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iPod Scratches

S

StarbucksSam

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Nov 21, 2004
1,433
5
Washington, D.C.
Hello,

I am currently trying to sell my iPod 3G. I love it to death, but it's time to part as I need the money. The only thing that I want to make sure of is that the surface looks good and people know how well I treated it - but the little "scratches" that you get from regular usage which are actually rather minor do make me feel like I am not selling someone a product of the highest quality; and that is not a good feeling.

As such, I need to know how one would clean or polish the iPod including the metal back, the screen, and the white plastic without spending 15-30 bucks on an "iPod cleaner" that is really just some at-home product that is relabeled and marked up. Any ideas for me?
 
I

Inkmonkey

macrumors 6502
Oct 2, 2003
436
1
Calgary
Sweet Scratchy Spider Monkeys!
Brasso is the cheapest stuff that will do the job. I know there have been quite a few threads here that have mentioned it.
Somone here also suggested rubbing it on your forehead. They swear by it!
 
M

Maxicek

macrumors regular
Apr 23, 2004
107
0
I second the Brasso (or Silvo). We used to use it at college for polishing plastic for modelmaking. Its also good for restoring dirty and scratched CDs.
 
S

StarbucksSam

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Nov 21, 2004
1,433
5
Washington, D.C.
I actually spoke to a guy at Apple who said "go ahead and use it on the back, that's fine, but not the front". So I'm okay using it on the back, but is it safe to do the front?
 
jeremy.king

jeremy.king

macrumors 603
Jul 23, 2002
5,479
1
Holly Springs, NC
StarbucksSam said:
I actually spoke to a guy at Apple who said "go ahead and use it on the back, that's fine, but not the front". So I'm okay using it on the back, but is it safe to do the front?
Click to expand...
I used it on the whole damn thing. Just do it - how many people do you need to tell you this?
 
decksnap

decksnap

macrumors 68040
Apr 11, 2003
3,075
84
Do more research before you try it. I wouldn't trust just a couple people's opinions either. (No offense anyone). If it clouded up the plastic on my iPod I'd have nobody to blame but myself. If you do use it post some feedback!
 
javabear90

javabear90

macrumors 6502a
Dec 7, 2003
512
0
Houston, TX
so if you use it on the front then it leaves thousands of little tiny "swirl" scratches. How do you get those out then? I have used it on the back but not the front before.
 
sandman42

sandman42

macrumors 6502a
Oct 23, 2003
959
59
Seattle
For those of you who've tried the Brasso technique, are you talking about the Brasso liquid that comes in a bottle?
 
jeremy.king

jeremy.king

macrumors 603
Jul 23, 2002
5,479
1
Holly Springs, NC
sandman42 said:
For those of you who've tried the Brasso technique, are you talking about the Brasso liquid that comes in a bottle?
Click to expand...

Is there any other kind?

Theres a link on that ipodlounge link I sent.

Google for brasso and ipod, and you will see more than "just a few" tried it. The key is don't use an abrasive scrubber, like steel wool. Use paper towels or a cotton shammy.

Now you may just be better off posting on iPod Lounge since you don't want to believe people here.
:rolleyes:
 
jeremy.king

jeremy.king

macrumors 603
Jul 23, 2002
5,479
1
Holly Springs, NC
StarbucksSam said:
I do BELIEVE you, it's just I have seen equally as many "it's not working" posts as I have "this stuff is miraculous" posts and that makes me wary.
Click to expand...

Most of tards that say it doesn't work either A. Didn't shake the bottle WELL, or B. used the cleaning cloth it comes with - which is too abrasive.

I'll just tell you that I used it before I sold my 3G Pod and was amazed. Picked it up for $3 at Ace and it was the best money I spent.

If you are that concerned, drop the $20 for an iPod cleaner, but Brasso works just as well - if not better
 
IJ Reilly

IJ Reilly

macrumors P6
Jul 16, 2002
17,909
1,496
Palookaville
Inkmonkey said:
Sweet Scratchy Spider Monkeys!
Brasso is the cheapest stuff that will do the job. I know there have been quite a few threads here that have mentioned it.
Somone here also suggested rubbing it on your forehead. They swear by it!
Click to expand...

I don't know, but rubbing Brasso on your forehead doesn't sound like a good idea to me, unless you're a statue or something.
 
bankshot

bankshot

macrumors 65816
Jan 23, 2003
1,367
416
Southern California
For the front, I've had good luck with Novus #2 plastic polish. Amazon has it here. Just don't use the #3, it's a little too abrasive. The #1 can finish it off and give it a nice shine. :D

I'm not going to polish the back of mine since it's signed by Joe Satriani. :cool:
 
S

StarbucksSam

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Nov 21, 2004
1,433
5
Washington, D.C.
The Brasso Report

Okay guys, here it goes:

My iPod is TOTALLY destroyed.





Just kidding! :)

The brasso was used on both the front and back of the iPod. I personally found it to be much more effective on the back of the unit, and this is probably because it is intended for metal.

The back is not by any means "scratch free" but it looks a LOT better - it's just a million TEENY meaningless scratches, and anything that was BIG is gone.

The front was less impressive, but there was at the very least marginal improvement. I tried polishing the screen three or four times thinking I was doing something wrong - but even after you polish and wait ten minutes, the results are no different than waiting three to four minutes.

The front REDUCES to a small degree the scratches - but the back works really well. Make sure you tape off the buttons - I was very careful about that. Give it a few minutes to solidify then polish with a soft rag/cloth.
 
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