cleaning and/or polishing discs at home

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This past weekend I went through my DVDs & made sure the ones I wished to keep were functional.
Lo & Behold, my Apocalyptica DVD was not.

It had something like stains on it that would not buff out with just a microfiber cloth.
Eventually I got brutal with a Scotch-Brite that claims on the package it will not scratch, but it scratched the Hell out of it.

Here's the irony, it played in my blu-ray player fine after that.
Still not able to read it in my PC DVD-Rom reader/writer, however.

I got out the Turtle Wax Scratch Remover, it did nothing.
Took it over to the local 2nd-hand bookstore where they have a polishing machine, two spins on that & it looks alright, but still unrecognizable in the DVD writer.

So, what or how are you polishing your blu-rays & DVDs?
 
Back to the bookstore today with two discs:

HD blu-ray of Daybreakers (Lionsgate)
DVD of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

The Daybreakers disc looked to be in pristine condition on the surface of it, & no matter how I cleaned it the disc would still stutter at 17 minutes in. I could have saved $15 USD if I'd just thought about having it polished instead of buying the UHD set, HA!

I also wonder if my other Lionsgate releases could have been save, like Stir of Echoes.
Next time I go over there I'm taking my Near Dark blu-ray for a spin on their polisher.

Unfortunately polishing the surface of the DS9 DVD to be pristine did not help with the playability.
It's not that bad, just the last seconds of the final episode on the disc. This seems to be a common spot for issues, right at the outer circumference, because the data on the disc is traveling over the laser faster.

So I'll ask again, has anyone set up a disc polishing solution at home that works?
 
This past weekend I went through my DVDs & made sure the ones I wished to keep were functional.
Lo & Behold, my Apocalyptica DVD was not.

It had something like stains on it that would not buff out with just a microfiber cloth.
Eventually I got brutal with a Scotch-Brite that claims on the package it will not scratch, but it scratched the Hell out of it.

Here's the irony, it played in my blu-ray player fine after that.
Still not able to read it in my PC DVD-Rom reader/writer, however.

I got out the Turtle Wax Scratch Remover, it did nothing.
Took it over to the local 2nd-hand bookstore where they have a polishing machine, two spins on that & it looks alright, but still unrecognizable in the DVD writer.

So, what or how are you polishing your blu-rays & DVDs?
Use Isopropyl alcohol and wipe with microfiber cloth, from the middle to the outside.
 
The Daybreakers disc I had polished today had been cleaned every which way but loose & to look at it, there were no flaws or blemishes, seemingly pristine.
Stir of Echoes from last year was the same. I had owned for years & then one day it would just stutter along & not play. I wish I'd known about this polishing service back then.

I looked into buying one, they are not cheap.
If the store will do it for $1 USD/disc, I will just continue that way.

The son/partner bought another machine recently, it's a complete disc repair machine, so maybe I should have him run my DS9 DVD through that one.
 
...the final episode on the disc. This seems to be a common spot for issues, right at the outer circumference, because the data on the disc is traveling over the laser faster.
Not part of an answer to your question, but just a correction (in case it matters to you). That's not actually the case. Optical discs spin at a constant linear velocity; the rotational speed reduces as the circumference increases. The linear speed of the data track under the laser is constant.

It's far more likely to be either a physical flaw (given that the outer edge is more vulnerable) or a microscopic warping of the disc, putting the data either closer to, or further from, the laser and thereby putting it "out of focus".

Flaws that cross the data track are typically insignificant; built-in error correction copes with these. Flaws that run along the data track (even if microscopic) may exceed the error correction's abilities. And perversely, they are actually less visible to the eye.
 
Some players error-correction is just better than others.
The LG UBK90 will just spit the disc out if it's even a little faulty, whereas my Sony UBP-X700 will try its best to play it.
The DS9 disc only misses a few seconds of the final chapter on the X700, but the UBK90 won't even play the final chapter.
This has been the case with all my questionable discs, it will just spit out the Near Dark disc.
 
Yesterday I took over a few blu-ray titles to trade in on some disc polishing & restoration.

Near Dark only needed one pass in the polishing machine & now it works even in the LG player, but the DS9 disc is no better, even after a pass in the restoration machine.

The disc looks as if it just came off the production line, so clean, but alas it still misses the last few minutes of the last episode on the disc. I managed to see the episode through to the end once yesterday & I thought the problem was resolved, but on every other try, at least a dozen, it just skips to the end instead of finishing.
Ah well, I own that same episode in iTunes, so no big deal.

Near Dark is a bigger deal, can't find it streaming & even the disc is difficult to find if you don't want to pay extortionate prices.
 
Recently I had some luck with headlight restoration polish, so I thought I'd take it further & got a kit specifically for plastic polishing:

pxl_20230412_170448140-jpg.1852541



If anyone has figuratively gone down this road & has any tips, I'm figuratively all ears.
 
Well, it works.

The green (heavy scratches) is about the same result as using toothpaste with baking soda, it scratches the living Hell out of it, but they're mild scratches that are meant to take out the DEEP ones.
The red (fine scratches) did about the same as the Mequiar's PlastX, plastic polish for headlights.
very fine abrasive that takes ages, if you do it by hand

Finally I got tired of how long it was taking & gooped up a disc, laid it flat on the polishing cloth, moved it around in circles vigorously, & Voila!

stage 1, completely filthy from the charity shop

PXL_20230412_201815814.jpg


Step2 - heavy scratches cream, cloudy & mild scratches abound

PXL_20230412_202713644.jpg
You can notice the BIG scratches are less prominent now.

Finally:

PXL_20230412_213647632.jpg


If you look at it straight on it looks fine, but with reading glasses or a tilt to reflect light & the deep scratches are still there, but that's on me for not following through with the green.

The blue didn't seem to do anything, but it's supposed to help with anti-static & repel dust.
 
My local library uses T-Cut scratch remover. It's intended for cars but seems to work on discs. (Possibly a similar product to the NOVUS plastic polish?)
 
I have used Turtle Wax scratch remover in the past, which works to make them playable, but leaving them a little cloudy & not mirror finish, a midway point between the red & green Novus.
I may develop my own technique:
Baking soda toothpaste (only for heavy scratch)
Turtle Wax scratch remover
Meguiar PlastX finish
 

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