There are a variety of scratch removal devices for CDs and DVDs, but whoever thought of using such a readily available foodstuff—that proof of creation itself, the everyday banana? Watch the video to see how to render your videos suddenly watchable, using banana goo and the banana's waxy peel to miraculously fix that Netflix disc that arrived at your house looking like a skating rink. [Neatorama]
Scratched Disc? Banana to the Rescue
3:30 PM on Fri Aug 10 2007
By Charlie White
24,017 views
43 comments








Comments
Do I have to repeat this process when the banana "goo" ie, sugars and starches begin to fall off and separate from the CD??
LOL.
This guy is "special" -- doesn't he know you should NEVER rub a disc in circular motions? Rub center to edge on every disc, people!
Has any other person actually tried this...better yet...filmed it WITHOUT cutting away or splicing the vid? I just cant imagine this working with a banana and it coming out THAT clean. Do I think it's practical...yes..but there has got to be better footage of the process, there is no way the disk he started with is the same disc he ended with. Thoughts?
@rentahero1: Wax on, wax off.
Did you see the big cut on his right arm (our left) in the beginning parts of the video?
Thats a chain.
Holy crap! That ACTUALLY works!
Wait, so the banana did the miraculous cleaning and the window cleaner just sorta "helped"? Really?
@bigb252: What does that have to do with any? So he's emo. bfd.
@michelinman85: Well its true i would've liked to see the video if it wouldn't have been spliced/edited. He could've also done some major editing or filmed a CD with a gree stick going through the middle and just moved it over. Or just gone the easy way and gotten another CD.
@logikgr: ROFL Mr. Miyague
@michelinman85: Looking at the logos on the inner edge of the disc, if it's a different disc, he at least was smart enough to use a similar CD.
Charlie, I think I'm the only one who got the Kirk Cameron ref there. Nice one.
Jibbly says Charlie and QBrad are totally awesome for picking up on a Growing Pains reference.
I was taught to defend myself against a man carrying a banana. Could be worse though. If he'd used red currants the tiger would have probably just have re-scratched the disc.
I dont know about you guys but I like to use Watermelons to cleand my CD's
Time for someone out there to confirm the results. Anyone? Anyone?
@jibbly: Not Growing Pains, man... It's from Kirk's newfound Christian website stuff. His Australian bedfellow makes remarks about the evidence of Intelligent Design and how a banana is proof of said design because of its "perforated" peel that so easily comes off cleanly, and its shape that fits so well into a human hand AND points the curve of the banana into the mouth when held properly.
Or, more likely... he first filmed the last part of the clip, with the new clean disk... then scratched it and did the whole banana work on it. A little editing magic (i.e. reverse the order of clips) and voila!
Certainly, the better way to fix scratched disks would be to turn back time... but time machines that fly and run on bananas and other garbage won't happen until 2015 of course.
for eating!! Of course!!
"It even leaves your disks smelling like fresh cut Banana! Order your kit now for the low price of only $19.95 and we'll throw in some background music in our next demonstration!"
I usually get my scratches out by burning a new copy and add the old one to my coaster collection.
I've done this with Peanut Butter after a recommendation from a friend. It works. For reals. You can do the circular motions because you are basically buffing it.
Hey! it also works with videotapes!!
@AFROABDUL
Crunchy Peanut Butter, of course.
I am going to try this in the name of science (and i dont have anything to do)i will tell you if it works
MMM well i already try this and it doesnt work just like the video but definitely take off some scratches =P
Hmmmm, rubbing a cloth (abrasive) on a scratched disc for "a few minutes" smooths out the scratches (with OR without bananas, btw) ?? Who woulda thunk it?
At least with a watermelon you can do 50 cds at once.
I'm sure the banana does a lovely job of filling in the scratches, but no thanks on the "window cleaner." The ammonia in that stuff etches plastic. You're probably doing more damage to your disks in the long run with this method.
Personally i use toothpaste. I have found it works wonders.
Probably the circular motion is to get the banana in the grooves.
My personal cure is pledge or toothpaste.
Id be too afraid that banana bits would get in my cd player.
So how many fruits & veggies did he try before he set on bananas ?
Gotta get a life / girlfriend if your spending your friday nights alone in your room with fruit & scratched cds...
@FredicvsMaximvs: I want to repeat what Fred is saying here. DVD's are made of polycarbonate, which will erode over time if treated with glass cleaners, especially those containing ammonia, like Windex. You need to use a cleaning solution that is safe on plastics.
Further, DVD's are "less intuitive" when it comes to scratches and performance. DVD pits are around 1.3 micrometers, and are read with a 650 nm wavelength laser. So things that cause disruption on that level tend to matter more to DVD readability than visible scratches, which may be too coarse to actually interfere with disc reading.
In short: Rub your DVD's with banana? Why not.. go nuts.. unless bananas contain some organic solvents. Best feed a few bananas through a gas chromatograph to see what's going on.
Clean afterwards with Windex? No!, use a good plastic grade cleaning solution.
finally something useful and non-apple.
"and its shape that fits so well into a human hand AND points the curve of the banana into the mouth when held properly"
@qbrad: this is also proof that God intended for man to receive fellatio.
But regarding scratches on the disk, once its scratched the damage has already been done so buffing out the scratches only causes more potential damage. You may want a nice shiny looking surface, but the onluy reason to wipe it is to remove grease, dust or other residue.
hmm, so who do I sue when this non-ergonomic cleaning device gives me carpal tunnel?
WD-40 or light machine oil I find works for recovering data on scratched CD/DVD's too
Alright guys, I tried this and it worked! All of the small scratches on my CD were gone, and the only one that remained was a very large scratch, which was noticeably smaller after being banana'd.
I tried it. It isn't the greatest solution but It did get it a little bit better looking than it originally was. Hopefully now FYE will take it.
@wow3dset: God.
man,I don't think Taggart will be fallin' for no banana in his tail pipe no more! ...
I'd say skip all steps except for the last one and you should be good.
It.. sorta works, not bad for fruit. If you want something that works a bit better, try using "brasso", which is intended for polishing brass, but also does a great job on clear plastics.
I tried this with an iPhone and it works great. Just rub the disc with your Apple iPhone in a circular motion and the scratches disappear as if by magic! The iPhone even removes scratches on bananas. You have rub those in an up-and-down motion though.
Don't click on this video. You end up giving the creator money for a bogus tip. This does NOT work. There is a huge uproar in the MetaCafe community over this user - he posts bogus advise and gets sites like the Giz to feature him so he can earn producer rewards.
mor10
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