I have a horrible feeling that I know the answer to this one, but is there any way of restoring a cd whose playing surface is damaged? I had a home-made dvd which had some sticky stuff adhering to the playing side - gunge from old sellotape, I think. Washing up liquid and water didn`t remove it so I tried some "sticky stuff remover" containing, I think, acetone. To say this has made an unholy mess of the playing side is an understatement. am wondering if there is anything I can do to render it playable again? (Disc contained an audiovrecording of Berlioz` Les Troyens from the 1983 Proms which I am keen not to lose.)
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Have you tried replaying again? I once loaned an SACD —Zander and the Philharmonia in Mahler 5–to a friend who told me he gave it a ‘super cleaning’ with some home brew concoction when he returned it to show his appreciation. The damn thing wouldn’t track when I tried playing it when he was gone and I was fuming. Several months later I spun it again and all was well -
Acetone will dissolve the Disc. Isopropyl alcohol in distilled water, up to 50-50% on a suitable cloth. I also use a tiny amount of Fairy Liquid on a disc under a running tap of warm water until squeaky clean. The lens cleaner ROR is quite useful too. Never ever rub a paper towel or similar on the disc to dry or clean, it is micro sandpaper.Comment
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Not sure if limonene will work. It'll probably make a reasonable job of clearing up the sticky stuff, but not sure what it'll do to the disc itself.
I don't know if it's easy to get - I picked up a limonene pen a year or two back in LIDL. *** See warning in sentence below!
***However, just noticed something called limonene cement, which I suspect is something which dissolves some plastics for rejoining - that perhaps won't work.
Experiment with solvents on scrap or new blank CDs or DVDs - they are now dirt cheap - Poundland, Sainsbury's etc.
Don't use anything which dissolves the surfaces you use for testing.
Probably best not to rush into this. I have used silvo and brasso on regular CDs which didn't track properly and which were badly scratched, while other
people recommend toothpaste. In the first instance you need to get the gunge off - preferably without damaging the underlying disc.
I also recommend microfibre cloths for this - the advice not to use kitchen towel etc. makes sense. Lidl do some quite good fine microfibre cloths cheaply.
Water and alcohol are good starting points.
Then try to play the disc, to see if it works (perhaps in a computer drive if you don't want to risk it in an expensive CD player ... though computer drives can also be expensive to repair ...)...
Eventually if you can play it make a copy using various digital copy software programs, and keep the intermediate digital files - as file storage is now probably as cheap as CDs or DVDs (or cheaper) since 1983.
Good luck!Comment
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I got pulled up by the relevance prefects on a thread when I posted this tip. For the benefit of those of us facing a sticky mess - Some ahesives will dissolve by incorporating an oil (sunflower, oilve, etc) into the sticky gunk - work it in, with a scrap of the non abrasive cloth of your choice (or fingers, etc). Then you clean off the whole lot with washing up liquid. No solvent needed for that. (Got this from Bob Flowerdew, is there no end to the value of Gardeners' Question Time?)
I suppose, try it on a small piece of the adhesive and see if it takes the oil, otherwise its try other methods.
As to your situation - If its your thing (or you know someone who can) (edit - I now see Dave's post above, but anyway) you might try ripping the CD on a computer as, I understand, you might find you meet with more success in reading the CD on the disc drive of a computer/ripping it, than with a CD player. Then burn a CD to replace your damaged item.
I once found some comment on a thread somewhere, where IIRC it talked about filling in a deep scratch or pit with something from a motor factor - a spot of some kind of polymer/plastic used to fill in scratches on the top layer of paintwork. Anyone come across something like that?
Also, even finer than Silver polish is a plastics/acrylic polish - again from a motor accessory shop. A pretty fine abrasive.Comment
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That is a method I have used very successfully (with fingers). These days I use "Goo Gone" which seems more effective and quicker. I suspect it works on the same principal.Originally posted by Cockney Sparrow View Post
Incidentally, I've seen reports of "Goo Gone" having been used to remove tap plates from classical guitars without harming the polish - though I certainly wouldn't recommend doing that.
(Last year I bought an additional classical guitar on ebay at a bargain price,considering that it was made by a respected English luthier. Someone had put a thin, clear self adhesive tap plate to the guitar and I was researching ways of removing it - that was how I came across Goo Gone. In the end I left the tap plate alone because it is hardly noticeable, unlikely to affect the tonal quality and my "local" luthier advised against removing it when I took the instrument to him to adjust the nut etc.)Comment
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Thanks all but my disc drive refuses to see the disc, it`s in such poor shape! I shall have to try to source the recording from the internet....lesson definitely taken to heart!Comment
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Is it still flat? Is the gunge still on it? Is it now scratched or hazy?Originally posted by ARBurton View Post
Just re-read your original post.
DVDs are a bit harder. Also they won't work in CD players unless they are universal, or the more modern sorts which may read some DVDs.I had a home-made dvdComment
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Hi - yes it`s still flat and I think hazy is definitely a good word for it! The recording on the disc was nr33 on the operadis list - I have quite a few of those but some (eg nr 38) are proving really hard to locate!Comment
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If the surface of the disc if hazy (after you have successfully removed all the gunge left by the adhesive) but otherwise undamaged, it should be be possible to retrieve the disc by very carefully polishing out the haze.
However, if the haze isn't just on the surface but penetrates through the layer or if the surface of the disc is otherwise damaged (e.g. partially dissolved by the acetone) the disc is a write off.
The question is what to use to polish the haze out? Some people have used Brasso. Personally, for a haze, I would start with the less aggressive and much finer "Micro-Gloss Liquid Abrasive" which is used, amongst other things, for aircraft canopies and final polishing of guitars! If that can't handle the surface haze I would resort to the Brasso but finish off with the Micro-Gloss.
Of course, it is important to remove all the adhesive residues before trying this.Comment
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Bit of a longshot but you can get some magic abrasive that they use on fighter cockpit perspex. It's also ideal for reconditioning the plastic lenses in an elderly car which can prove a boon at MOT time. Might work especially if the disc is rare and./or irreplaceable.Fewer Smart things. More smart people.Comment
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Will that stuff work on regular spectacles - with plastic lenses? I have several pairs, and the pair which I use a lot and actually quite like has obvious wear on the left hand lens. However, as "officially" my prescription has changed I don't think I can get an optician to supply a similar pair. The pairs which I have most recently prescribed are good for very close work, but less good for everyday activities which don't require me to read very small print, and one new pair has always caused me at least temporary convergence problems.Originally posted by Anastasius View Post
Where do you get this stuff from?Comment
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Car shops. I scratched my spectacles lens - not deeply but not just surface either. If someone doesn't post a brand name, I'll update the post later.Originally posted by Dave2002 View Post
I spent several sessions of 10 mins or so (whilst watching TV) trying to polish the scratch out - good news it reduced the scratched area so there wasn't an area of haze, but it didn't eliminate the scratch where it was deepest. I was wondering whether to go for silvo or even brasso and then polish up again with the perspex cleaner but in the end it was overtaken by my cataract operations. Spectacles redundant now, and last I knew, you can't donate varifocals....so they are scrap.Comment
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It would be worth looking at the "Micro-Gloss Liquid Abrasive" (Type 1) that I mentioned in an earlier post:Originally posted by Dave2002 View Post
It is also approved for use on aircraft canopies.Micro-Gloss a general all purpose water-based liquid abrasive which uses a one micron aluminum oxide abrasive crystal to achieve a fine finish on acrylics, plastics, polycarbonate, fiberglass, wood, silver, gold, copper, brass, paint urethanes, lacquers, and polyesters to name a few. This unique liquid removed hairline scratches, haziness, and halos untouched by other products. Contains no filler or wax that could cause yellowing. Remove scratches and imperfections with Micro-Gloss and buff back to optical clarity. Micro-Gloss will remove a 4000 Micro-Mesh or 1500 CAMI scratch pattern. Approved as safe for use on inside and outside surfaces of F-16 aircraft. Approved for use by Boeing, Spec D6-52021. Use by hand or machine with a TufBuf lambs wool polishing pad or foam sponge pad. Available in 1 oz., 2 oz., 4 oz., 8 oz., and gallon containers.
However, lenses used in glasses usually have various special coatings which are likely to suffer if you use an abrasive, however fine (and Micro-Gloss is very fine).Comment
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