Anyone used a cleaner on the headlights?

Fla02LS

Fla02LS

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I know that there are various cleaners for cleaning up the headlights but was wanting some input on specific brands any of you have used sucessfully. I dont want to f*ck up the headlights, just want to shine up the outside plastic lens.
 
Plastx by Meguiar's is pretty good. If the lens is really bad, they have restoration kits that can help get them back.

TRU
 
yeah when i worked at the detail shop we used the clay bars with a spray wax. and for quik or light jobs we used zep 40 cold weather formula it works great on windows and vinyl too
 
Regular car wash soap of your choice and a clay bar. Follow that with a non abrasive type of wax/sealant.

Dont risk anything else being to abrasive or you'll be doing it more and more often as they begin to yellow do to oxidation from rubbing the coating off.

And dont use compound or sand paper for that reason unless you must!
 
if you have pitting, you will need to wetsand. 600/800/1500 in that order. then rubbing compound. then a finishing polish like meguiar.s plastx. afterwards, seal them with a paint sealant. duragloss 105 is an excellent choice, and can be bought at your local carquest.

you will needto maintain the finish after wwtsanding. a fresh coat of 105 every 3 months or so should be sufficient.
 
wet sand with 2000 and clear them like you would sheet metal ppg clear make um shine
 
When looking really close it has the appereance of tons of little tiny microscopic cracks all across the lens. Its not actual cracks that go thru the plastic but just superficial. Anyone else notice this? I have the factory HID's and would rather not even think of buying new headlights.
 
I agree with wet sanding and using rubbing compound and Plastx by Meguiar's.

Sanding on plastic sounds like it will scratch the hell out of them and make them worse... I was freaking out before I just went ahead and did it. I had read lots of blogs about doing this and saw lots of before and after photos. It really does work. You will love your head lamps again. It takes off all the oxidation and all the yellowing of the lens. The rubbing compound and Plastx brings back the shine.

(Keeping the lens wet at all times and keeping even pressure on the sand paper)
Start with 600 grit - sanding left to right covering the complete lens.
You will see the oxidation roll off in the drty water and the lens will begin to look milky in areas that begin to dry. Make sure you kepp the lens wet where you are sanding.
Then use 1000 grit sanding top to bottom in the same manner you did before.
Then use 1500 grit (or higher if you can find it) sanding top to bottom and left to right. Make sure you sand out all the heavier sanding of the 600 and 1000 grit. If you see any larger scratches keep sanding with the 1500 grit until you get them out.

Then use rubbing compound to clean them by rubbing the piss out of them.
This will take out all the tiny fine scratches left by any sanding.
Use a orbital buffer if you have one - this will do an amazing job and keep your hands from wanting to fall off. It speeds up the process too and does a fantastic job.

Last step... clean the lens with Plastx by Meguiar's.
Continue to wax them every time you wash your car with Plastx... it keeps them looking new.

Take your time... it will pay off.
Each lens will only take you approx 20 to 30 minutes.
Just take your time and don't get in a hurry.

I did mine and they came out looking brand new again.
Amazing!
 
In his original post he claims he dont want to f*ck them up, so one would think they do look new and should have no need to be sanded down or treated with abrasives. Again doing this to a good set of lights only creates problems down the road.

Now if he has pits, scratches, and scuffs its a different story trust me.

But by all means, those of you with perfect looking headlights reading this that beg to differ go right ahead and sand down the protective coating on your perfect lights that dont need it. You'll just be doing touch ups every few weeks or so.

Fla, I think I might know what you are talking about and I still dont believe wet sanding is the answer ( if Im correct ).

Does it resemble like a spidering window that you can only see at certain angles? Its kind of in the headlights plastic and not on the surfaces ( inside or out ) so if this is the case sanding it wont do anything but damage the coating. I dont know what does it but I have it on mine. I went to town wet sanding ( no scratches and scuffs just the spidering look ) and it did nothing. A few weeks later my lights that were otherwise in good shape turned yellow.

Now I polish them up every two weeks or so.
 
I use a headlight cleaner that comes in a blue bottle from autozone, works freaking awesome. my car had one headlight that looked pretty ugly and one that was brandnew when i got the car and now you can barely tell a diffrence.
 
JWerner2 said:
Fla, I think I might know what you are talking about and I still dont believe wet sanding is the answer ( if Im correct ).

Does it resemble like a spidering window that you can only see at certain angles? Its kind of in the headlights plastic and not on the surfaces ( inside or out ) so if this is the case sanding it wont do anything but damage the coating. I dont know what does it but I have it on mine. I went to town wet sanding ( no scratches and scuffs just the spidering look ) and it did nothing. A few weeks later my lights that were otherwise in good shape turned yellow.

Now I polish them up every two weeks or so.
Click to expand...

That is how they look. The last thing i would consider is taking sandpaper to them. With whatever caused the problem i really dont think it can be fixed, i just wanted to shine/clean up the outside. I have 112k miles and they still look ok but i just wanted to do a polish or cleaner on them.
 
400 a fixture brand new. They will get all scracthed up just like the the oem's.
Mine are all internally dusty and the ext. are all pitted. Just bought 2 new fogs and they fog/lleak when I wash the car. Good luck if you find a solution and please post your results. Good Luck To All
 
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