Brasso

for some people it works, for others it doesnt

do a search in the forum on "brasso"

I'm sure you've seen the touted online info:

http://todd.dailey.info/archives/2005/09/27/restore-your-ipod-nano-to-new-condit ion-with-a-4-can-of-brasso/

Brasso should work on the back of the nano, but personally I would not use it on the front of the nano - I would go with something like Displex, Novus or RadTech Ice Cream

hope that helps

Here's a much more economical solution. Use Nu Finish car polish. I'm not so sure why so many people swear by using Brasso, as Brasso is for cleaning and restoring metal surfaces (hence the name), but I suppose it could work for the underside of an iPod. Nu Finish works best with plastic surfaces, which makes it perfect for our beloved iPods.

A 16 oz bottle of Nu Finish costs about $3 and it worked great on my black Nano. Nu Finish also works miracles on badly scratched CDs! I've salvaged some pretty bad ones. All you need is to put a tiny amount on a paper towel and wipe it around the surface in a circular pattern until the surface gets cloudy, then with a clean paper towel wipe it off, leaving it pristine, shiny, and free of hairline scratches.

You can find this stuff at any automotive store or department (Walmart has them too). Here's what the bottle looks like:
http://ace.imageg.net/graphics/product_images/pACE-1190537reg.jpg

Hey I just wanna say don't polish the front with brasso. You may get great results or poor results but I wouldn't risk doing the front. Mine I scratched it all up because either I put too much pressure causing it to scratch, or it was the cloth I used. In that case I used one of those cotton balls but they are flat and square. The back is fine since it is less scratch resistant. But use it at your own risk!

Brasso does work...I've used it on 3G and earlier iPods. For nano's and 5G's I love Displex though (search on ebay...it's imported from Europe). Polywatch is also good....and I've found both of these to be faster than Novus polish.

The trick with polishing is to understand clearly how much presure to use with what type of cloth and for how long. The small "micro scratches" that you don't really notice head-on can be removed by using Displex and a soft shammy (like the one that comes with iKlean): put a drop of Displex on the iPod, rub hard in circles for 30 seconds, and repeat the whole procedure 4 times. You should mask the click-wheel with saran wrap or tape, and clean the screen and body above the click wheel separately from the body below the click wheel.

When people polish too softly, or they let the polish dry and then remove it, this often leads to more of the hairline "micro scratches".

Reparing major scratches often however requires the dry and buff off phases, which leave the micro scatches as a residue. So when the major scratches are removed, you have to follow the hard/wet procedure I've described to remove the micro scratches.

Remember....the iPod scratches easily....so it really is easy to make the scratches go away too! You just have to learn the right techniques by reasearching them and experimenting. I asked a jeweler how to do this correctly, and after watching his techniques I've never had problems with keeping my iPod in great shape.

Good luck!
Tom