Fixing scratched CDs - HELPFUL HINT

[Don Vito Corleone]

Just a handy tip for all of you:

I just bought a used software title on Ebay, only to find it was badly scratched. I had pretty much given up when it would not install from my DVD or CD-RW drives. I did a bit of research on this subject and found this page - a bottle of Brasso metal polish and a whopping 20 seconds of elbow grease got the CD working perfectly.

Basically you just take a few drops of Brasso and rub it into the scratched area using a clean, soft cloth (I used an old all-cotton T-shirt), perpendicular to the laser's path, until the underlying scratch is gone (it should not be more than ten seconds), then wash off the residue with some liquid detergent and rinse and dry it. This is SO easy, and it should restore any CD, CD-ROM, or DVD that is not scratched down to the metal. I have also heard of people doing this with toothpaste, but that is a bit more of a brute force technique - it is less effective and far likelier to ruin the disk.

 

[Tominator]

Great post! This belongs in the FAQ!

 

[Piano Man]

I found this out about a year ago, and I just want to confirm that this stuff works like a charm. I bought the Game Doctor, but it can't even come close to good ol' Brasso. However, if you take the CD and put it up to a light and some light comes through, don't even bother, because its a lost cause.

 

[Sundog]

Good info, thanks

 

[zerocool1]

thanx

 

[kamiam]

most music shops professionally buff scratched disc's for a $1 bill

 

[rutchtkim]

or u could just buy the scratch remover kit from compusa for like a raping price of $20.00, but who'd do that??

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Originally posted by: rutchtkim
or u could just buy the scratch remover kit from compusa for like a raping price of $20.00, but who'd do that??

Not me - a $2.79 bottle of Brasso is enough to treat at least 400 CDs, and by all accounts it works better than a scratch remover kit.

 

[rgwalt]

Originally posted by: kamiam
most music shops professionally buff scratched disc's for a $1 bill

True, but if you are trying to get your favorite CD or software title working and don't want to make a trip to the record store...

Ryan

 

[HiTek21]

I read somewhere that you can use tooth paste and a cotton cloth to buff out the scratches...

 

[Bobomatic]

Don Vito wait im a little confused, you said,

20 seconds of elbow grease

then you said

it should not be more than ten seconds

is it more than ten seconds for deeper scratches?

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Originally posted by: Bobomatic
Don Vito wait im a little confused . . . is it more than ten seconds for deeper scratches?

I am including the post-Brasso wash-and-rinse in my 20 seconds. Theoretically you can just rinse off the Brasso, but it seemed to leave some residue, so I used Dawn liquid detergent to wash it off. I would say I scrubbed back and forth maybe 15-20 times to rub out the scratches.

 

[Nefrodite]

so .. after brasso do ur cds look unscratched? or just less?

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Originally posted by: Nefrodite
so .. after brasso do ur cds look unscratched? or just less?

Actually it leaves a bit of a haze - they are not things of great beauty. The important thing is, they work perfectly. I suppose if you followed up with a finer buffing compound, you could get them perfectly clear, but I can't imagine bothering.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

I will give this one bump because it may really help someone.

 

[Rallispec]

thanks for the post.. i had never thought about using brasso before, have successfully used toothpaste in the past though .

 

[schizoid]

What about getting CDs to simply look fine? Because I have a bunch of CDs that I'd like to sell to a record store, but they look pretty beat up. They work just fine, in even the most tempermental of CD players.

Is there anything you can do to get rid of surface scratches like that, cosmetically? Will this work?

 

[andylawcc]

pardon my ignorance on American culture, but what is Brasso (a plastic polisher?) and where can I buy it?

 

[Rallispec]

Originally posted by: andylawcc
pardon my ignorance on American culture, but what is Brasso (a plastic polisher?) and where can I buy it?

its actually a brass polisher.. (for making belt buckles and stuff shiney) conviently works well on cd's too though.

a lot of stores around here carry it.. grocery stores and CVS's and stuff carry it in the same isle as you would find shoe polish and stuff.

 

[andylawcc]

thx Rallispec.