Re-surfacing CDs so they work again.

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.

Comments

[ahmedhosen]

It is Ok . I did 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...

[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.

[onionbuskut]

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

[Lafawnduh]

does it work?

[suffice]

You don't really need all these things. An easier way to fix CDs and DVDs is that you can actually use toothpaste to polish them. Just get a towel, any kind would do but the softer the better. Wet the towel and put a bit of toothpaste on it. Start polishing from the center out by rubbing the wet towel against the disc. Remember you have to polish it from the center out not in circles. After a while the minor scratches should be gone and your CD or DVD should work again. If it doesn't then you have some deep scratches just keep polishing some more. Oh and rinse the disc and wipe it before you put it back in the player of course. Don't worry about minor scratches resulting from you rubbing the towel that's why you're rubbing from the inside out and not in circles, scratches in circles cause a continuous lost of data.

[acdc231]

tooth paste

[jdog172]

I have a question can i use multi purpose brasso metal polish

[gregoryabbarno]

i couldent getbit to work i tried like 1mil times im getin mad

[colombiancannon]

I also used any name brand toothpaste to remove scratches on cd's and dvd's. Works too.

[gunner]

it works time to play metal gear solid 1 twin snakes

[mtcw]

Excellent idea. Try a preliminary step before you put in this much labor however. I always keep a little generic automotive paste wax nearby for just this purpose. When I find a cd/dvd malfunction that is attributable to scratches, I just dab a little paste wax on and buff it off immediately. The wax (apparently) fills the scratch (that's what turtle wax designed it to do) temporarily with a compound that is similar enough to the base acrylic that it reduces light scattering. This works about nine times out of ten for me. For the other ten percent, fifteen minutes of Brasso is likely to help out. Also, if a disc is really badly scratched, there's a good chance both sides have gotten damaged. Hold it up to a bright light to make sure that the information layer (other side) isn't indeed scratched through (you'll see specks of light through the disc surface). It that's the case then there is nothing more to be done. Can't be fixed.

[bigboehmboy]

just a quick note, it's "rinse" in case youre able to change it. Great tutorial though :)

[Goshen.Guy]

(removed by author or community request)

[sumplesnoob]

nice

[Cypris]

Im not sure if it was myself, or the brasso, but some where within the first part of the 15 mins cleaning time, 3 cracks occured in the inner ring going outwards, the middle crack is longest, the right crack is a tad shorter, and the left crack goes about an 1/8th inch past the inner silver ring.. maybe not even 1/8th, i had this cd on paper towels at my computer desk (Window open, fan blowing air out, house fan on high), 2 layers of paper towels, 1 whch was 4 lenghts folded on eachother, and on that layer was a 3 length, folded to be bigger than the cd by 2 inches on all sides, the cd didnt get much pressure applied to it.. i dont see how it happend. I dont care if its never happend, but COULD brasso crack a cd? in some way AT ALL under light pressure. thank god this was a test cd. but guys, now what am i going to do without Power DVD? Use WMP maybe/ lol. (i never used this). anyways, has this happend to anyone besides myself, or am i just that bad at doing delicate work? :-p

[Dayshawn]

Brasso works great on my ipod also.