Toothpaste Trick for Cracked Games

CDs

• Every CD is actually composed of a number of different layers of material. The bottom of the CD is made of a polycarbonate plastic. That's followed by an aluminum layer, an acrylic layer and finally the label layer, which is what you see on the top of the CD. Each of these layers serves an important purpose, but scratches are typically confined to the bottom, polycarbonate layer. Any scratch or crack that does more than superficial damage to the polycarbonate layer is not fixable with toothpaste.

Lasers

• When you put a CD in to a computer, gaming device or music player, the information is read off of the CD by a laser. The laser travels through the polycarbonate layer and strikes the aluminum layer. There are various pits in the aluminum layer, and when the laser comes to a pit it takes slightly longer for the laser to bounce off the aluminum. This how information is encoded on a CD. When a scratch or crack appears, it causes errors for the sensitive laser, and results in a CD that does not work.

Why Toothpaste

• What makes toothpaste is a viable solution for cracked CD games has to do with the same qualities that make the toothpaste clean your teeth. Much of the cleaning stems from tiny abrasive pieces in the toothpaste that, when combined with the action of a toothbrush, break up plaque and other build-up on your teeth, much like sandpaper would gradually remove paint. This is why you must use a toothpaste and not a gel for CD repair, because gels do not typically contain abrasives.

Procedure

• Fixing a scratch first involves moistening the surface of the CD, then rubbing a small amount of toothpaste across the scratch, going from the inside of the disc towards the outside of the disc. Gradually, the abrasives in the toothpaste wear down the polycarbonate plastic, which sands away the scratch or crack. This is why a deep scratch or crack will be difficult or impossible to fix, because you will need to sand away a lot of material. Any scratch or crack that penetrates down to the aluminum layer cannot be fixed.