OT: dumpster dive and water/mold cleanup

From: Tothwolf <tothwolf_at_concentric.net>
Date: Tue Sep 3 19:28:00 2002

On Tue, 3 Sep 2002, Geoff Roberts wrote:

> > > It grinds a new surface all right, it grinds the surface right off!
> >
> > I think things would have to be pretty bad for me to use a grinding
> > product on a CD. I do have what is essentially a soft pad (just to
> > remove dust and prints and suchlike from the surface) and I have seen
> > various "CD restorer" kits (these seem to be mostly fluids that claim
> > to fill in the scratches and prevent them from interfering with the
> > data readback ... I'm not sure I believe that!)
>
> I've found that 'Brasso' applied by hand can descratch a CD that was
> unreadable due to serious scratching and make it useable. I've done
> this on several occasions now, last time was for the art teacher who had
> one of her favourite music CD's damaged by a student. Provided the
> scratching doesn't cut through the top layer, it works if you are
> careful...

Just this last weekend, I was talking to someone about damaged CDs. They
recommended a product called ScratchX, and said it could be bought at most
automotive stores. I'm not exactly sure what the intended use for the
stuff is, but I'd guess it is designed for polishing scratches from glass
and laminated glass. CDs are made of polycarbonate plastic, which is
actually a very tough material. Most plastic lenses in eyeglasses are made
of the exact same material. Someone who knows how to polish minor
scratches from plastic lenses (without changing the curvature/prescription
of the lens) would also know how to remove scratches from CDs. I've not
yet tried ScratchX on CDs myself, so if anyone tries it out, post the
results.

-Toth
Received on Tue Sep 03 2002 - 19:28:00 BST