So what do you folks use to clean off your old headlight lenses to make them clear again ? There are specific solutions for it, but what I seem to be reading most about is the Mother's Aluminum Wheel Polish, followed by a Maguiar's Plastic Polish, all the way to a simple metal tin of Polishing Compound, and everything in-between. So what do you use, on a 10 yr old american car ? (my daughter's)
I bought Blue Magic Headlight Lens Restorer at Auto Zone for about $5. I used it on our 8 year old Dodge Caravan and it really did a good job. If you have heavy yellowing you may have to do it 3 or 4 times but it will clear it up unless it has calcified. Below is the information on where it distributes from and how to contact them if you cannot find it yourself. I am not finding it on their website but it is a new product and they may not have updated the site yet. I does work quite well. www.cargobluemagic.com 1-888-522-2748 Conroe, Texas Product code 77336 72506 Blue Magic Headlight Lens Restorer
I did this to my sisters car. I used toothpaste.(no joke, minty fresh too) It works like polishing compound, but is cheaper. I wish I had done it with compound, it would have looked nicer. Another way to do this is (Don't buy those $50 kits), is to wet sand with 400-1500 grit. Remember to keep it wet at all times, do this a couple of times, or until they are clean, then apply clear coat and then wax, and use polishing compound. I'm surprised to this day, that plastic headlights are still made, glass seems way easier to upkeep, and would perform better as well.
Try the Meguiar's plastic cleaner.($5) If you need to cut a little deeper use a 3M scratch remover(or similar) and finish up with the Mequiar's. Just hand buff it. It won't do you much good if the plastic has yellowed right through.
The UV layer is now toast. You can polish/compound the yellowing out but it will return. I guess you could do this once a year since it is cheaper than replacing the whole unit.
A good body shop will have the new materials from 3M that will make your lights look like new, it's awesome. Melodie's son is a color sander at a local body shop and he has shown me the results. 3M has (I believe) four different grit grades of polish for buffing the plastic. It takes a good detailer about 45 minutes per headlight. Call around to your local body shops to see if they offer this service.
Wal-Mart offers this service at their "shop". I haven't had it done yet, but from what I understand it works well. Gonna do the wifes car soon. I like the Meguiar's idea, they make great products
Yeah, there are soooo many schools of thought, products to look at, the main thing is I wanted to avoid one that will screw it up worse than it is. Actually, I screwed up - it's not an american car, it's a 2001 Jetta. Daughter's car. Thanks for the replies. folks.
