OT: Brasso fixes CDs - amazing!

plasmavideo wrote on 7/24/2007, 8:51 AM
Yep, you read the topic header right.

And now for something completely different . . . .

So anyway, I was working on something in our tech shop the other day, and one of the guys was vigorously working away on the plastic faceplate of his cellphone with something. "So", I said "What you usin' on that?" He said "Brasso" (the brass and metal polisher).

"Get outta here", I exclaimed, knowingly. "No, really" he replied.

He showed me the usage chart on the back of the Brasso polish can, and one of the listed usages was "Plastic Watch Crystals".

H'mmm - I thought, and grabbed an audio CD that I happened to have that was so scratched that it skipped badly. I applied some Brasso, let it dry, and polished it with a soft cloth and repeated the process. Imagine my amazement when after the second polishing and a cleaning with an pre-moistened optic pad a majority of the scratches had vanished, and the CD played perfectly!

Who'd a thunk it. Ya learn something new everyday, even in the pre-senile condition I find myself these days.

Hope it works on your CDs and DVDs.

Any other tips from outta your left field?

Tom

Comments

TheHappyFriar wrote on 7/24/2007, 9:38 AM
go to gamestop/eb games & get the game disc fixer & the cloths. Works great. :D I think it's ~$8 a bottle & $1.50 for ten clothes (about 5/6 discs a cloth if you use it right).
Bill Ravens wrote on 7/24/2007, 9:51 AM
I've done the same thing with toothpaste.
bakerja wrote on 7/24/2007, 10:17 AM
Car wax also works.

JAB
Chienworks wrote on 7/24/2007, 11:26 AM
So all those hours i spent in the machineshop with the microtome planer shaving a few thousandths of a millimetre off the surface of the disc was a waste? Sheesh. Wish i had known about this before i did that. ;)
MSmart wrote on 7/24/2007, 12:42 PM
Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor would have been proud. :)

Count me in as another fan of Brasso. After doing research on the net, I bought a can and it works great.

Remember to rub radially not circular.
Bill Ravens wrote on 7/24/2007, 12:53 PM
Kelly..

Be glad. U could've used an ion blaster which would have taken several days to take a micron off, but it sure woulda been like glass.
TomE wrote on 7/24/2007, 12:54 PM
Anybody ever try Gel Gloss? I am asking out of curiosity since I have found it useful for polishing mirrors and chrome.

-TomE
JJKizak wrote on 7/24/2007, 2:14 PM
Hell, just use a buffer with a foam pad and fine or swirl compound remover. Take about 10 seconds.

JJK
John_Cline wrote on 7/24/2007, 2:19 PM
The very same stuff that is sold for $8 a bottle as CD Scratch Remover can be had at an automotive store for about $2 and the bottle has about 5 times as much in it. The stuff I get is made by "Kit" and is called "Scratch Out."

I've got some Brasso, I'll give that a shot the next time I need to polish up a CD.

John
farss wrote on 7/24/2007, 3:00 PM
Want another tip from out there?

To scuplt foam rubber freeze it first. The stuff ends up like wood. A dark secret I learned from the guys who make props.
You do need to get it really cold, around -20 C or lower, at a pinch hit it with a CO2 extinguisher.

Bob.
Steve Mann wrote on 7/24/2007, 8:09 PM
"Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor would have been proud. :)"

Nah, he would have put a polishing pad on a ten-horsepower lawn edging tool, then applied the Brasso to one disc.