toothpaste randomly on the CD
- well, i used small circular motions, but i guess you could use the straight outward motions (i'll have to try that one)
- rub it ALL in, untill the toothpaste kinda faints......
- take a clean peace of cloth (or something) and wipe it all out..... the CD looks brand new, and more importantly - WORKS

Also, i've seen those little CD repair kits at wal-mart, they work pretty good.... the only downside of that is, you have to buy that special liquid to make it work....... well, you know what - that "special" liquid is deionized water..... in other words, you can just take regular tap water, boil it for awhile (it would be perfect to catch the fumes on the CD but meh....), take it out and let it cool - and voila, you got urself alot of distilled water....
the only reason you distill it is to clean it.... i don't know about ur tapwater, but most tap waters have alot of copper, natrium (sodium) sometimes kalium (potassium) and alot of minerals..... chlorine too

since i do not have such a device, and i'm unable to buy it, i'll stick to my toothpaste method, and try yours..... its cheap and it works
well, that was my two cents...

[TylerDurden]

Yeah Ive heard of the toothpaste method too. Something tells me that the grit in the toothpaste is just a bit too much. But thats just guessing. I still prefer car polish.




Tyler!

[ender.wiggin]

Strange how the laser in a DVD drive (for PC) is more sensitive than the one in a DVD player (for TV) for I rented a badly scratched disk and it would not play on my PC but played fine on my DVD player. Anyhow, one old trick that worked with this DVD disk was one I used to use ages ago when printing from photographic negatives, if they were scratched, we would rub in a little grease from the nose or forehead to remove the scratches. I tried it and it helped with the badly damaged rental.

[ph140]

Instead of using a orbital buffing machine. Use a Dremel tool to do the job. Also get a Cleaning/Polishing Set (model 684) from Dremel to buff up the DVD. I paid about 15 bucks for the Cleaning/Polishing Set. The Dremel is around 19 bucks (battery operated) from Walmart. Also get a 3M Automotive Sandpaper 2000 grits. All these supplies are from Walmart. Here's the instruction:

1. Wet the DVD/CD with water. This will help preserve the sand paper.
2. Use the sand paper to remove the scratches. Sand in the in/outward motion from the center of the disk instead of circular motion.
3. Dry the DVD.
4. Don't use any polish or anything (when buffing) because it may contain abrasives. Attach a buffing pad (from the kit : 414) to the Dremel tool. Buff the disk in the in/outward motion (rapidly) from the center of the disk instead of circular motion. Notice I have mentioned rapidly. If you don't do this, there will be too much heat and it will burn your disk!

After you're done, the disk looks brand spanking new! You may have to pratice on a unused disk before attempting the above steps because you can damage your disk if you're not skilled.

[jim2100]

Originally Posted by ender.wiggin

Strange how the laser in a DVD drive (for PC) is more sensitive than the one in a DVD player (for TV) for I rented a badly scratched disk and it would not play on my PC but played fine on my DVD player. Anyhow, one old trick that worked with this DVD disk was one I used to use ages ago when printing from photographic negatives, if they were scratched, we would rub in a little grease from the nose or forehead to remove the scratches. I tried it and it helped with the badly damaged rental.

Thank You thank you

I just did it to a cd that I got from the library. American Soldier, by Gen. Tommy Franks, It is the first cd I tried to copy and it has a skip in track 5. I thought all was lost. I tried copying it again and again. Then I read this note. I tried the grease on my nose and it fixed the skip. So I will re-copy this disc.

Thanks Again
Jim