Comments on How to Repair Scratched CDs

I used Amour All wax-it-dry gel, and it worked wonderfully! The CD player wouldn't even read my CDs, because they were so badly scratched. Nothing else really worked.

Get a small pot and fill it with water. Put your stove on high and let the water come to a boil. Get a piece of sewing thread and insert it into the middle of the CD. Place the CD in the boiling water for a few minutes (holding onto the thread), this will temporarily soften the plastic, filling in minor scratches and steam cleaning all smudges and liquids off the surface of the CD. Do not place the CD in cold water (it will crack) or wipe it dry afterward (you'll ruin the plastic), let it air dry. Also, don't keep the CD in the water for too long, a few minutes should do it. Make sure it's fully dried when you want to use it again, excess moisture could damage the disc reading mechanism. I've done this with at least 20 CDs and it's always worked.

Vaseline might work, but for a sure thing, use silicon based products, after all CDs are made from silicon coated aluminum plates.

It leaves a film on the CD and it won't play at all.

Get a very soft artists eraser and rub it until the scratch is gone. I used water to get the eraser particles off and then alcohol rubbing pads to clean off the stuff that the water didn't take off. It took me a few attempts to get the disc fully working. The scratch still shows just a little bit, but it made the CD work!

I've found that a light coat of mineral oil (baby oil is the same thing) works really well. Use a soft cloth and gently work from the center of the CD outward.

Use toothpaste and rub it on the scratches for 20 minutes. Then spray on CD cleaner and perfume it on till it drips. After that, put it in the freezer for 30 minutes and presto, it's like new!

Lightly graze the bottom with a lighterand it will melt the scratches but don't leave it in one spot, or you will melt the hole cd.

This works for CD's and DVD's that are lightly (or even heavily) scratched. Get a small bottle of Elmer's white glue (it is water-based and dries clear) and apply an amount the size of a dime at the "12," "3," "6," and "9 o'clock" positions on the CD. Use a soft cotton cloth (like a diaper) to push the glue into the CD from the inside hub to the outside edge. Make sure that you don't have any drips or excess glue left on the CD, as it will throw it off balance when it plays. In the case of excess glue (or if you want to reverse what you have done), simply rinse the disk in warm running water, perhaps wiping with a soft cloth. The glue will let go, leaving behind no residue. This is also why this is only a temporary fix. The glue is quite soft, and is only used to fill in the scratches. Moisture and humidity will cause the glue to flake or rub off, possibly in the drive. There will be a cloudy haze left on the CD. If it is a data disk, it will not be able to read at the same speeds as it did before. But, it will allow you to copy the CD. Make sure to keep the damaged disk.

I have a disk that is really old and scratched so badly you can barely see your reflection in it. Vaseline worked well enough. The trick is to put it on then rub and rub until it looks like it has no Vaseline on it. I rubbed in a circular pattern until it looked pretty good, then I took a new cloth and wiped from the inside out.

You take soil, wet it so it turns into a light mud, put the mud on the disc (not much), then you gently rub it in with a soft cloth (such as a tissue), then you dampen the soft cloth and slowly rub out the mud outward, not in a circle.

Get the Dr. Doctor scratch remover. I had a CD that I had out of its case for months; I moved and it was rumbling around in a box and it didn't work for months. Then I bought the scratch remover, used it, and the CD now works like new.

I had a scratched CD. To fix it I first took the cream and put it all around the disc and then rubbed it with a cloth.

I have fixed some CDs by using Armor All with a lint-free soft cloth, buffing lightly.

Use Brasso. I tried it and it honestly and truly works. The Brasso eats away at a part of the plastic coating, which might not entirely be a good thing. As long as the top of the disk isn't damaged (which is the part you can write on and holds the information), as long as the scratch doesn't go entirely through the disk, the label at the top of the disk (that holds the data) doesn't come off - then you're good to go. The Brasso really isn't going to eat entirely through the plastic coating between the data and the outer world unless you use a whole can. It only takes a very minimal amount to work, but it may take a few times to get the scratches fixed. Do not use a circular motion when cleaning the disc, go in a radial motion (from the inside to outside). A circular motion can make the scratches worsen and/or cause new scratches.

Wipe the CD clean with a baby wipe and let it air dry. This works good on game CDs.

I have been using WD-40 to repair scratched CD's for years. It works for me.

Take a window cleaner, spray the CD 2 times, then wipe clean with a damp rag.

First I tried the baby wipes and rubbing alcohol theory which didn't fix the problem, then I decided to try some scratch remover stuff I got for my car, which actually fixed the problem.

I have repaired some scratches on CDs using Future Floor Wax. You know the clear product in the clear bottle? Apply floor wax in the same manner as the professional products.

I rubbed Brasso on my scratched CD in a circular motion, then wiped off with Kleenex and it worked fine!

My son totaled his James Bond PS2 game last week. I tried the SkipDR along with every other "hint" on the Internet, including conditioner, Vaseline and toothpaste. I was going for the Pledge when I came across a product called Ballistoil, that I use in place of WD40 because it is non-toxic. I spritzed the Ballistoil on the disc and polished it dry and it plays like new!

I used Suave conditioner and the CD now works just like new, no joke! If you want to fix games or any CD this does the trick! It also helped the horribly and hopefully scratched discs. It's amazing!

I used olive oil on my X-Box game. I let it set for 5 minutes and washed and dried it. It worked fine for 8 months and skipped one level. I used toothpaste and it works!

If you own the CD, you have a right to make a copy. Don't let the wording of DMCA scare you. It's written in the negative sense so as to discourage copying. Make sure that we keep the rights we won in the 70's and 80's - protest protection schemes that don't allow fair use; make CDs not work in PCs and even in older CD players, smear the audio and other such things. Use Exact Audio Copy. Once it's configured properly, it will make a very good copy of even a badly scratched CD. I had a Hank Williams CD with such a deep scratch that it took all night, but I got back one of my favorite CD's. EAC is postcard ware. Make sure to send a postcard from your home town, if you like the product. Remember, if you let industry rule the countries, through high dollar lobbying, it's no longer a government for the people, it's for the people with money and congress in their pocket. In closing - The labels are their own worst enemy. If they would point the finger at themselves, instead of giving the finger to their customers. They might survive, they'll be different, but they might survive.