# Does toothpaste help fix cracked/scratched game disc to work again?



## Sonic Angel Knight (Sep 12, 2017)

I been seeing youtube videos of people using toothpaste as a solution to "Repair" disc to function in the game system again. So I'm asking if people actually tried this and if it works.


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## THEELEMENTKH (Sep 12, 2017)

I haven't tried it since I don't believe it works.
Toothpaste might fill some holes that a scratch could've make to a disc, but it doesn't have the data that's missing due to it


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## KiiWii (Sep 12, 2017)

The data isnt stores in the plastic layer of the disc. 

The TP has a gritty texture that buffs like a re-surfacing machine would, but its no miracle worker.

It'll take out light scratches and marks, but no deep grooves or circular scratches.


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## Kioku_Dreams (Sep 12, 2017)

Short answer? No. Tried.


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## Tom Bombadildo (Sep 12, 2017)

The right kind of toothpaste would temporarily work (gel kind = no), but only on light scratches, you won't be fixing deep gouges or a super long scratch across the disk. Chances are if the disc refuses to read at all, it can't be fixed with simple toothpaste.


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## osaka35 (Sep 12, 2017)

What tom said. It's just super fine grit sandpaper, essentially, grinding down the scratches to be level with the rest of the plastic underside. scratches tend to deflect a bit of the laser (refracts it), so data can't be read as expected (thus read-errors). you have to grind everything to be on the same level as the scratches, so the lase can work as needed. Professional cd "buffers", not the cheapo lame kind, are the best way to go as they have the perfect grit level, a level amount of grind, etc.


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## H1B1Esquire (Sep 12, 2017)

If toothpaste doesnt work you could try going to G$ or your local library--they usually have disc resurfacing tools for a decent price ($1.00 at most places).


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## Sonic Angel Knight (Sep 12, 2017)

H1B1Esquire said:


> If toothpaste doesnt work you could try going to G$ or your local library--they usually have disc resurfacing tools for a decent price ($1.00 at most places).


My library has books, not games, and what is G$


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## th3joker (Sep 12, 2017)

The wives tale was the crystals in the folridone or whatever would embed themselves into the plastic and fill in the scratches at a microscopic level. The trick was use the white toothpaste smear a fine layer across the scratched surface and let it dry. Then with a soft cloth gently whipe the tooth paste off. And yes it worked in the ps2 era of the shitty disc read error and fickel lenses


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## brickmii82 (Sep 13, 2017)

Use stick deodorant(white). Toothpaste is too abrasive. Bath the disc in water to lift the dust particles(don't scrub, just rinse), pat dry it with a soft cloth, preferably micro-fiber. Clean with an alcohol solution and tissue moving from the inside out. Then apply the deodorant from the inside out also. Use tissue again the same way, inside to out, and it will polish the disc. Be sure you get it all off and try the disc again. Haven't done any BD, but it's always worked for CD's and DVD's.


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## TangentingTangerines (Sep 13, 2017)

I've had crap luck with it.  Toothpaste cleaning did nothing to help one of my KISS cd's and actually broke my copy of Sonic Adventure 1 on Dreamcast (though to be fair that might be because Dreamcast GD-roms are different from other cds and dvds).  Personally I use Nintendo's wet cotton cloth method, which helped me fix a couple of Wii and Xbox games, and my local rental store has disc resurfacers if all else fails.


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## VinsCool (Sep 13, 2017)

I only swear by disc resurfacers in video game stores.
Ok, that costs money, but that saved many of my heavily scratched games.


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## H1B1Esquire (Sep 13, 2017)

Sonic Angel Knight said:


> My library has books, not games, and what is G$


But does your library rent DVDs or CDs? Game$top is G$ and I can't wait for the signs to change.


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## CMDreamer (Sep 13, 2017)

THEELEMENTKH said:


> I haven't tried it since I don't believe it works.
> Toothpaste might fill some holes that a scratch could've make to a disc, but it doesn't have the data that's missing due to it



Actually there's no missing data, as it doesn't lie on the surface of the disc, but on a lower layer. What the process of polishing scrubs a very thin layer of the plastic (depending on how hard you scrub it) and reduces the scratches on the surface. It is also necessary to polish the surface as even as possible.



brickmii82 said:


> Use stick deodorant(white). Toothpaste is too abrasive. Bath the disc in water to lift the dust particles(don't scrub, just rinse), pat dry it with a soft cloth, preferably micro-fiber. Clean with an alcohol solution and tissue moving from the inside out. Then apply the deodorant from the inside out also. Use tissue again the same way, inside to out, and it will polish the disc. Be sure you get it all off and try the disc again. Haven't done any BD, but it's always worked for CD's and DVD's.



Now this is a new method haven't heard of before.


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## gameboy (Sep 13, 2017)

no


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## brickmii82 (Sep 13, 2017)

VinsCool said:


> I only swear by disc resurfacers in video game stores.
> Ok, that costs money, but that saved many of my heavily scratched games.


That's what GameStop does. If you put a micrometer on a new game, and then the same game bought from them pre-owned, you'll find the pre-owned is often thinner. In some cases you can actually see the difference in thickness. In the early 360 days you had a lot of idiots moving their console while it was on with a disc inside. Then you got this perfectly circular scratch around the disc. I had a buddy who managed a GameStop store and he said they'd buy the damaged discs for cheap or take the ones they warranted and do this resurfacing, but they used what's basically a lathe for discs to re-surface them.


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