Is there something that you can put on DVD's to get rid of or mask minor scratches?

Question

What do video stores dow with scratched dvds? How to they extend the life of them? My grnd children get them for gifts and they get scratched all the time.Thanks

Answer 1

Nothing that will really work.  Don't bother with the cheapie Disc Doctors.  Spend some money and buy a professional buffer that will run about $100+ but comes with a boatload of supplies and is what video rental stores (and I) use.  You can get one on e-bay.  It was worth my investment because I have about 16,000 DVDs.

Answer 2

I use toothpaste (non-gel) to fix the scratches on library disks. It's worked on every disk I've tried in on. None of them have had really deep gouges though.

Actually you can just about any fine abrasive.

Some tricks I've come up with:

Clean any grime off the disk before you start polishing. I just flush the data surface with tap water, smear the surface with hand soap using as little pressure as humanly possible.

Rinse and dry right away using a clean cloth (don't use a paper towel!).

Locate the scratches. Use a tiny dab of toothpaste and a small piece of clean cloth, polish the scratches. As much as possible, move the cloth in a radial direction (not in a circle around the diameter).

Keep the polishing cloth damp with water or spit.

When you think your done, repeat the cleaning cycle and give it a try.

There is a reason behind every detail I gave you. For example, the reason that you polish is a radial direction is that the laser tracking system in DVD/CD players is a lot more tolerant of radial scratches than circumferential scratches. If there is any grit on the DVD or polishing cloth that is courser that the toothpaste, you will be adding scratches for your effort.

Answer 3

you could try the skip doctor

http://www.antonline.com/p_1013000-GP_21...

You can usually find it in suncoast or your local music store

Answer 4

Use a CD or DVD repairer. They're machines that will put coating back on your disc.

Here's a general guide to taking care of discs

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article...