Comments on How to Repair Scratched CDs

Take petroleum jelly (aka Vaseline) and apply it on the CD. Let sit for a couple of minutes and wipe off. It really works - even on fairly larger scratches!!

My CD wouldn't even play it skipped so bad. A friend told me to use toothpaste. I tried it and it's just like new. Just put toothpaste all around it and wipe in an outward motion, not circular, and it should fix it right up.

Rub the Vaseline on the CD using a Q-tip. Rub the Vaseline off with a soft tissue or a soft paper towel (you must use a soft item). Whatever you do, do not use your T-shirt to remove the Vaseline. This will only create more scratches on the CD.

My daughter's favorite PS2 game wouldn't even start. She was heartbroken. I tried putting Pledge on the CD and it worked! Thank you so much for the tip!

You can use a lighter. Quickly and lightly graze the flame around the bottom of the CD. Go around 1 to 2 times. If it doesn't work the first time, do it again. Do not hold the lighter in one place on the CD for any amount of time. You will burn it, and it won't work. Always keep the flame lightly moving across the CD.

This is almost like using toothpaste, only better. Make sure to take your time and not to press down too hard on the media.

Thank you anyone who recommended toothpaste to repair scratched Cd's! I had a PC game CD that was badly scratched and I did the toothpaste trick. Now it will download! Thank you e-How!

Buy a new one.

The best way to remove scratches from a CD is to prevent it from happening in the first place. Here are some prevention methods you can use. You know the shiny part on the CD which the eye on the CD drive reads? Don't ever keep your Cd's with the shiny sides facing each other because if they happen to rub together, it will literally make hundreds of scratches all around the CD. If you have any type of grease on your hands, never touch the silver part of the CD because that will leave permanent finger marks on your CD if they're not wiped away immediately. Never get any scratches on the top of the CD. If that area gets scratched, the CD will be damaged permanently. Back up important Cd's just in case. Keep the dust away from your Cd's because dust will eat away on the plastic of the CD and this scratches. On the CD drive of the computer there is a little pinhole at the front where you can stick a pin in there in case the CD gets stuck and then the CD tray automatically opens. I highly recommend not doing this because when you do, that causes a lot of scratches to appear on the CD. And also never blow your breath on the CD then wipe the CD with a shirt. This is done by a lot of people to a lot of games for the PlayStation 2 and X-box. This is one of the fastest ways to damage your Cd's. When I had a scratch on my Cd's, I tried buying one the scratch removers at Circuit City (you know, the type that you put the CD on the tray and then you turn the handle around for about 20 minutes). They never work so please don't waste money on them. The only way I clean my Cd's now is with a soft paper towel and some alcohol. I've been doing this for two years now and I have never had any problems with my Cd's.

If you take care of your CD's then you wouldnt have to fix scratches. Hold them by the edges and put them back in their case when your done, dont just throw them around. None of my CDs skip and I have over 400. I bought a DVD one time and it was scratched and skipped, the SkipDoctor worked great.

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.