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Comment by beefok | Hacker News Reader

This is a testament to how well Reed-Solomon encoding/decoding [1] can detect and correct errors! I remember even heavily scratched cd's would work if you cleaned them with toothpaste of all things (?) [2]

This is unlike blowing an NES cartridge, which actually had a detrimental effect due to blowing spit on the pin contacts and oxidizing them.. [3] I do remember Babbages/KB Toys/etc did actually sell NES/SNES/Gameboy cartridge cleaning kits though [4].

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-interleaved_Reed%E2%80%9...

[2] https://www.google.com/search?q=clean+cd+rom+toothpaste

[3] https://www.denofgeek.com/games/nes-cartridge-blowing-air-ur...

[4] https://www.thevintagegamers.com/2012/11/vintage-gaming-clea...

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> I remember even heavily scratched cd's would work if you cleaned them with toothpaste of all things (?)

I've had even better results with this three-step stuff that's actually meant for plastics, with most scratches not needing more than step 2: https://novuspolish.com/

That works great for bottom-side scratches, but sadly it's not usually possible to repair any damage done to the label-side of a Compact Disc due to proximity between the label and the reflective data layer underneath. It's really common for well-intentioned people to remove discs from a drive and (in absence of the case) set them upside-down to "protect" them not realizing it's the worst possible thing they could do. All-over-print labels add an extra margin of protection over discs that leave the label's negative space as bare disc silver: https://cdn.hswstatic.com/gif/cd-crosssection.gif

You can indeed polish all sorts of things (aluminum, silverware, car headlights…) with toothpaste. It's an abrasive.

For what it’s worth - Sensodyne uses a finer grit abrasive than many other brands. Might be a better choice if trying to repair cd scratches.

The US Sensodyne (sans Novamin) or the regular Sensodyne that every one else gets?

I am in the USA. Wasn’t aware there are different types under that name.

Novamin turns into hydroxyapatite, like in Japanese toothpastes. Fluoride and nanohydroxyapatite work better together than either alone, for carries at least. The approval process is too expensive to get through here, even though nanohydroxyapatite is used regularly in many countries.

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