The Problem – Physical Media is Too Fragile
If you own a CD or DVD collection, then you have some favorites. Remember the one that was scratched so badly it was unplayable? It happened; there’s no need denying it. Well, this has happened to all of us. I have even borrowed discs from the library that were scratched beyond belief. You can make scratched CDs a thing of the past.
Back in the day, people used a device called the Skip Doctor (SkipDr) to repair the scratches. In fact, it still exists – along with many other disc repair devices. The Skip Doctor essentially scraped the surface off of the entire disc using a rotating, abrasive pad. Your favorite music was back in rotation.
Are you getting ready to rescue your CDs from oblivion? If you don’t have one of these miracle machines, how can you make scratched CDs a thing of the past?
The Solution – Make Scratched CDs A Thing of the Past – With Toothpaste!
CDs and DVDs are made of plastic. This is the reason they are so easily scratched. At the same time, it is why they are, in many cases, easily repaired. Plastic is a relatively soft material, so if it is scratched (not gouged) it can be smoothed out.
My favorite way to resurface CDs is with ordinary toothpaste. This works much like the SkipDr, but uses a bit more elbow grease. You can also keep it local to where the scratches are rather than grinding off the entire surface. Since you essentially need to grind down the plastic, the toothpaste must have an abrasive in it. Most varieties containing baking soda or proclaiming to be whitening formulas will work. Just make sure it’s not a gel. To test your toothpaste, put a very small amount on the pad of your finger and rub together with your thumb. If it feels gritty, it will probably work. Otherwise, you can get cheap baking soda toothpaste just about anywhere.
If you have the right toothpaste, you are ready to get started. The first thing you need to do when trying to make scratched CDs a thing of the past is to inspect the play surface. The play surface, the side of the disc lasers in CD players read from, is the shiny side without the label. In a well lit area, look at the surface. Tilt the CD back and forth at different angles. You should be able to see if there are scratches. If you see scratches, you have a candidate for repair.
Types of Damage
I am certain there is one type of damage that cannot be fixed with this method – the gouge. Occasionally, you can actually feel a scratch on a CD. The scratch is so deep it is unlikely you have enough energy or toothpaste to fix it.
Another type of likely irreparable damage is a scratch that follows the round shape of the CD. This was probably caused by something being lodged in a CD player that scratched the surface. The reason this is problematic is that CD players read discs that are spinning on their axis. A scratch around the entire CD in a circle – or even a part of a circle – means that a relatively long chunk of music is unreadable. CD players have built in error correction, but they can only really recover from very small pieces of missing data.
Implementing the Fix
Back to the toothpaste. Once you select a good candidate, get your toothpaste and a small supply of water ready. Locate the precise location of the scratch on the CD. Set the CD, label side down, on top of a soft, grippy surface that will keep it in place. A cork trivet or the bottom side of a mouse pad will work nicely. Put a very small amount of toothpaste on your finger, then dip the finger into the water. You don’t need much water here, just enough to provide some lubrication.
First, starting at the center of the problem area, press the finger with the toothpaste down on the surface of the CD. With some pressure, start moving your finger in tight circles. Do this for about two to three minutes, maintaining pressure. If the toothpaste becomes sticky and difficult to make circles, just dip the finger in the water and continue.
Second, once you are satisfied that you have thoroughly buffed the scratched area, clean the surface of the CD with a soft, damp cloth. Areas that you buffed will likely look cloudy. You just went through a process removing a very thin layer of the plastic. The micro-scratches that you see are harmless. The abrasive in the toothpaste created them. Nonetheless, they are too fine to cause problems for the laser.
The Payoff – You’ve Resurrected Your CDs
Make sure the surface is clean and dry and then try to play it. In most cases, you will find that it worked. While it is still playable, I recommend that you convert it to mp3 files to add to your digital music collection. Nevertheless, your fixed CD should remain playable as long as you protect it from further damage.
One final note – if you have some CDs with more stubborn scratches, you might want to try something like Meguiar’s PlastX Clear Plastic Cleaner & Polish (G12310). This stuff is designed for polishing things like headlight lenses. I have used this successfully in the past. It’s more expensive than the toothpaste, but a bottle will last a long time.
