Well I really wanted to make a video of this how to but decided to just post pics.

Here are stages of a scratch on an LD, this will work most of the time but for this disc it didn't, the scratch was actually a partial
manufacturing defect and you can slightly see in the light in person that there is a wave in the plastic.

First you start with Novus 3, this is for heavy scratches. As you can see in this picture the scratch before and the Novus 3

You must put a thin layer of the paste on and let it air dry, this I have found to give the best results.

Then buff until its removed, you may have a slight film or areas that didn't get removed, don't worry you may
need to do this a few times.

Then you will go to Novus 2, this one is a little different, I put it on wet and keep buffing until all polish is gone.
I may need to do this multiple times but its the same way. Put on wet and keep buffing, if you feel heat under your finger and cloth
you are polishing too hard or fast, once you feel hot to the touch you need more polish.

This final picture is the same area once finished. I didn't use Novus 1 for this but you can use this to clean your disc of finger prints etc.
Just don't get it on the label or it may smear on certain types.


If you feel that it didn't work or you still see the scratch you would depending on how bad the scratch is start with 3 again
and then 2, you may need to do this multiple times.

This WILL NOT remove very deep major scratches but this is what you need to do in order to fix bad looking disc
or even some discs that won't play.

I can tell you, collecting LDs since 1989 and buying a majority of used LDs I've only ever had to polish around 20 discs
and I've had over 1000 discs easily pass through my hands.
Most of the ones I had to clean were Discovision discs, while it never made a bad disc play it did sometimes help.

I am giving this info for free so take it for what it is, do it at your own risk.

If you have sticky edges or sticky on the play surface you are better off cleaning with denatured alcohol or lighter fluid.
Again don't get it on the label and put it on a clean soft cloth.

Did anyone else try that? I also have some scratched disc. Unfortunately a lot more than a single scratch. So will be a lot of work but maybe worth it.

What did you use to polish it besides Novus? The wrong cloth could cause more scratches while polishing.

I bought a Novus 1,2,3 kit a few years ago after reading the thread by rein-o and used it on some really badly scratched discs that I had inherited, as you say quite a lot of work required but a very good result considering the state these LDs were in. You really need to use the Novus Mate Cloths for polishing though for best results and the problem is that anywhere in Europe they basically cost you an arm & a leg to purchase unlike in the USA where they are manufactured and much more realistically priced.

I would assume there is a similar competing product. Novus isn’t exactly 3M in their expertise and there are a lot of people out there making paper towels.

The other thing you have to keep in mind is that for something to scratch something it has to be harder than the thing being scratched. Old %100 cotton T shirts are way softer than LDs and will never scratch them.

Yes fair comment zeta, I did wonder if those supersoft lint free cloths made for buffing automotive paintwork after applying polish could also do the job as a pack of those would be far cheaper than the paper Novus Mates cost here!

Oh you don't trust me Thx for nothing.

Yeah, the last time I bought Novus it came with the papers but I always used an old white no print Tshirt, lay one flat to protect the underside of the disc, and then buff, buff, buff, buff and buff some more to get it to work.

Haven't seen this post in a while, keep the LDs spinning.
This does work on CDs too but you have to be more careful as the disc is smaller, plastic is different and will leave more micro scratches
and you will always notice them more than on LDs.