Fixing scratched CD's

I've had many CD's get scratched over the years. It really annoys me when one of my favorite CD's skip, because it's always during my favorite song. I think that's part of Murphy's law - a CD will only skip during the best song of the album.

Rotary tool purchase
I originally got a cordless Dremel rotary tool in the mid 90's because it was on sale. I didn't really know what I'd use it for, but it looked fun. At some point, I noticed the felt wheels that were available and picked a few up. I didn't know how useful they'd be at the time, but looking back it was a great purchase.

Putting it to use
When I had a CD that was annoying me, I grabbed the rotary tool and put a felt wheel on it. I found that by going overboard, it was possible to actually melt the plastic on either side of the scratch and smooth it over the scratched area. Even some of the really deep scratches could be fixed this way. I don't recommend this for a simple "surface scratch", but something that won't play any longer and is going to the trash anyway can't be damaged any worse in my opinion.

Bare felt for best results
I've tried some of the polishing compounds at times, but it seems that the lack of friction makes it impossible to actually smooth over the scratch. I get the best results using it just as a bare felt pad. I use the polishing compounds only after I get the scratch pretty well smoothed over, just to make the surface shiny. When finishing it up, I have heard that linear cleaning (from the middle to the edge) is the way to go. I haven't paid much attention personally, but it makes sense.

Use at your own risk
I'm not going to replace any CD's you ruin with this method, but I have found it quite effective for my personal use. I'll have to see if I can do some before & after photos here next time I fix one.