Foggy headlights outside? I got a way that may help

[atomheartmother]

Well on my vehicle the headlights were "hazy" and I know I can take them out, bake the lights,clean and all that but I hated to do that. I just wanted the yellow film off the front of them. i had tried cleaning, buffing and its still did not work to great so. I had some turtle wax brand chrome rim polish. Now I know this is not recommended for glass, acrylic or anything but I was feeling crazy so I said WTF. I took the polish applied it to the lenses, let it dry to a haze, then buffed it and to my surprise all the deposits on hte front came off and it made them shiny without scratching them!!
NOW I DO NOT RECOMMEND YOU TRY THIS UNLESS YOU ARE WILLING TO DEAL WITH ANY NEGATIVE EFFECT AS RESULTS CAN AND MAY VARY!!! I AM NOT GONNA BE RESPONSIBLE!!!

But I tried it and it worked a charm, sure the insides are not perfect but the difference it made was dramatic in my case!

 

[jrhartman]

aluminum polish does work wonders, but be prepared to repeat the procedure every few months though because the yellow tint will return

 

[MichiganTeddyBear]

if they are really yellow... there is a more aggressive procedure also..

basically sanding with progressively finer grits (I went all the way to 2000) of wet/dry paper (used wet), then cleaning with 3m plastic cleaner, (several times), then polish with a 3m product (again, several times).

Works like a champ... bit labor intensive, and made easier by removing the headlight from car... but made real easy with power tools! (random orbit sander).

took turn signal yellow lights on my 92 cougar and made them nearly new. Yea, gotta keep em waxed good or they yellow again. the yellowing is the plastic they are made of reacting with UV from the sun... it only seems to effect the outer surface, so it can be removed...

 

[Future]

Use a bench grinder with a "buffing pad" and "polish block" (parts used in dental labs for buffing/polishing residue and roughness off of dentures)

I've used this method a few times and have always had great results. Never had to redo the procedure either