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CD Resurfacing / Polishing at home

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CD Resurfacing / Polishing at home

Old 06-12-14, 08:32 PM
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CD Resurfacing / Polishing at home

I've been doing a bit of an overhaul of my CD collection, and I found quite a few that I no longer want.

Several of them are from before iPods or iTunes became an option, so naturally I've got some that are scratched up. Not heavily, but there's some scuffing on some from everyday use. I tested out a few and most of them are fine, but there's still a few that skipped.

I used the classic 'toothpaste' method, as I have in the past. The thing with that is, even though it stopped most of the scratched CD(s) from skipping, there's still scuffing on the disc(s), as the friction of the toothpaste on the disc creates tiny, lighter scratches to lessen the severity of the existing ones. The CDs that aren't fixable I'll probably just toss.

For the CDs that aren't scratched and the ones that I WAS able to fix, I'm not expecting to make too much money off of them. I'm not getting rid of anything incredibly rare or OOP. I just planned on going down to the mall and dumping them at FYE to get a few bucks cash - maybe even some store credit to go towards something else. So far I've got about 20 or 30 that I'm trying to get rid of.

Having gone to FYE before to sell CDs and DVDs, they're all about the disc's aesthetics - they won't accept discs with even a few light scratches, and as far as I know they don't even accept lightly scratched discs and resurface them. My question is, once you finish using Brasso or toothpaste, etc. to buff some scratches on a disc, is there anything else you can do to make it look good? Some sort of thing you can use as a polish? It would be a shame to have to completely trash some CDs that play perfectly fine just because they have a few light scratches on them.
Old 06-13-14, 06:50 AM
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Re: CD Resurfacing / Polishing at home

I will say, don't buy a cheapie machine for this. Some years back, I picked up a bunch of used games dirt cheap on the last day a Blockbuster was going out of business. I had enough that were scratched up that I decided to drop $30 or so on one of the little home resurfacers. It got most of them to the point where they'd play again, but basically would remove the deeper scratches, but ensure the entire disc had very light ones.
Old 06-16-14, 02:37 PM
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Re: CD Resurfacing / Polishing at home

Originally Posted by maxfisher
I will say, don't buy a cheapie machine for this. Some years back, I picked up a bunch of used games dirt cheap on the last day a Blockbuster was going out of business. I had enough that were scratched up that I decided to drop $30 or so on one of the little home resurfacers. It got most of them to the point where they'd play again, but basically would remove the deeper scratches, but ensure the entire disc had very light ones.
I definitely won't be going down that road. About 10 or 11 years back I got a Skip Doctor thinking it would maybe repair a few scuffed up CDs and DVDs I had. It managed to improve very few of the scratched discs I had, and it left all of them looking like somebody took a pencil eraser to the underside of the discs.
Old 06-24-14, 04:53 PM
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Re: CD Resurfacing / Polishing at home

You can laugh all you want but this always worked for me....dip them in boiling (or close to boiling) water for 15 minutes or so.
Old 06-24-14, 05:50 PM
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Re: CD Resurfacing / Polishing at home

I'm gonna have to actually try that one of these days...
Old 06-24-14, 05:59 PM
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Re: CD Resurfacing / Polishing at home

Forgot to mention...if you do try the hot water method - heat up the water THEN put the disc in...don't keep the water boiling while the disc is in.

This method worked for me with some of the worst scratched discs I had - not saying it's always going to work but it worked for me plenty of times.
Old 06-24-14, 06:57 PM
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Re: CD Resurfacing / Polishing at home

Originally Posted by Rival11
You can laugh all you want but this always worked for me....dip them in boiling (or close to boiling) water for 15 minutes or so.
I've heard of this before but I've been reluctant to try. How does that help?
Old 06-24-14, 08:39 PM
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Re: CD Resurfacing / Polishing at home

Banana peel.
Old 06-24-14, 11:38 PM
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Re: CD Resurfacing / Polishing at home

Not sure at all. It definitely doesn't damage them either.
Old 06-25-14, 12:51 AM
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Re: CD Resurfacing / Polishing at home

As someone that still purchases CDs, both new and used, I will only accept a buffed disc if I have no other good option. Resurfaced CDs definitely sell for less on the used market, which is why most used CD stores have gotten so picky about accepting less-than-pristine copies.
Old 06-25-14, 02:27 PM
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Re: CD Resurfacing / Polishing at home

Originally Posted by Rival11
Not sure at all. It definitely doesn't damage them either.
Does it make the discs look better as well?

Originally Posted by PhantomStranger
As someone that still purchases CDs, both new and used, I will only accept a buffed disc if I have no other good option. Resurfaced CDs definitely sell for less on the used market, which is why most used CD stores have gotten so picky about accepting less-than-pristine copies.
It sucks because most CD players nowadays WILL play discs that have light scratches or scuffing. Obviously not heavily scratched, but ones that are caused by regular use. So it's a shame that most record stores like FYE will not accept even lightly scratched CDs that play fine, especially when they have professional resurfacing machines that can buff the discs to look as good as new.
Old 06-25-14, 02:38 PM
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Re: CD Resurfacing / Polishing at home

Originally Posted by rjh_54
It sucks because most CD players nowadays WILL play discs that have light scratches or scuffing. Obviously not heavily scratched, but ones that are caused by regular use. So it's a shame that most record stores like FYE will not accept even lightly scratched CDs that play fine, especially when they have professional resurfacing machines that can buff the discs to look as good as new.
The only people left buying CDs are collectors. In general they don't want buffed CDs.
Old 06-25-14, 10:54 PM
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Re: CD Resurfacing / Polishing at home

Originally Posted by rjh_54
So it's a shame that most record stores like FYE will not accept even lightly scratched CDs that play fine, especially when they have professional resurfacing machines that can buff the discs to look as good as new.
Interesting... Considering that it's not unusual for a brand new CD or DVD to be scratched, I wonder if these stores would get pissy if I wanted to exchange every new CD or DVD I bought there that had a tiny little scratch or scuff on it.
Old 06-27-14, 04:06 PM
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Re: CD Resurfacing / Polishing at home

Originally Posted by rjh_54
Does it make the discs look better as well?

No, it will look the same....it never "goes back" to skipping/not playing though.

Old 06-28-14, 09:06 PM
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Re: CD Resurfacing / Polishing at home

Originally Posted by PhantomStranger
The only people left buying CDs are collectors. In general they don't want buffed CDs.
I don't think that's necessarily always the case. I do know quite a few people who buy CDs simply because they prefer owning the physical album for whatever reason (for the additional artwork, if they only have a CD player in their car, etc.)

Originally Posted by Josh-da-man
Interesting... Considering that it's not unusual for a brand new CD or DVD to be scratched, I wonder if these stores would get pissy if I wanted to exchange every new CD or DVD I bought there that had a tiny little scratch or scuff on it.
I can't tell you how many used CDs I bought from FYE that have been scratched or scuffed up but still play. This doesn't bother me, so long as the disc plays on both of my CD players (car and home). Yet every time I bring in discs that are in similar or even better shape than those I've purchased from them they will not accept them.

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