I have a lot of DVD badly scratched that skips during playing and image sometime distorted. There are DVD repair kits out there like Skip Doctor that claim to fix these scratches and make the DVD playable.

Has anyone tried any of these kits? After you repair, does the DVD look all shiny and new without evidence of scratch?
Can someone recommend a good kit to buy.

The "Skip Doctor" dvd repair kit comes in a cheaper manual one and a motorized one. Which one is better? Does having it motorized really makes the repair better?

I dunno about those home units... but, if you go to your local Blockbuster, or video store, they usually have a nig ol' machine there which buffs the hell out of the DVD's, and will pretty much make even the worst scratched DVD playable. They will likely do them for you free, but may charge a little something something for their trouble.

Are you talking about the solution in the small bottle that you apply then buff?

I believe this is the same thing as "Brasso" a polish you use on brass and other metals. Brasso is cheaper, and has worked for me in the past.

Also do a search for "boiling your DVD" on this forum, and you'll be in for an interesting read!

Skip Doctor has paid for itself (for me) many times over. It works great. I used to have the hand-crank version, but eventually bought the motorized one. They work the same, but one's a helluva lot more effort, LOL.

EDIT: I've even sold some CDs and DVDs for cash/trade that I'd have had no hope of getting rid of (other than giving 'em away), after I used the SDr on them.

The only bad thing about the Skip doctor is that it sands the disc down so the scratches are not as prominent which is why DVDs skip. The laser bounces of the scratch or prevents it from reading it. There are a few people on Ebay that sell machines that resurface them professionally. Meaning that once you run it thru the machine it looks brand new. I've seen one in use and they do work. Here's the kick though, they're about $100. Not bad considering I have about 2000 discs. Only a handful of those are scratched. Of course the ones I want to get rid of are the ones that are scratched so I'm considering it since there is no way of getting rid of these besides Ebay and I just don't want the hassle for a low selling DVD, if it sells at all.

Everything else I have tried was worthless. In other words it either did nothing, or it 'buffed' it up so much I can't resell it.

If anyone has any other ideas I welcome them. I've been looking for an affordable resurfacing machine for years.

You might try boiling them in water.

are these dvds used or do you just not take care of your dvds? i would agree to just take it to blockbuster and get them to clean it or spend 100 bucks and buy a machine.
if your going to get a Skip Doctor buy the machine one don't buy the hand crank one, its to much work.
or sell the discs and buy new ones, or get a dvd player that will play really scratched up discs.

I've used the Maxell 99 cent kits and had very good results on a used DVD I purchased from a shady store. I personally dont like Skip Dr. but thats just me.

I have the Aleratec DVD/CD Repair Kit, and recommend it highly. It removes both minor scuffs and deeps scratches.

What is the name of this $100 machine and where can I get it? Also, you say the skip doctor sands down the dvd, does this make the surface much thinner such that the data inside is more prone to be damaged in the long run?

All kits I've tried work fine. I have mostly used them on rented DVDs that I really want to see right away without returning them to the store and on some CDs. They have also helped bring back some precious laserdiscs from the dead. The best kits have a kind of pillow to secure the disc in place while you slave away at polishing it. And, yes, Brillo or any silver polish works just as well.

And the most important thing is to wash the stuff off thoroughly under lots of running water and to dry your disk with a lint-free cloth afterwards.

I have a wax pencil that I bought from a catalog that is used for scratches on CDs and DVDs. You just mark over the scratches with it, and then rub it off with a soft tissue.

The wax part "fills in" the scratch. You may be stuck with some (light) black marks on your disc - but it beats having them skip!

I mostly only use it on my Netflix DVDs, since they usually come pretty scratched up - thanks to the inconsiderate idiots who have rented the discs before me and not taken care of them!

It also leaves a very noticeable mark.