3 Sep
2002
3 Sep
'02
12:28 p.m.
On Tue, 3 Sep 2002, Geoff Roberts wrote:
I've found that 'Brasso' applied by hand can descratch a CD that was
unreadable due to serious scratching and make it useable. I've done
this on several occasions now, last time was for the art teacher who had
one of her favourite music CD's damaged by a student. Provided the
scratching doesn't cut through the top layer, it works if you are
careful...
Just this last weekend, I was talking to someone about damaged CDs. They
recommended a product called ScratchX, and said it could be bought at most
automotive stores. I'm not exactly sure what the intended use for the
stuff is, but I'd guess it is designed for polishing scratches from glass
and laminated glass. CDs are made of polycarbonate plastic, which is
actually a very tough material. Most plastic lenses in eyeglasses are made
of the exact same material. Someone who knows how to polish minor
scratches from plastic lenses (without changing the curvature/prescription
of the lens) would also know how to remove scratches from CDs. I've not
yet tried ScratchX on CDs myself, so if anyone tries it out, post the
results.
-Toth
It grinds a new surface all right, it grinds the
surface right off!
I think things would have to be pretty bad for me to use a grinding
product on a CD. I do have what is essentially a soft pad (just to
remove dust and prints and suchlike from the surface) and I have seen
various "CD restorer" kits (these seem to be mostly fluids that claim
to fill in the scratches and prevent them from interfering with the
data readback ... I'm not sure I believe that!)