How to remove scratches from a disk with your own hands

Sooner or later, many people become interested in how to remove scratches on a disk without unnecessary financial expenses in order to restore its previous state. If you do not complete this procedure in a timely manner, valuable files may be lost. Today there are many options available to solve this problem, but only some of them are effective.

Short description

The disc may be scratched as a result of careless handling or dropping. Even small scratches and dirt on its surface can cause an error while reading a CD. Deep cracks prevent the laser from reading the drive. Fingerprints and dirt can be easily removed, but other damage will need to be tinkered with.

If the scratch is too deep, it not only prevents the laser from reading the recorded data, but can also damage the reflective coating of the information carrier. Tiny damage can be repaired with cotton and cologne. At the same time, the disk must be held by the edges. The surface of the product must be sprinkled with cologne and wiped with cotton. After these manipulations, the disc should play, otherwise you will have to resort to more radical methods.

You can fix the disk using GOI paste. This tool is also used to restore the integrity of monitors and LCD TV screens. To remove cracks, you need to do three main actions:

1. Dilute the paste with an alcohol-containing solution, but in strict accordance with the instructions.
2. Soak a piece of soft tissue with the product.
3. Perform scratch removal.

At the final stage, it remains only to clean the surface of the remnants of the paste and check the performance of the carrier.

Precautions and preparation

To prevent accidentally damaging the player after the manipulations, make sure that all discs are completely dry and well cleaned of polishing mixtures or wax. Otherwise, it is strictly forbidden to place the product in the drive. Do not use solvents on compact discs, as their composition can significantly change the state of the polycarbonate substrate. In some cases, a transparent film may form on the surface of the CD, making it simply impossible to copy information.

Even the most gentle repairs can cause permanent damage to the drive. If factory tools are used for polishing, then all actions must be in accordance with the instructions. It is quite easy to get rid of minor defects with your own hands if you prepare all the necessary devices in advance and take into account the recommendations of specialists.

If there are many scratched discs in the home collection, then for polishing it is better to prepare a classic set of devices in advance. It includes:

1. Special rubbing alcohol or pure water.
2. Clean, soft, lint-free cloth. Perfect results can be achieved with microfiber.
3. Liquid wax for polishing a car or petroleum jelly.
4. Polyethylene or cotton gloves for working with food, since only these protective equipment can significantly provide work with CD, without leaving fingerprints on the surface of the product.

The multifunctional polishing agent of Brasso has excellent properties.You can also use a fine-grained mixture for polishing surfaces and toothpaste.

Help computer programs

This option is appropriate when it is urgently necessary to restore not the disk itself, but the information stored on it. Today, there are many effective programs with which you can read data from damaged media. In this case, slowing down the speed of the disc is practiced, due to which its readability is significantly improved. For example, you can use the CDSlow program or Nero Drive Speed.

The IsoBuster program is universal, since it can be used to access all files stored on a CD. This development of programmers is used by many users. Experts recommend starting the disk recovery with this particular option, as there is a high probability that the storage medium will suffer less and new cracks will not form on it. It is worth noting that in addition to scratches, access to information on the disk may be terminated due to contamination of the drive. To remedy the situation, you need to take care of the purchase of cleaning products.

The relevance of abrasive mixtures

To understand how to remove scratches on the disk, you need to choose the right mixture, which will have optimal performance. To polish the surface of the disc, you can use classic household products, but the most effective and safe are the Brasso and 3M wipes. The desired result can also be achieved using a fine-grained mixture for roughing or polishing vehicles.

If after studying the instructions it was decided to use Brasso polishing, then for the procedure it is necessary to prepare free space in a well-ventilated room in order to protect yourself and others from dangerous fumes. Be sure to adhere to safety precautions and available warnings about chemicals. For example, rubbing alcohol belongs to the category of combustibles, in addition, it can provoke serious irritation of the skin, mucous membranes of the eyes and respiratory tract. Action Scheme:

1. The first step is to apply the abrasive mixture to a clean piece of cloth without lint. For these purposes, you can use an old shirt, as well as a cloth for cleaning glasses.
2. Gently rub the mixture into existing scratches. It is best to start from the center of the disc, gradually moving towards the edges. Before polishing, the product must be placed on a flat surface, so as not to accidentally damage the front side. If the product is rubbed in a circular motion, this can lead to the formation of small scratches, which will negatively affect the reading of the CD.
3. At the final stage, it remains to remove the remains of the abrasive mixture under warm running water. The disk must be allowed to dry on its own before proceeding with its operation.

If the done manipulations did not allow to achieve the desired result, then you need to repeat all the steps. When this did not help, you will need the help of specialists.

Using Toothpaste

If you need to figure out how to remove scratches from the disk, then you should study this option in detail. For polishing, an ordinary toothpaste is suitable. The prepared product is carefully applied to the surface of the CD-DVD and scored for scratches. Movement during polishing should be radial. You need to start from the center, moving in a straight line to the outer edge.

After the effort, rinse the disc under warm water. Drops of water can only be removed with a soft, clean cloth. Before use, the product must be wiped again.

This method of dealing with scratches is in great demand, since in 99% of cases it is possible to solve the problem.

The versatility of conventional wax

In some cases, users need to physically remove the polymer by polishing.But if too much effort is made during this procedure, this can negatively appear on the total refractive index of the lens, which will significantly disrupt the reading of data.

Experts assure that high-quality polishing of shallow scratches with wax is effective, as the laser passes through existing defects, even if they cannot be detected with the naked eye. To avoid errors, you must follow these guidelines:

1. On the surface of the disk you need to apply the thinnest possible layer of wax, petroleum jelly, colorless lipstick or neutral shoe polish. The product should fill in all the scratches. Wax should be left on the surface of the disk for 5-10 minutes.
2. Wipe the product with a clean cloth and only radial movements. If wax from the store is used, then be sure to study the instructions from the manufacturer.

If the wax helped launch the CD, then you need to immediately transfer the information to another CD. The main danger is that polishing is only a temporary solution to the problem.

Expert Advice

Specialists have created a certain list of recommendations, thanks to which you can restore the previous performance of the CD so that you can copy valuable information. The most effective are the following tips:

1. Severely damaged discs can only be restored in 2% of cases. If cracks and scratches are too deep, they can reach the protective layer, which makes the product unsuitable for further use. Modern programs for erasing disks adversely affect the protective layer, reducing their useful life.
2. To avoid further damage on the CD, hold the product by the edges.
3. Minor scratches can be removed using a dry melamine sponge. A small press should wipe the disc from the center to the outer edge. To get the perfect shine on the surface you need to use waxing.
4. Before deciding to restore a CD with important information, you need to practice on media that you can easily spoil.
5. Classic Xbox discs can be sent to Microsoft, where they will be replaced with new ones.
6. It is better to make copies of polished discs in advance, as due to improper movements, they can become unusable.
7. If the information disk is no longer subject to recovery, then you can use it as a stand for glasses. In addition, there are many interesting ideas thanks to which you can find application for old CDs.

Toothpaste can be replaced with peanut butter, but its consistency should be soft (without large fragments). During the experiment, it was proved that the oily viscosity provides effective polishing.

Caring for Portable Media

By far, the best way to solve any problem is to prevent it. In order for the CDs to last longer, it is necessary to observe a number of elementary rules during operation:

1. Severe contamination can be removed only by specialized means, movements should be from the center to the edges. If you wipe the disk in a circle, then there is a high probability that all information will be lost.
2. It is necessary to remove the CD from the optical drive, holding the inner ring or edges.
3. You can store discs in a special folder and away from direct sunlight. This approach will provide the products with the proper level of safety and take a minimum of free space.

Only careful adherence to recommendations will help maintain valuable information. Do not try to remove the resulting scratches with glycerin. If this substance penetrates the drive head, there is a risk of premature failure of expensive equipment.A successfully restored CD may last some more time, but it’s better to copy your favorite movies, games, music or other files to a new medium in advance.