Subscribe by EmailHOW TO: Remove scratches from CDs and DVDs
June 11, 2007 by Geeks are Sexy | 71 comments
This simple guide will probably be a lifesaver for a lot of you out there, especially to those of you who have kids roaming their home. We all know it: if something is dear to your heart, no matter how careful you are, your kids will eventually break it.
What brought me to write this article is that my wonderful son, while being at home last week, climbed on a chair and got his hand on my precious Star Wars DVD collection.
Naturally, he did it silently so my wife—though only 20 feet from him, didn’t hear anything. After picking up the box set, he proceeded to bring out a few disks from the box and played with them, dragging them across our hardwood floor. I’m sure you can imagine the effect this operation had on the surface of the DVD’s… they were scratched thouroghly, and when played, the movie froze at critical moments.
Fortunately, I had already experienced something similar with a scratched CD and was able to repair it using a simple technique. Please note that Amazon.com sells a cheap and effective CD repair machine that does the job very well if you don’t want to go through the manual process.
First, before trying anything, be sure to thoroughly clean the surface of your damaged CD. Sometimes, even if a disc is lightly scratched, it will play anyway if properly cleaned.
To do this, just take a piece of Microfiber cloth and clean your disk using eyeglass cleaner or an easy-to-make homemade solution we wrote about in the past. Be sure to wipe the CD / DVD starting from inside out and do not touch the reflective surface with your fingers while doing it. Do not attempt to clean the disc using circular motions! Doing so may worsen the condition of your media if you accidentally scratch it. (It’s always better to have a simple scratch going across one location on several tracks than one affecting the entire length of a single track.)
If after trying this, your disc still doesn’t work, you’ll need to employ a more drastic approach to the situation.
The only things you’ll need to do that is a soft cotton swab and a little bit of mild abrasive, such as Brasso. Be careful, Brasso emits fumes and can be very irritating. Perform the following steps in a well-ventilated area:
- Imbue your cotton swab with a little dab of Brasso.
- Gently polish the damaged area of your CD or DVD using a small circular motion until the scratch disappears or at least subdues.
- Rinse the media.
That’s it! Now stick your disc back inside your player, and attempt to play it again. Does it work? If yes, then great! If no, then repeat the above procedure. I also heard that white toothpaste and car-rubbing compound could be effective, but I have not tried them.
And yes, I was able to get my Star Wars DVD’s back in working condition with this technique, but please note that if you do this, you do it at your own risk. Putting up too much pressure on your scratched disc will probably worsen its condition instead of improving it, so don’t forget to be gentle!
This trick will also often work wonders on damaged PS2, PS3 and Xbox game CD’s.
Does anyone have additional tips on how to repair scratched CD’s and DVD’s? Let us know in the comment area of this post!
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I used to work at a jewelry store and the jewelers used to fix their CD collections using a special attachment & polishing compound on the metal polisher.
So if you have any friends who are jewelers, this could work out for you.
In extreme cases, to repair the whole surface I use a method learned while building guitars. Wetsand surface with 600-1000 grit sandpapeer, and buff on wheel. Effectively resurfacing the whole disc.
I agree with Ikswoltok, I have used this method very successfully, the wet sandpaper (a higher grit is better as if you slip, you’re not going to damage the disc), and then a buffing wheel on a tabletop buffer.
I have resurfaced hundreds of discs that were so damaged would not play at all…now the owners worship me as some sort of god!
I prefer the “make backup of your DVDs, play the backup.” method, but that’s illegal, despite the fact that this is EXACTLY the reasons that we need backups!
You are allowed to make copies of media as long as they are for personal use; i.e a backup copy. In Canada, the Copyright Act explicitly states that a consumer of a legaly purchased licenced media has the right to make a copy of said media.
Cheers,
JM
Simply hair gel works too.. all you need to do is apply and let dry!
If that is true I will try using it… I have that at home… and I don’t use it… perhaps it was waiting for better use…
I use toothpaste and a soft cotton cloth (damp) – a circular buffing -don’t press down too hard- is enough to rescue all but the worst damage. Tell ya what tho, those hand cranked DVD scratch removers are death to most disks.
Rob
do you know How many dics I have binned because of scratches, many thanks for you have just saved me tonnes.
Wow, I didn’t know Brasso could do that! Thanks :)
just dont scratch it in the first place!
backup too!
you obviously don’t have kids! the fact is, that no matter how careful you are, or how closely you watch your kids, they get into EVERYTHING!
I have used dish soap and running water before to get cds and dvd’s readable again.
Do Cd walletts actually keep cd’s safe or do they ruin the cd by taking them in and out?
Hmmm, like in all things, you have to be careful when taking them out. I don’t see why putting them in there, especially if they’re in individual sleeves, would damage them.
I’m convinced it does scratch them.
I use CD wallets and have never had any problems. Thanks for the cleaning tips.
Window cleaner works well. Just spray on and wipe with a microfibre cloth inside to out and ta-da problem solved!
Turtle wax.
try using undiluted washing up liquid, works great and much cheaper!!!!
oh my god the Brasso is actually working!!!
Cream cleaner is a slight abrasive and i have allways found it to be effective
I’ll have to give this a try. Thanks for the tip.
hey, very good tip. brasso could make a cloudy day shine even lol. iv’e been using it for years on radiators on antique cars. but try this one. it’s called “plastx”and it’s made by meguires car care products. what it does is polish plastic such as old convertible windows and anything youcan’t see through anymore. anyways it says also works great for scratched cds/dvd. just follow the directions. it goes on with just a few drops. looks kinda hazy blue then after rubbing for 30 secs it turns clear and then you dry it off and it looks brand new. i baught mine at ace hardware. some of my xbox games i can now play after they were completely scratched by “the kid”. so have fun and do try the brasso as well. happy hollidays everyone. james:-)
use peanut butter(creamy) for the most extreme. then after you have coated the entire disk, rinse off with hot water, let it dry, and wipe off with a soft cloth
I’ve used this for about 10 years:
For lighter scratches and abrasions, try spraying a little Pledge (yes – furniture polish) on a microfiber towel, and work it onto the disk’s surface, from the center out. Let it dry, and buff it clean. Repeat if needed.
The Brasso works great for the heavier damage.
Pledge does work!!
The Brasso method works for me, thanks! I have been using Brasso for years, but never for this purpose. Never once crossed my mind.
Just curious… why the heck did you even think of using Brasso in the first place? Or toothpaste? Or peanut butter? Why not strawberry-flavored toothpaste or chocolate butter?
Instant success (after 5 minutes) on an Xbox disc. Joy! Thanks for the tip.
Good advice, I might try that later…
Or alternatively, you could try this.
Brasso…I never woulda thought. I’ve always used a good quality shampoo and gently running water, allowing a tiny bit of the shampoo to remain in the crack. Then allow to air dry. Works wonders! But I’m always willing to try something new, so I’m gonna test drive the Brasso method too. Thanks!
I just use a product called “Apple Sauce” it is to remove scratches from Ipods…..it works GREAT with microfiber towels ….
The industry could have saved us these headaches by having the DVD encased in a small plastic cartridge rather than “naked”.
If you just need the data from a disc, a light polish with lemon oil will sufficiently fill scratches to allow the data to be extracted and then you can burn a new disc.
Toothpaste is the biggest joke ever!!! i tried it 3 times and everytime my PS2 game failed to play fluently. This so called “restoration tip” is a bunch of crap.
Funny, because i fixed my Tomb Raider Legend disk yesterday with some toothpaste. ;)
Works like a charm, unless you have really deep scratches.
Robin
I just fixed a DVD with toothpaste! Thanks… Also, make sure to use toothpaste and not gel. Gel won’t work as well. Toothpaste works best when it has baking soda in it.
Those are some complicated answers. It’s real easy to fix a scratched disk. It’s so easy you probably won’t even believe it until you try it for yourself. Get a pan of water about an inch deep. Boil it. Yes, I said boil that water. Now drop the disk in the boiling water for 10 to 15 seconds. Get it out before it melts and the scratches are sealed. Make a handle out of a paper clip to keep the disk from touching the bottom of the pan and to retrieve it from the boiling water. Nay sayers have never tried it and anyone who tries it will never bother with that time wasting polishing technique again.
I used the Brasso trick on a Wii game today and it worked! Thanks so much! You saved me $50 dollars!
I think it’s funny that people say “well don’t scratch them in the first place!” These people obviously don’t have kids….or friends!
Hey
i used high gloss car wax on ratchet and clank for ps2 now before it dident even boot now i can get to the main menu which is slightly beter but thats it now im gona invest in the brasso but i recomend car wax/turtle wax for audio cds and light damage
You can also use 400 grit then 1000 grit sandpaper to get down to the depth of the scratches, then rubbing compound to polish it out. The important thing is to get the surface clear and free of the visible obstruction so that light passes directly through it. Any kind of semi-transparent fillers like toothpaste or peanutbutter are not a good idea.
Toothpaste should not be used as a filler, but as a polisher. Or you could use it to actually brush your teeth.
Toothpaste really doesn’t get the deep scratches but brasso normaly does
Try putting your disc into the dip-freezer for 5 to 8 minutes…
seriously – so wrong.
You can occasionally recover data off a HDD with platter damage by putting it in the freezer although if you can afford it a professional data recovery company is always the best option.
Bottom line, if your not %100 sure of something, don’t say anything. In this case it’s not going to damage the dvd but I hate to think what other advice you’ve bandied about – people like you make the net the unreliable source it is…
I know this isn’t a technique to cleaning your disk ,but if your lazy, places like game stop and play n’ trade sometimes have machines that clean them for about $2.00
it got my heavily damaged halo 3 disk that wouldn’t play at all to play and look like new
creamy peanut butter works great, also.
I dont know why you american people dont like to give some beat in your kids… Unfortunately, here in Brazil, people are not beating their kids anymore… My girlfriend told me that we are never beating or punishing our kids for nothing, and that all we will do is talk to them… Of course, that is HER opinion… If my kids touch my Star Wars collection or my Babylon 5, or any of my CDs, DVDs, LPs, VHS or books, I’ll KILL THEM!
Uh, dude, relax ;)
ive tride almost everything to get my dbz game to work ive tride the toothe paste the scratch remover that you get at the store and my mom and dad dont know what this brasso stuf is i miht just try the winndow clener and this is a jock some dudes on the internet said that flushing a game down the toilet will work
I CANT FIND THE WINDOW CLENAR AND NOTHING WILL WORK!!!!!!!
Thanks for the tip! :)
And oh, since I am already posting something, does anyone know what this “Pingback”-thing is? It has appeared in almost every comment box I have stumbled upon lately. It’s quite bothersome. :/
A pingback is a trail that leads to another site that talked about your article. So if someone linkes to this post on their blog, it will leave a pingback…
I didn’t have time to read all the comments, so if I duplicate, I’m sorry. I have used standard bar soap, rubbed it over the CD or DVD, then polished with a microfiber cloth… have never had any problems with any CD/DVD players or ROMS using this method.
This didn’t work for me at all.
Brasso has grits in it which will scratch your disc. Try shving cream instead. But dont let it dry. And WHO THE HELL WATCHES STARWARS?
OMG who dosnt watch starwars. its like the best 6 movies EVER.also i was going to use brasso but my dad said thet it will eat through the cds.
I have never tried anything to repair CD’s or DVD’s but I am desperate since 90% of are DVD collection was ruined this past summer by my sisters kids who stayed with me who in my opinion are old enough to know better and know how to properly care for something that is not theres. I have four kids of my own and they are 6 and under and they have never caused so many of our DVD’s to quit working. I am going try a few of the suggested ideas, not like I got anything to lose if they get ruined!!!!
Nice and usefull post, thanks, this is one for my bookmarks!
braso eats thru the cd’s but thats y it works, it burns thru the scratch and then u clean it off, b 4 it destroys the cd
ermm i was looking thru these comments and i havent tryed the toothpaste yet but im going to try later but i was wondering if any kind of hair wax works to take the scratches out of disks couse somebody told me that car wax works so i was wondeing if hair wax would work…….
Thank you so much about the brasso idea. I just tried it on my Wii Sports game and it worked. I was gonna buy another game. Thank you so much
nothing works. Everything else thats a comment does not work for me. The windex, the penut butter nothing works.
when you come up with something that does work tell me cause i want to see cause nothing works the brasso idea never works cause guess what i tried it and it made it worse so do whatever cause it does not work for me. Go ahead and try but it won’t work. Try it, it wil just make it worse.
What is BRASSO? Is it available in Australia?
And do Toothpaste, Furniture Polish, Har/Car Polish, Windex and Peanut Butter really work, does anyone who used it can clarify that these work?
also windex can work too. just spray and wipe gently with toilet paper.
never use any paper products (toilet paper, paper towels, etc) to clean your discs. paper is abrasive!
Only microfiber cloths or a clean soft cotton tshirt