# Is the Skip Doctor worth it?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-skip-doctor-worth-it/301942>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [May 1, 2005, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-skip-doctor-worth-it/301942 "2005-05-01T09:04:50Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\
**Post date:** [May 1, 2005, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-skip-doctor-worth-it/301942/1 "2005-05-01T09:04:50Z")

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The machine that supposedly resurfaces scratched CDs. Anyone had good experiences? Bad? Are there “homegrown” solutions that work just as well?

I found [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=236992&highlight=skipdr) from a while back that addresses the issue, but wanted to hear from today’s crowd.

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**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\
**Post date:** [May 2, 2005, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-skip-doctor-worth-it/301942/2 "2005-05-02T06:06:07Z")

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I was about to say something, then thought “I think I’ve said something about this gizmo before” and sure enough…

I’ll stick to my original opinion of the thing. CDs will wind up looking extremely hazy, but useable.

Is it worth buying to fix one readily available audio CD? Probably not. OTOH, it’s definitely worth getting if you’re faced with a damaged copy of something expensive like MS Office, or irreplaceable, such as a backup.

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**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\
**Post date:** [May 2, 2005, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-skip-doctor-worth-it/301942/3 "2005-05-02T06:23:29Z")

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Thanks for the re-addressing.

How about if I have several (10 or more) damaged audio CDs? I suppose if it works, it would save the cost of replacing those CDs and thus be financially worth it. That was basically the question, “Does it work?” and apparently it does.

Now the question becomes, “Are there any cheaper solutions that work at least as well?”

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**Author:** ![Flying\_Ice\_Cream\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3ab097/32.png) [@Flying\_Ice\_Cream\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flying_Ice_Cream_Badger)\
**Post date:** [May 25, 2005, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-skip-doctor-worth-it/301942/4 "2005-05-25T02:35:11Z")

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Brasso brass polish works great for fixing scratches.

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**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\
**Post date:** [May 25, 2005, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-skip-doctor-worth-it/301942/5 "2005-05-25T03:09:14Z")

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Purely anecdotal evidence, but I have never had it work, everything came out worse than before (not just in looks, most discs skipped more.)

Yes, I made sure to use plenty of their cleaning fluid, still came out mega-scratched. Go figure.