# Why did boiling a CD work? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 25, 2002, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-boiling-a-cd-work/129666 "2002-09-25T20:33:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BrandonR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@BrandonR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrandonR)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2002, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-boiling-a-cd-work/129666/1 "2002-09-25T20:33:02Z")
I’m part of the Xbox Live beta team to test out Xbox’s new online service due out in November, and in the package they sent us, they sent us two CD’s of the setup disc reporting that some people had problems with skipping and very slow loading times in the original CD. I put the first CD in and sure enough, it had problems to say the least. The backup disc worked fine however, but this has been an intriguing problem so far. Some other CD’s I’ve tried to play, mostly demo disks that were sent with an Xbox magazine, had this very same skipping and stuttering problem. The Xbox’s DVD drive had audible starting up and slowing down as if it were trying its best to read the disc… Anyways, someone suggested in the forums that we boil the CD’s to see if they work. Yes boil, as in dip the CD in boiling water for about 20 seconds. Well I had two CD’s for the Xbox Live setup so I decided to try it on the original non-working disc. I boiled the water, dipped the CD, removed and dried it thoroughly. I put it in the Xbox, and it surprisingly worked 100%! I then tried the same process with a few other CD’s (that were also sent through the mail to me) that also had the stuttering problems, they seem to work just fine now… My question is: Why the heck did boiling the discs for a short period of time seemingly cure the disc’s problem? Someone suggested the shipped CD’s became somewhat warped during the mailing, another suggested that boiling the water removed some kind of protective cover… Any real answers or ideas? CD experts? Dozens of other people with the same exact situation tried this and it worked for them as well, so it’s not just a fluke on my end… 🙂 Thanks! My fingers are tired now. ---
**Author:** ![bernse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@bernse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bernse)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2002, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-boiling-a-cd-work/129666/2 "2002-09-25T20:39:32Z")
Other than cleaning it, I have no idea. I’m curious to hear other possibilities. I don’t see how it could cure a “warped” cd, if anything you’d think it would make it worse. FWIW - I clean my CDs all the time under hot running water with soap. Works fine. ---
**Author:** ![BrandonR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@BrandonR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrandonR)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2002, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-boiling-a-cd-work/129666/3 "2002-09-25T20:47:31Z")
I was thinking about the warped argument… In reality, it seems like boiling the disc it would warp it more, but I guess the short times keep it from doing that. ---
**Author:** ![cdhostage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@cdhostage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cdhostage)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2002, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-boiling-a-cd-work/129666/4 "2002-09-25T20:47:31Z")
I would say claening it as well. I don’t think CDs are made of that funky self-healing plastic. ---
**Author:** ![Jpeg\_Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/4bbf92/32.png) [@Jpeg\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jpeg_Jones)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2002, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-boiling-a-cd-work/129666/5 "2002-09-25T20:59:39Z")
My take on it would be that the temporary heat smoothed out some irregularities on the disk’s surface. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2002, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-boiling-a-cd-work/129666/6 "2002-09-26T07:25:58Z")
There’s a self-healing plastic, now? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2002, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-boiling-a-cd-work/129666/7 "2002-09-26T08:21:08Z")
Nah, the boiling breaks the CD’s spirit and it becomes too terrified to mess with you again. If someone boiled _me_ for 20 seconds, I’d fall into line pretty damn fast, myself. ---
**Author:** ![Milton\_De\_La\_Warre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e480ec/32.png) [@Milton\_De\_La\_Warre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milton_De_La_Warre)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2002, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-boiling-a-cd-work/129666/8 "2002-09-26T16:08:48Z")
On the other end of the tech scale, I have fixed slightly warped 78 rpm records by placing them between 2 sheets of heavy glass and leaving them outside on hot days. ---
**Author:** ![jb\_farley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9d8465/32.png) [@jb\_farley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jb_farley)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2002, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-boiling-a-cd-work/129666/9 "2002-09-26T19:50:24Z")
did the CDs scream? jb ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2002, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-boiling-a-cd-work/129666/10 "2002-09-26T23:29:32Z")
I wash cds under the faucet & pat dry often & its successful. ---
**Author:** ![11811](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/9d8465/32.png) [@11811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/11811)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2002, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-boiling-a-cd-work/129666/11 "2002-09-27T01:05:37Z")
WAG: There was some separation between the layers of the disk. Briefly boiling the disk expanded the layers to fill in the gap between them. uh… that’s all I got. ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2002, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-boiling-a-cd-work/129666/12 "2002-09-27T01:17:32Z")
Could there have been something on the CD that was removed by boiling? Maybe an oily contaminant. ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2002, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-boiling-a-cd-work/129666/13 "2002-09-27T01:22:38Z")
Could there have been something on the CD that was removed by boiling? Maybe an oily contaminant. ---
**Author:** ![ElwoodCuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/edb3f5/32.png) [@ElwoodCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElwoodCuse)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2002, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-boiling-a-cd-work/129666/14 "2002-09-27T06:30:48Z")
I’ve gotten some DVDs from Blockbuster that were fixed by merely wiping them on my shirt. Probably grease from the snacks the last person to rent my movie or game ate. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2002, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-boiling-a-cd-work/129666/15 "2002-09-27T06:51:22Z")
> [@](#): > > Could there have been something on the CD that was removed by boiling? Maybe an oily contaminant. Such as machine oil from the lathe they use to make the grooves ? 😉 More likely a bit of excess monomer from when the disks were polymerized. In that case, soaking the disks in gasoline would probably work as well. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2002, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-boiling-a-cd-work/129666/16 "2002-09-27T07:12:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ranchoth \* > \*\*There’s a self-healing plastic, now? \*\* I think it’s still in early developmental stages. I agree that the boiling probably just cleaned it. I use alcohol wipes. ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2002, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-boiling-a-cd-work/129666/17 "2002-09-27T13:29:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jpeg Jones \* > \*\*My take on it would be that the temporary heat smoothed out some irregularities on the disk’s surface. \*\* This sounds plausible. The heat would soften the plastic and the sharp edges of any scratches would take on a more rounded shape. On playback, the reflection of the laser off the scratch would be less of a discrete flash and wouldn’t be interpreted as part of the data. …Or so goes my guess. ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2002, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-boiling-a-cd-work/129666/18 "2002-09-27T15:18:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Squink \* > \*\* Such as machine oil from the lathe they use to make the grooves ? 😉 More likely a bit of excess monomer from when the disks were polymerized. In that case, soaking the disks in gasoline would probably work as well. \*\* Hmmph! Or just some crud that got on the disk as some point. Everybody knows the grooves aren’t made on a lathe. They’re make by fairies on ice skates. Which, come to think of it, would be waxed, so that might be it. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2002, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-boiling-a-cd-work/129666/19 "2002-09-27T20:46:57Z")
> [@](#): > > There’s a self-healing plastic, now? Has been for some while. The cutting boards used in sewing are made of it. After the cutting board starts getting scratched up too badly, you just leave it out in the sun for a few hours and it sort of melts smooth again. ---
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2002, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-boiling-a-cd-work/129666/20 "2002-09-27T23:45:59Z")
- - - When you heat 2-liter plastic beverage bottles, they _shrink slightly_, they don’t expand. Are CD’s made of a similar material? ~ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-boiling-a-cd-work/129666.md?page=2)