Re-surfacing CDs so they work again.

A simple way to remove scratches from a cd so you can get your data back off the disc again.

Step 1: Gather Required Materials.

First gather the following materials.

- Paper towel (softer is better)
- Polishing cloth (eyeglasses cloth will do fine)
- CD scratched beyond playability (Easy to find)
- Can of Brasso Metal Polish.

Step 2: Add Brasso and Start Polishing!

Take some of the brasso and pour it onto the CD. Please be careful with the Brasso, and only perform this in a well ventilated area. I was making this guide at at the office, and forgot about the fumes. I had to polish the CD in the stairwell as I would have fumed out my co-workers otherwise.

Use the paper towel pieces to polish the CD. Polishing is ideal in straight strokes from the center of the disk to the outside so you polish perpendicular to the tracks on the disc. Because I was short on time, I used small circular motions similar to how I'd polish a car. Take your time with this. Add Brasso when it dries or gets pushed off the CD. Continue this process for about 15 minutes.

You should feel the abrassiveness of the Brasso on the CD as you are doing this. If not, then use a different papertowel. The brasso is removing part of the plastic from the disc not adding to it. You are actually scraping away part of the CD which makes the existing scratches smaller.

After 15 minutes or so, Rince the CD off under water and check the CD. The brasso will have left small scratches on the disc as it wore down the CD. Keep going until the deep scratches are gone, and all that remains are the marks from the brasso. (they will diminish as you continue and get an even surface again).

When done, rince the disc, and wipe it with the soft eyeglass cloth.

Step 3: Insert CD into CD-ROM Drive and Test.

Take your polished, rinsed and dried CD and test it in your CD ROM. If it still doesn't work go back to step #2.

As you see by my example, I was successful at pulling the data off my CD-ROM.

I have not attempted this on DVDs or video console games. Please do this at your own risk. results will vary on your patience, and polishing technique.

Comments

[people101]

could u use soap water or some thin' like that?

[Tovamon]

i would like to point out that this really does work and that it has saved my ass dozens of times

[Uncle Kudzu]

I have polished automobile tail light lenses and plastic watch crystals with cutting compound paste (like Turtle Wax brand). I'm guessing it would also work on scratched CDs, and it might be easier to find (auto parts store) than Brasso.

[eric m]

Autopolish is cheap too.

[chosen114.]

dudes and doodies if u want a cd to b clean use anormal erazor and wipe with kaka tissues simple as that

[wildviolets]

peanut butter works as well....just wipe from small hole outward...

[travis96]

I prefer colgate mint toothpaste it puts more scratched but the disc will work again...on video games at least.

1) apply toothpaste
2)let sit for 5 min
3)rinse in warm(not hot or cold)
4)repeat until disc works

P.S. apply toothpaste with your finger, rubbing in circular motions.

P.S.S. I like this guide 5 Star for you. im going to try it sometime too. Just one question...does it erase the memory?

[50-50]

All this is doing is waring down to layer of plastic below the skratchs.
You are preatty much skratching the rest of the disk down to the same level so it looks like it was never skratched.you would have to ploish for hours to get down to the data.

[slayer04]

or just start from the top, because all the data lies directly on the other side of the label :p

[hedgesci]

use a "mister clean" magic eraser, from the center towards the outer edge. works everytime

[MrSnIpErHaWk4]

Does this actually work? How deep can the scratches get before it doesnt work anymore?

[Brandonfonzyman]

ya i that on my game and it didnt work can any one gve me some more tips?

:]

[imdoinme1999]

Vaseline (Petroleum Jelly) Seems To Work Very Well For Me.(:

[imdoinme1999]

The easiest way to fix unplayable CD's (that i found to work) is With Vaseline or Petroleum Jelly.(:

[skaihaku]

They use discs because when was the last time it cost more than 30p to make a disc as opposed to £3.50 for a cartridge. When also was the last time you could wipe a discs memory with a magnet?

They use discsettes for a reason, because physical memory beats virtual memory, and always will. fact

[Addy771]

diskettes and CD's are all "physical" memory. There is no "virtual" memory. Both formats store data in physical 3 dimensional space

[toogers]

CDs are so much work, i wish cartridges were for movies and music, in addition to some video games

[siafulinux]

I've thought of cartridges for media too. It's certainly possible with SD cards and such. Maybe they'll just start putting them on those SD cards instead with the only problem being that they are easy to lose. A cartridge of some sort would be better IMO.

[ahmedhosen]

It is Ok . I did it

[Brandonfonzyman]

i tried that and it didn't work. Any more tips i could try.
:(

[Funkmasterlogan]

i recommend 3500 grit, comes in disk for for a DA sander, but you can put brasso on it and had sand it

[javitech]

This is the ticket! Brasso for brass works great. I've tried car wax, toothpaste ( too harsh) and the winner is Brasso. Gives a mirror polished shine that the Wii likes. I used in conjunction a cotton polishing cloth (looks and feels like the type of material used in baby blankets) after 3 tries i decided to remove the residue of brasso from the center towards the edge of the CD and it read w/o errors virsus circular motion (on removal of residue remember) Polishisg must be done in circular motion then again trial and error if you have the time and material to experiment. Good luck and thank to the contributor of this fine idea!!! (germanpickle). Regards, Javitech...

[scottamus]

2000+ grit Sand paper would probably work great. Just attach it to something perfectly flat (I would use a sheet of glass) and start rubbing the disc on it in circular motions. I'd start with 2000 grit and see if that's enough to take the scratches out if it's not go to a lower grit. Once the surface is uniform go a higher grit and repeat. You'll have the added benefit of a trued (flat) surface. This is how I true chisels and if you do it right they have a mirror finish.

[Andy229]

I use 1200, 1500 and 2000 grit sandpaper, I've found simply tearing off a small piece, say 5x3cm and sanding the disc by hand, usually in straight motions from centre to outside. Depending on the severity of the scratch, I usually use 2000 and if it doesn't work, then 1500, sometimes 1200 if I just want to hurry it up. Then go back up to finer grit (1200 to 1500 to 2000) then polish with brasso on a cloth. That usually fixes it. If I want, I can also polish it further with plain white toothpaste, which can vary in ingredient.

[pixy.misa]

When gentle polishing alone does not work, I also use sandpaper and work up to 3000 grit before polishing with rubbing compound.

[fnkdctr]

You dont want to rub in a circular motion.. this is the way the data is read.. You actually wipe from the center straight out. And dont expect to remove all the scratches, you just buff them and remove the sharp/jagged edges so the laser doesnt skip. It can go up and down a hill, it cant jump a mountain. skip doctor is pro.

[wittyhoosier]

That may work, but first you'll have to sand down the ridge that runs around the center hole (presumably to keep the readable surface from contacting anything if the disk were laid flat. Take a look!)

[perfecttommy]

The readable surface is not the shiny side of the cd. The data is written on the upper side under the print. That's the vulnerable side. The scratches on the 'playing surface' just get in the way of the laser , inhibiting it's ability to read the upper layer. Just fyi. Shabbadooooooo!!!

[dal123]

I don't know what's in brasso and the fumes do smell - but i do know that I tried it AND IT WORKED!!!! WOO HOO!  I almost threw the disk out, I tried toothpaste and that just made it horrible.  I was going to send it to one of those resurfacing places but with shipping and that the cheapest I could find was about $9.00.  I had some brasso and it worked, my daughter's playing the disk right now - THANKYOU!

[linda2010]

brasso is sometimes corrosive and toothpaste is a terrible idea. for effective scratch removal i would use ScratchOut its a great product and can be found a gaming stores besybuy and walmart. its a great item to have around the house.

[hamjam01]

(removed by author or community request)

[Mr. Brownie]

I actually just take Lens Cleaner (for glasses), and a lens cloth and it works fine.

[rakol1]

there is no place that sells Brasso

[vandal1138]

Any military post / base / station whatever you wanna call it. Its a privates worst nightmare. (a privates, as in a person of the rank E-1 to E-3 in the army. Not your junk. Though I'm sure brasso on your junk would suck)

[baneat]

You get it in supermarkets.

[allureoftheearth]

check a hardware store. it's where i get mine

[onionbuskut]

HOLY CRAP! the circle my xbox carved in to my GTA4 disk is gone! aweeesome

[Lafawnduh]

does it work?

[PitmanGSXR1000]

Hi all i just wanted to add to this with a comment about Xbox 360 dvd's. I had a 360 disk which had a horrible scratch running round the centre middle of the disk almost a full circle which rendered the disk unreadable by the console and i can confirm that after using this instructable the disk now installs and plays works fine although i replaced the paper towel with a soft cloth so it did take a few minutes more but the end result was a sucess. Thanks to germanpickle for this very effective method.

[nikosapi]

Brasso worked great for a bunch of scratches on a DVD of mine, thanks!