Remove Scratches From a CD/DVD With Vaseline (Petroleum Jelly)

Intro: Remove Scratches From a CD/DVD With Vaseline (Petroleum Jelly)

Vaseline (Petroleum Jelly) can be used for chapped lips, dry skin, and for getting rid of head lice; but how about making CDs and DVDs readable again?  Well, it does that too.  There are also other ways to do this on the Instructables website, but I will show you the one that I believe works best.

STEP 1: Materials

Before you start removing scratches from your CDs and DVDs, you should grab your materials.  To perform the directions in this Instructable, you will need  the following materials:

- Soft Cloth or Disc Cleaner/Repair
- Petroleum Jelly (Vaseline, Store Brand, etc.)
- Minor to severely scratched discs

STEP 2: Cleaning Time!

Now it's time to apply the petroleum jelly.  I will demonstrate both ways to do this (the tissue and the disc cleaner). 

**UPDATE** Thanks to all of the comments, I have learned that you should not rub in small circular motions as show in picture #1, but instead follow inner perimeter of the disk.

STEP 3: Remove the Scratches

Once that is done, you will need to get rid of the excess grease.  If you did it with a tissue, get a damp clothand start scrubbing.  (Do NOT use rubbing alcohol unless you want a warped disc)  If you did it with that disc cleaner on the other hand, just hit the start button, wait for it to finish, and repeat the directions above.

STEP 4: Finished!

All clean!  As you can see, there are no more visible scratches.  If this didn't work for you, try peanut butter.  Rumor has it that it works.

If there are any improvements that need to be made, please do not hesitate to comment.

Comments

[GR8LIFETRICKS]

LOL! Back in the record player vinyl days. I took pencils and filled in the scratches on my records! Worked great!

[general zee]

Really bummed this didn't work for me. My daughter scratched her favorite Wii game and they are sooooooo expensive. Thanks anyway...

[GR8LIFETRICKS]

Buff the shiny side with buffing compound, like they use on automobiles! This works great for me! Always wipe from center of disc straight out. And try to obtain a lense Cleaning cloth to prevent putting more scratches onto the disc!

[IfWeChoose]

 When you say she scratched it...how big of a scratch?

[general zee]

Well, luckily I was able to have our video store clean it in their better machien and it is working but there was a scratch at least an inch long, no more than 2 and not real deep, the 2nd scratch is still there and is only maybe 1/4" and deeper. She told me if it wasn't still working, one more time in the machine may work and then that is probably it. I am going to use a disk cover my dad got and try to protect it so it doesn't get scratched again. No idea if those work but why not try it!

[IfWeChoose]

 Good thinking! And those disc covers can work wonders. Just made sure to follow the directions to put it on, disc must be clean, no grease and what not so it wont ever fly off and into your console :O

[general zee]

Awesome! I never heard of anyone using them but why not???? I had no directions but it was a clean disk and I made sure it snapped on all the way around. They played it yesterday and so far so good! Just not happy about the shorter life on the disk but hopefully it will still last a long time! Thanks!!!!!!!!!

[Shiftlock]

As long as it's working now, it should last forever as long as you don't damage it anymore.  The information on DVDs is stored digitally, so they don't "wear out" after a certain period of time.  They last forever as long as they're not physically damaged (by scratches).  So there's no reason to think that your disc will have a "shorter life".  It will last as just long as a brand new one, which is forever (as long as it's not damaged again).

[ac-dc]

No, discs do not last forever.  Even factory pressed discs eventually delaminate, especially from the top layer and then the metal layer oxidizes.

I don't mean it is impossible to make one last a long time in a lab, but that is not the same as regular use and exposure to UV, and the acceptance that discs are not made perfectly.

Being stored digitally means little, just as you would find analog degraded at some point where you found it unacceptable, eventually read value for a digital 0 or 1 can drift across the threshold for determination of 0 or 1, and frankly the kinds of damage that would effect an optical disc even if it were analog would easily prevent reading proper digital bit values... hence we have the need to remove scratches, and if we did not, we'd be able to read it as analog too except that would be a lower bit density/capacity.

[Shiftlock]

Wow, that's about the most anal-retentive reply I've ever seen.  Obviously nothing lasts FOREVER, but digital media does not degrade in quality over time like magnetic media does.  As long as the disc stays in perfect PHYSICAL condition, it will last forever.  Period.  Issues like delamination are only an issue if the disc was manufactured improperly.  You can expect a mass-produced DVD to last 100 years, which is far longer than the hardware that reads it will even be in use.

[ac-dc]

It is disappointing that you troll when you are incorrect.  Digital media DOES degrade in quality, as I attempted to educate you about.  Error correction code is used on discs for this reason.

It will not last forever, it is pointless to suggest "as long as it stays in perfect physical condition" because we could say EVERYTHING lasts forever so long as it stays in perfect physical condition.

What you do not understand is everything does not stay in perfect physical condition and although a CD will usually last a bit longer than a magnetic storage medium regardless of whether it is digital or analog, it is simply incorrect to claim forever and no trolling changes that.

[Shiftlock]

Actually, I think you are the one trolling.  You're not adding anything to the thread at all.  I know your type.  The type of person who is always looking for a debate.  Fact is, a DVD will last VIRTUALLY forever.  If it's kept in good condition, which is quite possible since nothing actually touches the media in order to read it.  They are made of polycarbonate, which is a long-lasting material, and the data is stored digitally.  A properly cared for DVD will last far longer than 99.9& of people need it to, and will probably outlast the person who owns it.  Saying things like "nothing lasts forever" and "nothing stays in perfect condition" is just argumentative.  One of the benefits of CD/DVD media over older magnetic media is data shelf life.  You just can't argue with that - it's a fact.  If this weren't the case, I wouldn't have bothered to transfer my wedding videos onto DVD last year.

You're arguing with someone who majored in material sciences and works with materials similar to those that DVDs are constructed of every day, so you're fighting a losing battle here.

[ac-dc]

1)  I did not add misinformation, but I helped dispel the myth you started.

2)  I did not troll by writing "anal-retentive", you did.  I am being nice but you don't deserve it.  :)

3)  I am not looking for debate, I am spreading accurate information while it conflicts with your vanity that whatever you write isn't automatically right if only you write enough to argue.

4)  Face it, you are ignorant of the technology.  It is not relevant whether it is analog or digital, and it is pointless to think in terms of "if it stays in perfect condition".  As I already educated you, ALL THINGS that stay in perfect condition would never lose data.  You make a pointless distinction because you don't know what matters, don't know the science behind it.

5)  You are the one being argumentative while I am citing real world fact.  The real world fact is, there is no use of media that does not subject it to wear, to harm, to UV rays, to eventual problems.

6)  You transferred wedding photos ONE W_H_O_L_E YEAR ago?  You must be joking, even shorter lived magnetic tapes last well over ten years, and many CDRs or DVDs that people have made turned out rotten after less than 3 years even safely stored away because of poor manufacturing and materials.

You do not work with materials similar to DVDs everyday in any meaningful scientific way.  Perhaps you stock them at Walmart but it is not the same as knowing - which you do not.

I have wasted too much of my time already, if you don't want to learn then at least others will be able to read the info I provide and know there is no such thing as depending on a disc "forever" because it is a disc, but especially not because it is merely digital.  History has already proven what you assumed in error.

[coolidgeman]

7 years later and you still are annoying people. congratulations.

[DanielS64]

The other guy is right. Digital does not degrade. The MEDIUM that the digital content in on might degrade (the plastic disk), but the content itself does not degrade.

I think you are confusing degradation in multiple generations of copying where the copy is not bit-perfect, as in from one drive to another to another. But this obviously isn't the case with a DVD or CD.

[Shiftlock]

There's no way I'm wasting my time even reading that book you just wrote.  You are wrong about the life of DVDs, and it's easily verifyable by anyone who wants to do a simple Google search.  The more you argue it, the more you make yourself look like a fool.  I'm done.  You may have the last word now, which I'm sure you will, because people like you always have to have the last word.  Enjoy it.  I won't be reading it.  Goodbye.

[general zee]

I know, I just meant if it gets scratched again. i feel like it has limited life because one more scratch could do it in! Thanks!!!!!!!

[MaXoR]

Really want to clarify something here for you:

1) The process that your video store used was to literally sand down the disc. That minimizes the scratches, however like she had said, it is only good for one or two goes, before you've thinned the disk too much, and it will warp during spinning, and become unreadable (Not permanently.... I mean it will deflect during it's rotation because of the forces of mass, velocity, and centrifuge being applied to the now-to-flimsy plastic disc..... to be nerdy for a second lol)

2) Applying something onto the disc, not designed to be abrasive, but to fill cracks, is a process that can be repeated indefinitely until either too much damage has happened from use, or you lose interest in the game. It's up to you to find the "best" one that works for you, and then get a supply of it!

I personally would prefer the second option for obvious reasons, the first method also leaves circular micro scratches on the disc if they didn't use a secondary, finer, buff wheel.

Hope that sheds light on something you may not have thought about yet, if you did... sorry for the annoying reminder ;)

[cerebralvortex]

Have you tried coulouring the edge of the cd with permanent marker. I have done this alot with sratched skipping audio cds?

[daiatlus79]

hack ur wii with the homebrew channel then download the game (not illegal if you own the original)