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Easy Fix for Scratched CDs
NotQuiteOnto writes "Ben Hayes (om3ga) has performed an experiment as to the best method to fix scratched CDs. He set himself the criteria that it can't take longer that 5 minutes and it has to be something in his house. The result isn't what you'd think ..." Luckily, he stopped before "peanut butter."
Just try using Pledge. I actually did this with scratches on my glasses (the lenses are plastic) and it works pretty well. Note: you'll probably have to do it again in the future, as I'm not sure how long it will last on the CD.
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Site has cpu quota issues... here's the cache.
w ww.om3ga.co.uk/2006/07/27/scratched-cds-no-problem /+&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1&lr=lang_en
http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:WiSKiTXvp74J:
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1. Wash the CD with hand soap and water
2. Dry it off
3. Put a little chapstick on the tip of your finger, rub it gently in a circular motion on the surface of the CD where the scratch is
4. Wash again with hand soap and water
This seemed to work pretty well for small scratches.
The site appears to be down? After visiting this website I've stuck to Brasso (and it really works great):
/ scratchrepair.htm
http://www.burningissues.net/how_to/scratchrepair
Scratched CDs? No Problem!
Published July 27th, 2006 in Main
We've all been there, bought a preowned game, put it excitedly into the console, then shouted "OMFGz0rWTF!?!?" as the console wouldn't recognise the game. Or perhaps you have a CD which contains important data, and M$ Windoze gives you a "Cyclic Redundancy Check" error (fancy way of saying 'Your disc is bloody SCRATCHED').
Whatever your problem is, it's caused by the same thing: A scratch. A scratched CD or DVD is just annoying!
So I took it upon myself to perform an experiment, to determine the very best way of dealing with a scratched disc. The limit I set myself, though, was that whatever I did it with must be somewhere in my house, and can't take longer than 5 minutes, including waiting time for things to dry, etc.
I thought of three main ways to cope with scratches:
1. Use an oily substance, or a gel, to fill in the scratch so that the laser goes straight through. This is the easiest option of the three.
2. Use a mild abrasive to round the edges of the scratches so that the laser doesn't get scattered as much. This is probably the most feasible option of the three.
3. Somehow take off a thin layer of plastic, removing the scratches altogether. This is the hardest, and probably impossible in 5 minutes with household items.
How a CD works:
I burnt 5 CDs with 6 songs on them:
* Kings of Leon - Razz
* Kings of Leon - Soft
* The Libertines - What Katie Did
* Kings of Leon - The Bucket
* Kings of Leon - Velvet Snow
* Kings of Leon - Taper Jean Girl
I then proceeded to scratch a few of the CDs with a pair of scissors, nothing deep, just enough to make the XBox in which I was playing them get annoyed.
The first thing I tried was plain old water, I know, sounds stupid... But the day before, I bought a game, which was scratched (not dirty, scratched). The first thing I tried was water, which I rubbed in gently, so that it stayed in the scratches, it then worked perfectly.
Next I had to rub it. The only way to rub something off a CD, is with a lint free cloth, going out in spokes from the centre.
Ok, so that didn't work too well on my test discs... Next up was, deodorant. I decided to use this, because it contained something oily (isopropyl myristate) which was dissolved in something volatile (denatured alcohol, propane, butane, isobutane, basically loads of hydrocarbons). So when I sprayed it on, I was hoping for the alcohols to evaporate while the isopropyl myristate separated into isopropyl and myristic acid to become oily and viscous, and stay in the cracks.
I rubbed it in gently, just to get it into the cracks, but not to remove it, and then let it sit for two minutes. It evaporated, and when held against the light, the "rainbows" got scattered less. It looked hopeful. But it didn't work.
Ok, next up is something I use to clean the fretboard on my guitar, Lem-oil. It's viscous and oily, and smells of lemon. I sprayed it on and this time had to rub slightly more vigourously, as it wasn't volatile enough to fit in with my 5 minute limit.
I rubbed it in, and it sort of worked. The XBox loaded the CD, and played it, but it was really crackly and noisy. So it kind of worked, but Caleb sounded pissed off and sort of like a monster.
Next I tried the method that a lot of people talk about: the toothpaste method. Toothpaste is a mild abrasive, and using it you should be able to round off the edges on the scratches. This method looked like it would work if I carried on, as the light was getting less scattered by the scratches, but I set myself a strict 5 minute time limit. To apply the toothpaste take the tiniest bit on the tip of your finger, and without touching the CD with your finger its self, apply
I found WD-40 and 2-26 Electrolube works well with scratched DVD's, CD's.
Lasts a few hours but long enough to recover the ISO or data.
Caution: Plot Spoiler!!!
Not only was it Slashdotted, but it was pulled for exceeding its CPU, not bandwidth, quota. Hopefully this will teach people not to use PHP for static content...
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I used to work at PRS Guitars so I had access to 1000 - 2500 grit sandpaper (available at any auto store). Worked great! Just do a wet sanding with that stuff and you sand through the big scratches leaving very tiny scratches that don't give the laser any trouble. I would polish it with with some scratch removing car wax though the big rotary buffers at PRS worked much much better. I may have to try the hair gel for the polish next time though.
...also works on CDs. Turns out the refractive index of nose grease (i.e. wipe your finger down the OUTSIDE of your nose!) is approximately the same as celluloid. Hence wiping it on scratches on negatives makes them disappear. Also kind of works on CDs - same refractive index means less refraction from the scratch...
When I worked there, back in 2001, the thing that was severely slipping was the paint job. My supervisors were messing with the paint mixtures trying to get it to dry quicker and applying the next coat of paint before the previous coat dried which made the paint fragile resulting in more frequent burns (sanding through the paint down to the bare wood). My supervisors were also letting these burns pass through and allow the guitar to be sold which is why I left. I was told not long after I left that these two jokers were fired when Paul Reed Smith and Dupont (their paint supplier) got wind of this. If anything else has gone downhill quality-wise since then, I don't know much about it but in my opinion they are slowly becoming another fender. In my opinion, if you want a high end guitar, go to a custom shop like Fodera (semi biased suggestion since I just purchased a bass from them). They are known for their basses but they do make guitars (though not advertised on the website because of the high demand for basses) and love to make them. There are other custom shops and I'm sure their prices are the same price as a PRS but you'll get that custom fit that comes with going with the small business who hasn't given in to mass production. Again just my opinion.
I second this, I've been using flame to fix plastics for many years. A few words of caution:
Be sure and use a "clean" burning flame, most pocket lighters, etc have impurities that can leave residue behind. Definitely do not use a candle.
The best method I've found is to lay the object flat and pass the flame over it (as mentioned in parent), as opposed to holding the object above the flame. Since the majority of the heat (and any burning impurities) are rising upwards this gives a more even melt with less chance of excessive melting.
Jonah HEX
Horror & SciFi Erotic Nudes
Read the article this afternoon at work.
Actually used the Hair Gel trick today this evening on a Netflix DVD: The Collected Shorts by Jan Svankmajer that was horribly damaged.
Alberto VO5 Hairdressing Gel for Men. The DVD, after about 19-20 minutes was basically unplayable, pixilation, video noise, no sound, etc.
VO5 did the trick, thanks Slashdot.