I've tried the toothpaste trick, maybe I'm just not using the right brand but it has never worked.

Might have to use anti-cavity depending on how deep the scratches are...

Careful..I used to do this alot, til I noticed that it made more scratches that way..

Two things I don't understand about this toothpaste/hot water idea.
1: Toothpaste has floride in it-it's kinda like small grains of sand that helps clean your teeth. Wouldn't that cause more scraches on a CD. IF it does work wouldn't it be better to use a non floride toothpaste like baby toohpaste.

2: Hot Water: All I know about hot water is that it's usefull for childbirth, relaxing in a tub, makes coffee, makes Mac N Cheese, hot dogs and other things. I---I still don't see how hot water would fix scraches on a CD :/ .

How much do they cost where you live? My local used game store does this for two bucks. They always come out performing like new again.

I would never put toothpaste on my discs or drown them in water. Just pay for the repair, it's very cheap.

I guess smoothing from the intense heat.

Actually the floride acts as a polishing agent, which is why it works (baking-soda toothpaste is the best, though -- the pure white ones as they don't have any extra stuff that may damage the disc). It removes some of the disc to make it smooth. Most scratches aren't deep enough to get to the data (if they are you can't do anything about it) -- the reason they don't read is because the scratches don't reflect properly. By smoothing out the scratches you make the disc readable again.

This is how all disc cleaners work: buff the disc until it's smooth. In the process you do take off a layer of the disc, but not much and any salvagable scratch is superficial, so it's safe.

People who ruin their discs don't properly apply the toothpaste: gently rub from the center out, DON'T rub in a circular motion and don't rub hard

I think I'm just going to go out and get it repaired today, but where do they do this? Hopefully an actual established chain store that is guaranteed in my area, and not a small used game store that doesn't exist in my city.

Hmmmm I have to say that's an interesting bit of info there. I might have to try that IF I get a used disk or something. At least in the end my CD will be nice and minty .

Use car polish/buffer. It should work better than toothpaste.

How much is a disc repair kit?

I bought http://www.aleratec.com/dvdireplpa24.html about 5 years ago. It fixes any disks I have put in there. Works great.

Is this something I could go out and buy at a mall?

That looks expensive.

Certainly more expensive than toothpaste... :meh:

Most pawn shops have a machine that fixes up disks for like $1 a pop.

I've never seen anything of that sort at a pawn shop...