Dampen a clean cloth with rubbing alcohol and then wipe the surface of the DVD, making straight strokes from one side to the other. This method will scratch the DVD surface as little as possible when removing smudges, fingerprints and other residue from the DVD. After the DVD has dried, put the DVD into a DVD player to test for read errors.
Dampen a clean cloth with furniture polish and polish the surface of the DVD with this cloth. Doing so will help cover up scratches on the DVD and allow a DVD player to easily ignoring these scratches while reading the DVD. When finished, put the DVD into a DVD player to test for read errors.
Apply toothpaste to a clean cloth and polish the scratched areas of the DVD surface with this cloth. Make sure you use toothpaste and not gel, as the gritty texture of toothpaste is needed to wear away the scratches on the DVD. When most of the scratches are removed, remove the toothpaste residue by cleaning with rubbing alcohol. When finished, put the DVD into a DVD player to test for read errors.