Introduction: A Neat Trick on How to Resurface a CD
More by the author:
About: . My age is confidential
. My location is confidential
. My sex is confidential
. My hobbies are confidential
. I like Guns...
. And girls...
This is a trick that a lot of people already know, but just in case they didn't I posted this.
CHEERS!
Step 1: Gather the Materials
The Needed Materials for This project are:
1.) A scratched CD
2.) White toothpaste (not the gel kind)
3.) Warm water
Step 2: Get Er' Dun!
First get you CD and smear the toothpaste on the scratched surface (NOT TOO MUCH, ONLY ENOUGH). Then rub it around a little with your finger in an up and down motion, NOT A CIRCULAR MOTION, IT WILL RUIN THE CODING. Lastly, rinse it off with warm water in an up and down motion.
And Voila! A usable CD!
Step 3: After the Resurfacing ( an After Picture for Weissensteinburg)
This is a different CD, not the blue one. And I am in the process. But anyways, note how the CD isn't too scratched.
Be the First to Share
Recommendations
Cold Challenge
Game Design: Student Design Challenge
Clocks Contest
47 Comments
15 years ago on Step 3
dose it work on ps2 games.
Reply 2 years ago
Yes
4 years ago on Step 2
any mild abrasive with water and cloth will remove scratches but the disk is left too dull to read through the new scratches youve added
8 years ago on Introduction
try glue but don`t wash it off and try to get all the glue in the scratches and don`t leave any over the scratches then let it dry
9 years ago on Introduction
It does work. However, what this person forgot to mention is that it has to be done a certain way. You have to do straight line from the center of the disc to the edge. You also have to use a soft, non-lint cloth (an plain white cotton tee works fine). Also, it works best if the scratches are surface scratches on the plastic side. If the scratches are too deep or on the side of the label, you're just wasting toothpaste.
11 years ago on Step 3
does this work for computer games
11 years ago on Introduction
Repairing CDs and DVDs:
Many interesting posts some of which (the failures) point up a basic problem and that is a lack of specificity as to the "grit" size(s) required. Brasso and/or Crest, tooth paste vs. "gels" are different ways of -- implicitly -- indicating grit sizes. What we collectively need is some guidance as to what grits to use to achieve what results. With numbers, one could go to an industrial supply store and buy the appropriate powders (probably a range of three to five would do fine). I've been sharpening chisels and plane blades for years using a buffing wheel (easily available at Home Despot) and "rouge" sticks (once available at Sears but I haven't bought any new in decades), and with the correct selection of grits and in the correct order, a mirror finish that one can shave with can easily and quickly be put on a chisel or plane blade. I'm not suggesting buffing wheels for CDs and DVDs (although it might actually work fine if done with GREAT CARE), but the principle is the same; we need some numbers, and some suppliers. (Cleaning, the proper buffing motions, etc. all seem to be handled nicely by the existing posts. BTW, I've managed to bring DVDs back long enough to copy using simple old nose grease; Vaseline and WD-40 sound like constructive alternatives that I personally haven't tried yet.)
11 years ago on Introduction
For one thing, buy an external hard drive, second get an iso maker and turn all of your expensive cd's into iso files and put them on the external hard drive. this will back your discs up so if they ever get ruined, you can just make a new one so if it's a game, make sure you keep your cd key, now for scratches, all you need is super glue, i'm in the process of making a cd resurfacer that uses extremely runny super glue to put a new surface on. i'm going to make an instructable on it, but sadly i made it then thought of instructables. and to be honest if you use this, it's a one time thing, this process can make the disc more fragile and it would break while in use. that is why you actually need to add to the surface, not take away the surface with toothpaste, and the white kind is surposed to have soda powder in it.
12 years ago on Introduction
toothpaste is OK but it must be a very fine type I tried a number of things using old disk and the best result so far is a kind of toothpaste its used for stain removing there are 2 types on the market THAT DO WORK one is Pearldrops and the other is Denivit the best one is Denivit I use a disk cleaner machine but instead of the rubbish they give to clean with I use Denivit anti stain its on sale here in the UK pearldrops too ,,.Icleaned about 6 disk so far all work make sure you wash of the paste before putting in your player / games console dry with a micro cloth or something fine. good luck
12 years ago on Introduction
Thank You! Thank you! Thank you Linux_Galore!!! You are a freaking genius!
I had to reformat and re-install Windows XP Pro. Set-up could not read the files from my disc. I was bummed! I did the toothpast thing and brasso thing with no success. I read your post about the WD 40. It did stop on me several times but I just kept hitting enter and one time I had to use the WD40 a second time. But it worked like a charm. I am now finishing my OS installation with XP Pro. You are my hero!!!
15 years ago on Introduction
We have a "be nice" comment policy. Please post accordingly.
Reply 13 years ago on Introduction
(removed by author or community request)
Reply 13 years ago on Introduction
(removed by author or community request)
Reply 13 years ago on Introduction
(removed by author or community request)
Reply 13 years ago on Introduction
that he said that
(removed by author or community request)
Reply 15 years ago on Introduction
huh
15 years ago on Introduction
rubbing in a circular motion will NOT 'ruin the coding', the actual data is stored on the CD in the layer just below the label.
Reply 13 years ago on Introduction
true that.
the reason why you dont rub in a circular motion, rather, is because it's much easier for a disc reader to read through a single notch of unreadable data, than a continuous, circular stream of unreadable data.
toothpaste doesnt work too well. only looks clean when its still wet, but once it's dry, its back to step one, even if there are less scratches.
the real trick is brasso, and metal polishes.
hint hint
15 years ago
really you are just scratching everything to the same level rather tha actualy resurfacing the cd. it does mork wih minor scratches on many different things.
Reply 15 years ago
If all you have is mediocre scratching, get a cd-buffer and use it. Also try cleaning your CD-drive for increased sensitivity. This is a method well-discussed for last-minute data-recovery.
If you respect CD-R's as they are, precision optical media, and handle/store them as such, then you will never have such damage to your media surface.
Pretend it's the '80's, and you are the only one to hold this technology. Do you ignore the sensitivity of it, or do you try to keep it as mint as possible? I *still* have CD's that not only work, but are some of the earliest varieties, since they first came out. They work just fine if you handle properly.