Comments on: How to Repair Scratched CDs

on 11/22/2005 I was going crazy here! I have a CD that has lots of important photos. I stored them on the CD, not my hard drive for safety. Somehow the CD got scratched, and it wouldn't read the photos. I came across this site in a frenzy, desperately looking for some quick solution to my problem. I tried (sceptically) the hair conditioner option. I put the CD back in, and now I have my photos! I used Aveda rosemary mint conditioner. I can't believe this worked, but I'm over the moon. This site is great!! :)

on 11/22/2005 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.

on 11/22/2005 Put any damaged CD's in the freezer for a couple of hours, remove them and wipe dry. The CD's will play good as new.

on 11/22/2005 If you have a smudge or a small scratches on your CD, spray it with Pledge furniture polish and carefully wipe from the inside out. I tried it on a CD and it totally works!

on 11/22/2005 I had a badly scratched audio CD (couple of months in a shoulder bag with no protection), which wouldn't play at all. I polished it with toothpaste (straight lines from the inside to the outside), washed it thoroughly and let it dry. It now plays. This may not work for data CD's, where interpolation algorithms are not used to substitute for missing data. It is also possible that the sound quality is degraded, but I can't say that I noticed any difference.

on 11/22/2005 Using toothpaste on your CD will make your CD shinier, toothpaste also makes the CD hard to read. I did it, and it broke my PS2.

on 11/22/2005 I took Vaseline and rubbed it all over the CD and waited several minutes. I then took Windex and sprayed it all over the CD. Paper towels work well to remove the Vaseline (it takes a couple of minutes to get it off). The only bad thing is that sometimes it is hard to get the wipe marks off.

on 7/16/2007 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!

on 7/16/2007 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.

on 11/22/2005 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.

on 7/5/2007 To fix the scratches, the best thing to do is use hair conditioner. Rub it with your finger all around the cd, leave it for 10 minutes, and then rinse. Repeat if desired. The coating that makes your hair shiny coats the cd, and it works better than all those expensive tricks.

on 7/5/2007 Use Avon's Skin So Soft Oil. I swear it works! I used it on one of my old CDs that had a huge scratch on it. I just buffed it with Skin So Soft and toilet paper.

on 11/22/2005 If you have damaged songs, wipe the CD using anything. Use alcohol, perfume, or any liquid. Dry it and place it in the PC. Copy the songs with your media player. It works 90% of the time, and this will not damage the CD (unlike toothpaste and other methods).

on 7/16/2007 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.

on 7/5/2007 I would use Tipex. It fills the gaps up perfectly if you use a small amount.