Quickly Remove Scratches From CDs and DVDs

ShareThis

I used to look in wonder and amazement at some of the CDs and DVDs in my best friend's collection. How could he let them get in such a state? "Dude, treat them with more respect" I'd say. Then I had children, and found my CDs and DVDs were perfect replacements for frisbee toys, coasters and anything else they could think of. (See also: Never Pay for a RedBox DVD Rental Again)

Recently, I found several of my favorite music CDs and movies were unplayable due to some innocent playtime fun. Kids will be kids, there's little you can do to avoid that (especially if your CDs and DVDs are at kid-height). But before I reluctantly bought replacements, I figured I had nothing to lose by going to the web and finding remedies. If they worked, great. If not, I had lost nothing anyway.

I had heard of toothpaste, which was the first remedy I tried. But I found other methods, too. Below are the results of my exploration, complete with my own experience with the remedy. Remember, I can't guarantee results. If your scratches are very deep you're probably out of luck. But if a few scratches are giving you some skipping or the CD/DVD is unreadable, this may save you a trip to your local Best Buy.

Note: NEVER clean any CD or DVD in a circular motion. Always clean in straight lines from the center of the disc outwards. Otherwise, you'll just make things even worse.

Toothpaste

I had heard about this one, but I never really knew what to do.

My results: 3/5

The toothpaste did indeed help with some scratches but only very small ones. The deeper scratches were unaffected. On another note, my CDs now smell minty!

Banana

Yes, banana. I had to watch it twice to make sure I wasn't missing something.

Results: 2/5

Not quite as good as the toothpaste, but it did help with a few tracks that had skipped. It's a lot more messy though, and a waste of a good banana.

Chewing Gum

This could have been a great way to find an extra use for a bit of gum. Here's the video.

Results: 0/5

This worked. NOT! I tried it on a DVD that was unreadable and it remained that way unitl I tried the next method.

Brasso (metal polish)

I have always called this Brasso regardless of brand name, but any liquid metal polish will work.

Results: 4/5

This worked great for me. On the two discs I tried it on, it returned them to their former glory. Very happy.

As I've said, don't try this on CDs that are 95% OK becuase I can't guarantee results. But if you have a highly-scratched, almost unplayable disc, you've got nothing to lose.

Tagged: DIY, General Tips, CDs, DVDs

Disclaimer: The links and mentions on this site may be affiliate links. But they do not affect the actual opinions and recommendations of the authors.

Wise Bread is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.


Guest's picture
April

I can't wait to go try the Brasso. I have three kids... My CDs, and theirs, have paid a dear price. I'm glad I kept all the CDs that I couldn't fix with regular old CD scratch fixer. (I don't think that stsuff has ever worked for me)

Thanks for the tips.

Guest's picture
eddie

After reading about using Brasso on scratches, I searched the house for some. My sons new Call of duty 5 was badly scratched on the xbox. I tried everything and couldnt find any brasso, but thought, cars and T Cut. T Cut is a liquid based solution used to remove scratches from cars. So I tried this as a last resort. It was either tcut or another £40 spent. T Cut did the trick, small amount on a soft cloth, circular motion on the disc and let it dry for a couple of mins. Then simple polish off in circular motions. Game works perfectly now. I would advise this as a last resort

Guest's picture
Guest

the brasso does work pretty well, I was able to bring some of my cds back from the grave with it

Guest's picture
Guest

Don't waste you time on any of these remedies. I tried all of them and none of them worked. I just bought them again.

Guest's picture
Neight

Is the idea really THAT elusive??

TRY THIS METHOD

FIRST - Take an ordinary candle and light it (preferably white or red wax, I have not tried this with other colors and do not know the effects of color on the end result). Wait for some of the wax to melt, then p[our it out onto a dish (or anything else, as long as you can use it afterward). This softens the wax, and makes it easier to spread onto the disk.

SECOND - Once the wax has solidified, pick it up and begin rubbing it onto the disk (from the inside outward, please), using the rounded side of the wax.

THIRD - Once the disk has been completely covered in wax, take a paper towel or soft cloth (a cloth may be difficult to clean), and begin wiping off the excess wax, once again from the inside outward. You will need to apply a small amount of pressure to wipe it off, and to rub it into the grooves of the scratches (please don't break your disks!). Once most of the excess wax is gone, begin rubbing in circular motions all over the disk (this will not scratch the disk, as the wax now acts as a protective layer). Continue until any visible wax is gone and you are left with a nice reflective sheen.

FOURTH - Take your disk, and give it a spin!

I hope this works for you, it has worked for me on numerous occasions. You may need to do this more than once, depending on the state of your disk. This has worked for my original XBox game "Sid Meier's Pirate's", which was in a condition where it would not even start. It now runs wonderfully. And this has almost worked for my Nintendo's "Super Smash Bros. Brawl", which has the "ring of death". I have only done this to it once and already it plays, but it still has trouble with certain stage selections. Again, you may need to repeat this process for better results.

Thank you, and I look forward to any feedback.
~N8

Paul Michael's picture

I hope it works out for you!

Guest's picture
Guest

Great tips. On the kid thing though, ever heard of teaching them NO followed with the reason - then disipline if necessary? Our grandkids come over. I have high end stereo components on the floor. My wife has ceramics on lower shelves. They never touch them, because they are taught not to. When we had ours, my mother said "I'll have to move everything up out of reach" No you won't. They will be taught the rules. Try it. They will respect you MUCH more. BTW, they were also taught that food stays in the kitchen.

Guest's picture
Guest

Yea! Someone else has sense! This is the proven, tried-and-true ultimate method. My parents used it with my brothers and I, I used it with my children, and it works! Having - and teaching - respect for your possessions definitely helps take care of them. Of course, accidents will happen, but they should be few and very far between. In that case - thanks for the tips!

Guest's picture
Nytridr

I hate to say it but some kids are very very stubborn. Not everyone has perfect kids. How long do you follow your kids around.. 24/7 and not let them have a life. I am a firm believer in teaching kids right from wrong and teaching them the values of "NO" But if you follow your kids around all day long and not let them learn from there own mistakes then there is something wrong.

I too have CDs that are just not playable anymore, and am eagerly awaiting to try some of these things in the next few days. My CDs and stuff are put up, but they are the reach of the children. My 4 year old (2 when he learned how to work the dvd/stereo/tv) is not the most responsible and sometimes CDs do get misplaced, and things get mishandled, but how are they going to learn. For crying out loud what is more important, your children or your possessions?

I am not trying to make this a flame, but not everyone has a perfect life as others may think. This is about how to clean CDs not other peoples ways of punishing thier children.

Thank you for these ideas and having them all in one place, I appreciate it..

Nyt

Guest's picture
Guest

Sure but at the same time I'm trying to teach my children responsibility. If I can't show them how to take care of it responsibly then I'll still be putting dvds in the player for them at 16. Unfortunately that means accidents from time to time. If I had better foresight I would've gotten a burner and given them copies but what can you do now? Thank you for assuming I let my children run roughshod over me and have no discipline ^_^ You sound like a delightful grandfather. Just like the one I never visit.

Guest's picture

Thanks for the suggestions. I find it hard to imagine using toothpaste or a banana on a CD or DVD; I can't help wondering what that could do to the player. But the metal polish sounds like a good idea (as long is it doesn't mess up the equipment).

As to the kids, well, I must say I agree with some of the other posters. If the kids are very young (i.e. toddlers), I would hope that things they shouldn't be playing with wouldn't be accessible to them. If they’re older, they can be taught not to mess with things they shouldn’t. Ideally, that training begins when they are toddlers.

I grew up with brothers and we had relatives who had easily breakable items around the house. I don’t remember any of us ever grabbing anything at a relative’s house and playing with it when we weren’t supposed to (I must admit we did once throw a “harmless” ball in the house that knocked something over, but fortunately it didn’t break.). I can’t say we never broke anything, certainly, but we never messed with records, tapes, etc.

I’ve also worked with a great number of kids from toddlers to high schoolers, and there are methods you can use to help kids learn to be disciplined. While some people say that “you can’t learn anything from books,” I learned a great deal of useful methods from reading that I used successfully in tutoring and in the classroom. I focused not on keeping the kids controlled, but on helping them learn self-control. One of the most important things you can teach a child is the reason for the rules. If a kid—or even an adult—understands the purpose behind a rule, they’re much more likely to follow it.

As a result, I had kids as young as 9 or 10 creating characters for plays and hooking up computers. And for those who want to point out that some kids are more difficult, I also worked with kids who grew up with family members in gangs. There are methods that can work for almost anyone with almost any kid (those with special medical, mental and physical problems may require specialized help). Working with kids to help them become self-disciplined is a great deal of work in the beginning, but it can pay off with years of much fewer problems.

Guest's picture
Guest

The wax thing works :)

Guest's picture
Teresa

I always use Pledge (or another brand of furniture polish)! Works every time!

Guest's picture
Jeanie

Yes, Teresa, I heard about the Furniture Polish, tried it, worked like a charm. Even for heavy scratches, just spray it on & leave it for a few days before buffing it off. What a dream!!!! None of the commerical products have NEVER worked for me.
Jeanie

Guest's picture
Guest

thanks for the tip! i used no name brand furniture polish and it worked! thanks very much

Guest's picture
Elana

Oh my goodness, i had just scratched my precious NCIS dvd! I was real upset. Then i read the tip about pledge. I had cobra furniture polish, and out of sheer desperation used it. And IT WORKED! I honestly didn't think it would work, but it did! Thank you for that tip Theresa!

Guest's picture
Guest

My CD video game was scratched up. And the polish worked!

Guest's picture
Guest

I hope it works!!!! I'll try it!

Guest's picture
Guest

what do i do with the furniture polish?

Guest's picture
Guest

I don't have Pledge or Cobra furniture polish, but I do have Mukwa Oil. Do you think that would help?

Guest's picture
Guest

A better method is to use high quality auto polish. Find one with a high carnauba wax content. I use McGuire's ( It is for my vintage Mercedes) it's used by almost all professional car finishing shops & collectors.

Look it upon Google, it's some really hard stuff.

Paul Michael's picture

That's another one I can try. We always have a can of Pledge in the cupboard. Thanks Teresa.

Guest's picture
Andrew

On behalf of my Baby-Einstein-Old-MacDonald-obssessed 2-year-old son, I thank you! Assuming at least one of these methods works to get the scratches out. I'm so tempted to try the banana one just for the sheer mess of it...

Guest's picture
Balu

I wonder if some of the (expensive though) display polish that is used to remove scratches from e.g. mobile phone displays would work too. Anyone tried that yet?

Greetings from Germany and thanks for the summary here.

Guest's picture
Subhan

I've saved many CDs by polishing firmly with a micorfiber cloth. Basically this (& all the methods above) work by gently abrading the disc to smooth out scratches, just like sanding scratches out of wood. I haven't tried it yet, but I suspect jeweler's rouge would work wonders on a DVD/CD. Be sure to completely clean the disc when you are done though as you don't want fine plastic particles or abrasives inside your player!

Guest's picture
Guest

I thought someone would mention Armor All. Not abrasive though. I use that on my motorcycle windshield and face shield. It gets rid of the haze. Maybe use it as a follow up to these methods. I suspect that anything just slightly abrasive would work. Is it possible that boiling would slightly reflow the plastic near the scratches?

Guest's picture
mark

I got many old CDs that are scratched and I think I need to apply Brasso on it.

Thanks for the tips.

Guest's picture
Dustin

Boiling also works great. Boil the water, pull the boiling water off the stove. Drop the CD/DVD in for 10 seconds. Pull it out on the sides as carefully as possible. Touch it over with a cloth to let it dry.

I let mine sit for a day because I went out of town, but I can now watch SLC Punk again.

Yes, this does work. I'm not kidding. There are explanations on the web about how this works.

Guest's picture
Guest

boiling does not work at all. It wreaked my CD

Guest's picture
Guest

omg it worked i can play modern warfare now!!!!!!1 omg thanku

Guest's picture
Guest

will this work for ps2 games?

Guest's picture
Guest

the only thing that was probably wrong was it had old dust or grease or other stuff.....the the hot water just helped it clean the stuff on it

Guest's picture
Guest

ok, im afraid that itll ruin my cd. but i will try it. does it work on bd scratches

Guest's picture
Guest

so i know u posted this a few years ago but would it help with computer games?

Guest's picture
Balu

Boiling CDs does NOT remove the scratches or fix problems with that, but it fixes a different cause mainly for new discs:

http://news.softpedia.com/news/How-To-Recover-Unreadable-CDs-DVDs-Just-B...

Guest's picture
Ray

Hair Gel works, but in a different way. It fills the scratch and restores the refractive qualities to the track, enabling you to copy the disk. If you have a very deep scratch on your disk, this is the way to go as an abrasive may damage the disk even further.

Guest's picture
Guest

This one actually worked! Yaaay! Thanks.

Guest's picture
jill

hair gel worked, amazin was about to bin dvd & thought i'd give it a try very pleased thnk you

Guest's picture
ruth

It didn't work on my disc

Paul Michael's picture

I'll have to try that one. Thanks!

Guest's picture
Gabrielle

Great ideas - I'll try them out. I've got another problem though - and apparently I'm not the only one; this is happening to a friend of mine as well:

The CD player in my car has started to get really weird about ejecting CDs. Sometimes it doesn't want to accept them, but it's gotten to the point where it nearly always takes several tries to get it to fully eject because the CD gets "stuck" on its way out. My friend says this only happens with the CDs that he's burned himself.

Any clues? Does it need to be cleaned?

Guest's picture
12 year old

it might just be the kind of cd player you have and how long you have had it...
if its new then... that is a really crappy cd player!

Guest's picture
Raine

My cd player would keep the cd and I put another cd half way in holding on to it and sliding it out very fast, makes the old one come out.

Guest's picture
Guest

it dosent need to be cleaned use a koolaid juice straw and push it in and tug it left or right it should work it worked on my wii

Guest's picture
dan

About 25 years ago I had a problem with tiny scratches on the face shield of my motorcycle helmet. Riding at night became dangerous because of the "headlight flare" of oncoming cars. New shields were more expensive than I wanted to deal with on a regular basis.

A friend told me about Meguiar's plastic cleaner and plastic polish. They were sort of expensive, at the time, but if they worked, they'd be well worth the money. I was astounded at the results: my face shield was 100% like new with no scratches at all. I've been using the cleaner and polish since.

A couple of years ago, I needed to use a CD to reinstall Windows XP. It was so scratched that I couldn't use it. The installation had already skipped 36 files before I quit trying. I didn't want to purchase another copy of XP and I happened to remember the Meguiar's plastic products. I had nothing to lose so I tried them on the XP CD.

They worked so well, I was able to reinstall Windows XP without a single file skipped. Since then, every time we rent a DVD movie that is so badly damaged it skips and/or stops, I pull out the Meguiar's plastic cleaner and plastic polish.

I see that Meguiar's has a newer product named PlastX. I haven't tried it yet, but I will as soon as I run out of my current supply of the old stuff. And no, I have no connection with Meguiar's; I have just thoroughly enjoyed the results of every one of their products I've used.

Guest's picture
danny

i was wondering when someone would post this, i have the plastx and it works fantastic but dont leave it on for too long cause it is strong stuff, it really eats away at the plastic if you dont wash it off afterwards , but its brought back a couple of games with unreadable perfect circle scratches :) which are the hardest to get out of games.

Guest's picture
Marlena

I was watching the videos and was unpleasantly surprised when at the end of the second video the one from YouTube there was static then a series of very disturbing images, which freaked me out a little. I just thought you should know.

(I hope it wasn't just my computer.)

Guest's picture
Lili

Well, the images wouldn't have scared me at all (although they are disturbing) if it wasn't for the fact that my speakers volume was kinda high and my ears were ringing. But me being used to looking at creepy images like that (I am against abortion and have seen perfectly formed full sized fetuses in pieces) I have also studied aliens and looked at findings of extraterrestrial life on earth... on top of that my husband is an artist who sketches and paints monsters. Oh gosh, I had no idea I was exposed to creepy stuff that intensely until now, LOL! Anyway, the warning should be in red letters and it should warn about the sound, the warning only states scary images. It doesn't talk about sounds so loud that can leave you deaf. It is also very disturbing since its basically static.

Guest's picture
Raul

Dont watch the second video 'till the end!
disturbing!!
x_x
not nice

Guest's picture
Jon

Here I'm watching a nice educational video on how to help fix CD/DVD's and all of a sudden, WTF! I just soiled myself.

Guest's picture
Guest

Ya Ive had that to!

Guest's picture
Guest

Ya Ive had that to!

Guest's picture
Beepath

Yeah, leave it to the anti-choice wankers to get inside your head over something so personal. This is about salvaging CDs, you old gas bag! And I will still contine to salvage my CDs....they don't use up resources and get into other people's business, ferchrissakes!

Guest's picture
Markoff

you forgot to mention using ash what is used for years for polishing glass (watches) or displays (cover) of mobiles, it's working too, but for me is bet choice toothpaste (you forgot to mention it should have microgranules)

Guest's picture
ethan ash

that is my last name that is funny

Guest's picture
Jamie

Thanks for the heads up fellow readers! Those images on the toothpaste video (second video) are totally freaky. If I hadn't known they were there, I too would be needing a change of drawers especially as I am alone in a very large and creepy building at the moment (Sunday).

Guest's picture
Fixer

indeed the ending of the second video scared the living ©r@p outta me. so i got a clean cloth, smeared the unplayable disc with it, polish that smelly stuff in circular motion.
well guess what.... it still does not work & now it stinks too

Guest's picture
sandman

Try creamy peanut butter.

Guest's picture
Guest

does peanut butter actually work any one know??

Guest's picture
Guest

creamy peanut butter works like a charm - on liquids spilled on a cd AND on scratches. Fills in the scratch like a charm. Use with a soft cloth, put creamy peanut butter on it, rub in circular motion all over cd then wipe off softly with new cloth. Works awesomely. Have done this for years

Guest's picture
Guest

I too have only used creamy peanut butter for scratches. Works great for us!

Guest's picture
la

re: Toothpaste video ending

That's freakin' AWESOME. People have been playing some pretty great practical jokes on YouTube over the past couple of years but that's one that I hadn't seen:

1) Set the viewer up with something nice and calm... heck, water is gently running in a sink like the sound of a running brook or a stream... how much more low profile can you get?
2) Then BOOM!

This is worthy of a YouTube award. Stephen King would be proud.

Guest's picture
lexus

toothpaste did not work for me nd i really want to watch twilight wht should i do

Paul Michael's picture

I didn't see the last few seconds of the video, I figured I had got the jist. I will happily take it down if it offends anyone.

Guest's picture
John T

Yep, it offended. Scared the scheisse out of me. Glad my kids were not hanging over my shoulder like they often do. They would have been in the the middle of a crying fit right about now.

Guest's picture
Theropod

Never tried it myself, but I've heard car waxes can work, since they are made to hide light scratches on car paint finishes.

Guest's picture
Sacabonos

Hey Paul, I really enjoyed these videos thanks for making my day, and about the video with the creepy ending for God's sake dude put a warning or a note under it so people will be alerted.

Guest's picture
Guest

for every one saying he should have told you about the ending he did its under the video

Guest's picture
Guest

That video rules, I dont get scared by screamers anymore, Its excellect to see people get the lives scared out of them!

Here's 2 of the best examples of screamers working on people....

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Rx7aEj7T69w

http://youtube.com/watch?v=t3av2VZl97c

The Second Being The Best!

Guest's picture
Sean McCarthy

well I believe it was the first poster that said NEVER use a circular motion. funny thing is, that is exactly how I do it, and at high speeds too. I first clean the disc by hand with Meguiar's #17 plastic cleaner to remove any debris or dirt etc. I then use Meguiar's #10 plastic polish, and I polish it using my dremel tool with a white polishing pad, just like the one's used on a bench grinder for polishing hard metals like chrome etc. The trick is to not let it get to dry or you will put burn marks on it. but if you are carefull and get the hang of it as I have, you can repair even deep scratches. If it is not actually cracked, you have a great chance of repairing it, and I have been doing so for several years with 100 percent success rate. You probably won't be suprised to know that I am a Certified Journeyman Mechanic by trade, and gearhead by heart. Very easy to get the hang of. I would say mine is a much different approach then any of the other's, and most likely the only one that can give you a disc that is completely scratch free not matter how many scratches it had, and a shine that is better than when new. What do you think about that on Mr. Paul Michael?

Guest's picture
Bill Morrow

Bill Morrow
I use a machine designed for resurfacing cd's and dvd's etc. back to original condition. Cracked disks or tears and scratches on the label side cannot be repaired. Scratches on the opposite side are removed by removing a thin layer of plastic. Deeper scratches may require you to remove several layers. Cd's are thicker [more plastic]than dvd's where I can resurface cd's 8 times and dvd's 3 times safely. My machine uses 500 then 1000 grit sandpaper and finally a liquid paste to reshine the plastic [side] surface. The process is very similiar to what Sean Mccarthy discribes only better because it's fool proof. I bought this machine to use as a business for fixing scratched disks in 2007. It always works. Check out www.jfjeasypro.com and see for yourself why I'm a happy customer. This solution is not for everyone [because the machine is pricey], but if you have a sizeable investment or don't want to yell at the kids...here's another option. I have no financial interest in jfjeasypro's business beyond that of a satisfied customer.

Guest's picture
RA

Displex from http://www.displex.com/ works better :)

Guest's picture
Guest

if toothpaste doesn't work 1st time then clean it again and again and again. Took me five tries to get one heavily damaged dvd working

Guest's picture
Guest

Hilarious! That's awesome. That second video is a classic. Knowing that it was going to be creepier at the end made it even creepier for the first minute.

Guest's picture
Ajfaxis

great tools - chewing gum didn't help at all (so I agree with Paul Michael).
The first and the second video are creepy to listen to. As a foreign language, I couldn't understand all of this video. Both dudes (or was it the same person?) have a hard accident (where are they from? Texas? Australia?)

Guest's picture
Guest

Welcome. Do you mean accent?

Guest's picture
Guest

Welcome. Do you mean accent?

Guest's picture
YouGuest

It's never been introduced to the body of my car, but I keep a bottle of Turtle Wax tucked away in my media cabinet just for CD's and DVD's. I have a couple CD's that are very old and look like they've been dragged along the street for a while. Turtle Wax will generally allow me to play the damaged discs for about 4 - 6 months before another application is required (plenty of time to rip and re-burn them).

Guest's picture
Tainia

I've used Turtle Wax as well. It worked great for me. I've recommended it to others.

Guest's picture
Guest

where can i find it now?

Guest's picture
Annon201

Many Video Stores have electric CD scratch remover machines, and for the most part, If you walk in and ask them politely they may throw your disc through it for anywhere between free and a couple of dollars.

Also, when I (stupidly - but hey, at least I'm not suing for $5m because of this) moved my 360 with Oblivion in the drive and heard the grinding wrrrr that could only mean bad things. The DVD was left with a nice circular groove about 1mm wide and deep enough to feel, I spent about 2 hours rubbing it up and down with a clean dry piece of t-shirt cotton until the scratch was only visible at an angle and had no groove, I was very much happy that I didn't have to go out and purchase another disc - there were some other barely visible scratches left on the disc from the operation, but it worked and that's all I cared about.

Guest's picture
Guest

Haha, I'm trying to fix the very same game. It's sooo awesome.

Guest's picture
LNR

Here is the professional way to remove 100% of the scratches 100% of the time. If you can't remove it this way, then the Disc is a total loss.

Acrylic Polish Video

Guest's picture
Guest

If you can't remove it this way and the disc is a total loss, then this product does not remove 100% of the scratches 100% of the time. Be careful with your claims.

Guest's picture
Douglas Leslie

Hi Paul. Thanks for showing us these excellent methods. Sadly,
the toothpaste, banana and gum methods didn't work, but I will
be going to the shops, and looking for a metal liquid polish (specifically brasso, but as you mentioned, any brand will do)

Thanks again, and keep up the good work!

Guest's picture
Douglas Leslie

Sorry, I forgot to mention this on the top post.

If you used "Brasso" or another liquid metal polish, the kid says, it levels the disk or fills the cracks in. In any case, wouldn't you lose the memory or data that was before the scratch? I don't know how it could continue to work the same..

Paul Michael's picture

the data is contained beneath the scratch on the metallic layer. The brasso fills in the scratch on the plastic, thus allowing the laser to read the information beneath.

Guest's picture
Douglas Leslie

Thanks for the explanation. I've tried brasso, i've been rubbing it gently in a circuler motion, for around 5 minutes, and nothing has happened.
How long do I have to continue rubbing?

Paul Michael's picture

allowed the brasso to dry? You then need to buff it off with a soft cloth. Also, I am not in favor of circular rubbing, despite what some people say. I prefer rubbing from center to edge. But, you defintely need to buff off the residue.

Paul Michael's picture

allowed the brasso to dry? You then need to buff it off with a soft cloth. Also, I am not in favor of circular rubbing, despite what some people say. I prefer rubbing from center to edge. But, you defintely need to buff off the residue.

Guest's picture
Guest

No idea whether this would work, but as the motorbike shield stuff works, maybe it would?? Thanks for the great article and advice!!!

Guest's picture
Guest

I haven't tried any of the methods yet. For the people that used the method and said it worked did it remove all scratches even the tiny ones and made it look like it was brand new from the store again.

Guest's picture
Guest

I know I'm here on the bottom at 3am and nobody will probably even get this far but I LMAO reading all the ridiculous remedies for scratch repair.

Peanut butter only works because of the oil.

I used a powdered cleaner Bon Ami and finished off with an application of olive oil. It worked on only a few of my pile of eight CD's. It left too many fine scratches that would need a decent polish to work right. It did however level the deep scratches. So I would say it's a good step 1 for heavy or deep scratches.

This was a dumb idea, but I was too lazy to go into the garage for the Plastic polish I bought for my clouded headlights (didn't work and the foam applicator I paid $10 bucks for ripped to shreds).

I'll try that tomorrow and see if the polish makes them work.

One guy does them with fine WET sandpaper, I think 400 then up to 2000 grit and then polishes them with a BARE buffing pad on a grinder holding the disc half on and off and turning it now and then until the disc has rotated in his hand 360 degrees and it's supposed to be better than new.

Hmmm, no grinder, I do have an orbital buffer...but the pad probably has so much dirt it will make new scratches,...and that's $10 for a new pad.

One remedy was to take oil from your nose (referred to as "grease")and rub it on the disc!

ROTFL

Or rub the disc on your forehead!

Any vegetable oil will work but only a couple drops or it will spatter itself inside your computer or player.

Will try and find that Brasso I bought that doesn't do anything to fake brass door knobs...Didn't think it was good for anything since who has anything made from solid brass anymore...and if it was you'd get owned on Antiques Roadshow for ruining the "Patina" of that vintage duck doorstop. Thought about polishing the statue of liberty once.

I think I'm going to buy the automated machine they sell for $5K that uses wet sand paper and do 2 discs for a dollar on eBay!$$$$$$$$

Guest's picture
Guest

Novus #2 (a well-known plastic polish) is a little harsh and leaves tiny scratches. It uses silica as an abrasive, which I think is too harsh for this purpose. The milder kind of Bon Ami (the kind that used to come in a square box and is called "Cleaning Powder") will also leave tiny scratches, though I've heard it's good for restoring car windshields. I've had good luck with two different kits made specifically for CD's and DVD's that give you a cloth and some polishing paste. They cost roughly between $5 and $10. One came with tiny amounts of two different strengths of polish, and the other came with a smallish amount of one strength.

Some automotive and metal polishes may work, but I'm not sure of the effects of the solvents many of them contain. You don't want to get funky chemicals onto the upper surface, because that's actually where the information sits. (If you gouge the top surface, you stand a good chance of killing the disc for good.) And beware: the glue in some of those round CD/DVD stick-on labels has been shown to damage that surface over time.

I haven't tried jewelers rouge, which is made from fine particles of iron oxide. What may be also worth trying is the method jewelers use to polish watch crystals.

Guest's picture
Guest

I just thought of this. It seems like a good idea, but I haven't tried it yet. Using a Q-Tip as an applicator should be a good way to pinpoint a specific scratch.

Guest's picture
Guest

All you babies that said that the end of this toothpaste slash cd video were "graphic" "scary" and "made me wet my pants" are sooo very much in need of for the lack of better words-- needing therapy. I have THE oldest computer on the face of the earth that has windows 98. I waited umm 45 minutes for this to download thinking I was ready to "wet my pants" and all I saw was quick images that wouldnt scare a second grader. So pleeeeease shut up. That was not "scary" "graphic" or in need of depends. Freakin babies!!!!!!!

Guest's picture
Guest

get a new computer, 45 minutes for it to download? lmao, nothing is worth 45 minutes, it shouldnt even take 45 seconds, no wonder your such an angry ****head. and you were ready to wet your pants? thats pathetic, are you five years old? dont get so worked up bro. damn. im thinking maybe you should be the one looking into therapy.

Guest's picture
Guest

I HATE U LOL that scary vid scared the chit out of me i didnt even read the warning i jsut watched the vid lol.

anyway u said not to clean in a circular motion and u were cleaning in a circular motion get ur facts straight buddy

Guest's picture
Guest

I don't know if anyone's asked this already but:
How long do you leave the brasso to dry?

Guest's picture
Scratch

i heard penut butter works. Do u know? plz tell me