Fixing scratched DVDs / 360 games with Pledge

[Zero102]

I just wanted to share this with you guys. I got a used copy of mass effect yesterday for free, but the catch was that it had the infamous 360 scratches on it, about a 1/2" wide band of scratches the full circumference of the disk, about half-way out. I figured it wouldn't play as-is, but if I could copy it to the hard drive I could carry on playing without risking being interrupted because of a read error. I tried it as-is and it kept freezing at 28%, then said disc read error. I cleaned it with water, paper towels, soft rags, windex, just about everything, and the best I could get was 29%, and the scratches were still _VERY_ visible.
Finally (on what I thought was a long shot) I tried Pledge furniture polish because a friend recommended it to me for DVDs a couple years ago. Liberally sprayed it on, then kept rubbing the disc until it dried with no streaks (using a paper towel). After this the scratches were about half-gone (subjective measurement I know), but the disc copied to my hard drive with no issues at all. Apparently the wax in it will fill the scratches and by rubbing it until it dries it smooths them out as they fill. I wouldn't have believed it before trying it.

I thought I would share this in case any of you have games that you no longer play because the discs are too scratched up (or alternatively, DVDs you no longer watch for the same reason). Pledge is bloody amazing for fixing this.

[Zero102]

So I was the only person impressed by this and everybody else knew? Okay

[black13]

Thanks for the good advice, I will definitely try this out on a few CD's that I've scratched badly. Just gotta see where they sell Pledge.

[Thaco]

i perfer brasso, it's a very very fine abrasive and will essentially scratch out the scratches, the same as you do when painting multiple coats on a car or other surface...

i just put some on it and then use a soft cloth and rub hard from the center to the edge and back again a bunch of times... i haven't found a disc that my kid wrecked that i haven't been able to fix with this method.

[qbrown]

another thing you can use to remove some scratches is toothpaste. just put a glob on and then rub it around with your finger and wipe off.

makes you rethink brushing your teeth a bit ...

and if the toothpaste/pledge/whatever else fails, there is always the good old car wax and power polisher