Simple Way to Clean Yellowed/Foggy Headlights?

['95EclipseGSX]

Hey All,

I am wondering how to clean my yellowed headlight. It looks terrible! I have searched but the most recent post was 5 years ago and I am guessing there are some new experiences with other products.

Does anybody know of any good product that will clean my headlight without me having to sand anything? I was reading in Road & Track a few weeks ago about a specific spray that is meant to do this but don't remember and have no idea if it's actually any good.

I want a product that's a decent price, works really well and doesn't require a whole lot of technique (like sanding).

Thanks in Advance --Max

 

[kidtsi]

Awesome, thanks for all the quick responses! I am going to try the 3M Headlight Lens Restoration System. It was $30 at my local car parts store so I ordered it from Amazon for $14. It gets extremely good reviews and comes with the buffer that attaches to a drill. I'll take some before & after pictures and post them early next week.

Dude just buy mag mother aluminum polish and make some pressure on them with a rag, they will look brand spanking new in less than 2 minutes. look at my during day pics!!!

edit: nevermind you used another method.

 

[92gsxbafaro]

get mothers headlight restore i did it on my 1g gsx it worked great and you can it over and over again

 

[GSLENK]

i used one of those diy buffing kits. did magic. went from yelloy to the lights you see in my avatar.

It had 3 diffrent pad type buffing/sanding squares. (4 total grits) a buffing/sanding spray, and a finishing compound to seal the lense from future corrosion for a while. looks great so far, literally looks brand new.

 

[Tha Fella Dylan]

Sorry to revive this old thread but has anyone tried Turtle Wax rubbing compound? A friend told me it'll work wonders but I'm a bit nervous. I haven't tried the mag method yet. Just curious about the compound stuff.

 

[Bud92gsx]

I would use what you have laying around the house first, or can borrow.

 

[Tha Fella Dylan]

I have a shit ton of the rubbing compound and polishing compound from turtle wax. I was just concerned about applying it. Didn't want to ruin the finish or clear.

 

[007jimmy]

there isnt much you can do with rubbing/polishing compounds that isnt reversable. I swear by the 3m kit with the drill attachment.. I even use that kit to Polish my chrome with it gets corroded beyond a simple hand buffing.

 

[Ozone302]

Meguire's Plastx works pretty good. I got a $10 turtle wax headlight restore kit from Walmart and it worked great!

 

[Ozone302]

This thread got me motivated to do my headlights. Mine were all yellow and couldn't see at night really. I remembered I still had some PlastX and just went out and did mine . Now they look brand new

 

[Tha Fella Dylan]

Is plastx just like a spray on clarifier? Or something you rub on? I really don't wanna buy another kit so I'm hoping you can buy that stuff alone.

 

[Ozone302]

It's just a bottle not a kit. And it's not a spray. It's a rubbing compound. All you do is squirt a quarter size amount on a rag and wipe the headlight with it. I do it about 3-5 times on each one until there is no more dirty crap coming off when you wipe it. I've used turtle wax rubbing compound and it works too. But PlastX gives the headlight a good shine afterwords. Turtle wax leaves a weird white residue and isn't really made for headlights so it doesn't make the headlights as nice and shiny.

 

[koryto2012]

Just go to a local detail shop and ask to buff out the headlights. Shouldn't be TOO expensive. It's what we do at the detail shop I work at.

 

[4Lurker4]

I had done the PlastX only before and was somewhat happy with my results. I recently did the 1500 grit + PlastX + buffing compound and absolutely love it. Took pictures when I did it on the Corolla to show the difference.

Before

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After

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Granted it's not the same side but I forgot to take a pic of the passenger side before doing the cleaning.

Nothing beats having the impurities sanded off before a buff/cleaning.

 

[Ozone302]

That looks good! PlastX works pretty good by itself though if the headlights aren't super bad. Mine were pretty yellowed and it cleaned them right up. I know it would look better with sanding and buffing but with just the PlastX it took maybe 5 minutes at most and was real easy

 

[my dreamt dsm]

Sorry to revive this old thread but has anyone tried Turtle Wax rubbing compound? A friend told me it'll work wonders but I'm a bit nervous. I haven't tried the mag method yet. Just curious about the compound stuff.

I've been using the turtle wax compound for years now. The best I've used so far. To maintain it I use RGS LABS FW1 once a month to keep it clear. RGS is around 20 bucks a bottle, not really cheap compare to others.
P.S. Do not do what this vid did. Spraying on wax and rubbing dirt into the car. Make sure car or headlight is clean before doing it.
Waterless Formulation - YouTube

Test
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cy_WF5Iei_I

 

[sproutrocksit]

I can vouch for toothpaste- it cleaned my foggy, yellow lights right up with a paper towel and some vigorous rubbing. Rinse with water once most of the paste is rubbed in/off. Regular Colgate.

 

[90gsxdakilla]

I wetsand with 1000 grit, then 1500, and 2000 then polish and hand glaze. Makes them brand new.

 

[BurrowZ]

I realize this isn't readily available to everyone but I figured I would throw it out there. My personal method is to:
1. On a pistol grip sander, sand dry with 600 grit
2. Move up to 800 grit
3. Now wet sand with 1000 grit
4. Wet sand again with 2000 grit
5. Get out your buffing compound and buffer and buff away!

I personally use 3M 1 and 2 compound in that order. Comes out looking cherry.

 

[NWHTanK]

The problem with buffing them out is that the protective coating has worn off of them, and when u buff them out its just a temporary fix.

So what I did snce I work in a body shop was this. 1 start with 500 grit sand paper and sand out the yellowing and edginging and rock chips. Then move to 1000 grit then followed buy a wet sand 1500. Clean all the resdue off from sanding.tape offf the rear housing. Next step is critical, using a automotive clear coat system, u want to mix it so that ts a fast drying. THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP, DO NOT BAKE OR FORCE THE CLEAR TO DRY FASTER. The problem with baking is that u have cut into the headlight with sand paper and appied a cemical that when heated will cuase a reaction , making the clear milky and cuase put check marks in the clear as well.

In my profle pic is proof. Im doing a talon conversion and the headlights are oem from 95. Allso can be seen on face book , at kansas city dsm.

 

[MiroDSM]

Why do all headlights do this. Do manufactures not see that their sometimes 3 year old vehicle is doing thus?

 

[NWHTanK]

Plastics dont like uv light. They put a coating on them that protects them from uv light but the coating only last so long and it evently will fail .

 

[Viper588]

The suggestion for braso metal polish worked very well for me, crystal clear like new. It only takes about 15 min of rubbing with the brasso and then a little more for the polish. They will turn yellow again though if you dont use the polish. My first time without polishing after lasted about a month or two. After using car polish it lasted about a year and a half before it started to return, it wasnt bad but you could see it returning.

 

[dsmenthusiest]

i have heard toothpaste works really good. also advanced auto parts has a bigdaddy lens cleaner it works really well, thats what i use, it is pretty cheap too like 5 bucks.

 

[95gstnate]

Read through this post and decided to try the mothers mag and aluminum polish simply because i already had it on the shelf and it worked awsome!

 

[CSFX8588]

I've used plain jane white toothpaste on an ol caddy and it worked really well. Wax on, wax off. Rub it in good. Free is always the best way.