Scratches on discs happen. After one of our favorite DVDs started to skip after receiving a few too many scratches we started to look for a solution to salvage it. Sure there are DVD scratch removal devices that you can buy, but why waste money when there is a solution to be found right in our own homes? Using toothpaste, a banana, a rag and window cleaner we will show you how to remove scratches from a DVD and with any luck the unplayable will become playable.
What You Need
Equipment:
toothpaste
clean rag
banana
window cleaner
Instructions
1. The first thing you do is apply toothpaste on the scratched surface of the DVD. Next, rub the toothpaste gently into the DVD using the rag. Let this sit for about a minute.
2. Remove the toothpaste from the DVD using the rag. Then take the cut banana and in small circular motions rub the banana into the DVD. After you have applied the banana to the DVD, you will then take the peel and use this to rub the DVD in small circular motions.
3. Clean the DVD using the rag. Make sure to remove all the traces of the banana and peel. Spray window cleaner onto the surface of the DVD and continue cleaning the DVD. If you are lucky, your formerly unplayable DVD has now been salvaged!
Additional Notes: We experimented with using just toothpaste and just the banana, but we received the best results from using the toothpaste first and following it with the banana.
Want more smart tutorials for getting things done around the home? Click to see all of this month's Home Hacks tutorials.
(Images: Joelle Alcaidinho)
100 DIY Ideas for the 3-Day Weekend
Danielle's Charming, Classic Walk-Up
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
White Enamel Flatwa...
How To Cook Fluffy, Tasty Quinoa
Perfect Summer Cocktail Recipe: Honey Bourbon Lemonade
For CDs too? This should be helpful
@ ncieloo... yes, this also works for CDs.
why does this work??
this also is kind of weird, but when i have a scratched disk, i put it in the toilet (clean! i hope), scratched side down, and flush. this supposedly pulls out the scratches the way a scratch remover kit would.
one time i showed this trick to a 4-year-old i babysat. i forgot to tell his mom about it, though, and he got in trouble when he put his scratched DVD in the toilet when i wasn't there =)
I've tried the toothpaste before, and it works! It's apparently because the laser in your DVD player gets stuck in the scratches and doesn't know how to continue (not necessarily because that chunk of information is gone, like you would think.) The toothpaste/banana helps to "fill in" the gaps with a material that the laser likes, so it's able to continue scanning across the disk as though nothing is wrong.
Could the reason the banana helps have anything to do with the fact that bananas (and avocados) contain a latex like compound?
Is there a particular kind of toothpaste (i.e. gel or paste) that works best? I don't want to try the wrong kind and make things worse!
This is an internet meme that's been around for ages. The toothpaste is a bit abrasive, that's the slightly working part, but the banana is useless (you don't want to fill gaps with... food!) and the ammonia in the window cleaner will definitely degrade the dvd plastic.
You can also use Brasso. It's a compound used to remove surface scratches from the chromed parts or any shiny metal on your vehicle or whatever needs to be refurbished.
You can use a banana to polish your shoes too.
http://lifehacker.com/5402450/polish-your-shoes-with-a-banana