Before and after. Headlight polishing.

Nice, looks pretty good. Just ordered to give it a try on the sons car.

Have an old Ford Ranger, 02' I think that is way worse than that, can't even see inside. Haven't done anything with it, just picked it up for a couple grand as a backup vehicle. Going to have to give it a try. Was looking to just buy new headlights. Way cheaper if it works.

Mine lasted about a year before the haze came back.

My daughter found a site on the interweb where the guy sands the plastic headlights on his car, cleans the plastic with denatured alcohol and then uses a spray-on UV proof clear lacquer as an overcoat.

Three years ago we had a headlight party and sanded and coated all of the families plastic and they are still clear with none of the oxidation from the sun and weather.

Give it a try, you will be happy with the results.

Anything is better than $170.00 for a new bucket.

2aBaCa said:

Mine lasted about a year before the haze came back.

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After cleaning it you should use 1k clear coat that is UV stable.

Needs this on my daughters vehicle

Just don't use any automated car wash or the bay style car washes. It will last longer.

Same kit I use and it works well for me also. If you want to prevent the haze from coming back there is wax that can be applied to the surface of the lights that will act as a protectant. You might be able to use any old car wax and it works just as well.

I used the 3M restoration kit myself on my 2009 Silverado late last year, based on a recommendation from a coworker. My were heavily yellowed and awful looking before. Afterwards, they looked as clear and bright as your after picture. I was honestly surprised and didn’t expect it to work so well.

The trick is to follow the directions carefully and make sure you get all of the original clear coat off with the first sandpaper grade. Then take your time with each of the two subsequent polish grades to completely get the scratches from the previous grade out before moving on. Then use the provided clear coat to seal the deal.

Totally worth the price and time in my opinion.

Shit, I was thinking titties and nipples. False advertising!

I usually use car polishing compound, and that works pretty well. But I may have to try what mtwarych does.

mtwarych said:

My daughter found a site on the interweb where the guy sands the plastic headlights on his car, cleans the plastic with denatured alcohol and then uses a spray-on UV proof clear lacquer as an overcoat.

Three years ago we had a headlight party and sanded and coated all of the families plastic and they are still clear with none of the oxidation from the sun and weather.

Give it a try, you will be happy with the results.

Anything is better than $170.00 for a new bucket.

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This is not much different than the 3M Kit, except it uses clear coat instead of lacquer.

Deet works well. Give it a try.

(Helps keep bugs off afterwards as well...)

HeavyAssault said:

Just don't use any automated car wash or the bay style car washes. It will last longer.

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Meh, that isn't entirely accurate.
I did this to my daughter's car and she considers a rain storm to be a car wash. She would NEVER pay to have her car washed (poor college student). It still only lasted a year.

My wife has an unlimited car wash plan, goes at least 1 time a week if not twice. Her head lights are crystal clear.

The difference is, daughters car hasn't seen the inside of a garage in 10 years, wife's car spends 80% of it's time in the garage/covered parking.

I think the sun is more to blame than anything.

Soulezoo said:

Deet works well. Give it a try.

(Helps keep bugs off afterwards as well...)

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It does work but only lasts a few months.

Come spring, I definitely have to look at doing this. Ours on the truck ('99 F150) are very yellow, and quite bad/dull. I gotta do something.

It works on paint also. Since I had the kit out, I tried it on the top corner of my Black Tahoe where it started turning white. 3yrs later there is a still a small black shiny spot.

?‍

2aBaCa said:

It works on paint also. Since I had the kit out, I tried it on the top corner of my Black Tahoe where it started turning white. 3yrs later there is a still a small black shiny spot.

?‍

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That’s because, if you use the real 3M Kit, it includes actual clear coat as the sealer, which is why it lasts longer than the cheaper kits and other DIY options.

2ndamendfan said:

I think the sun is more to blame than anything.

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Yep - UV does not play well with the long molecular chains of many plastics. Polycarbonate is particularly suspectable, and the typical UV countermeasures (basically adding pigments) kinda defeat the point of a headlamp lens. It's honestly a bit of an engineering miracle that headlamps last as long as they do, especially in the south.

Parking out of the sun is a indeed the best way to extend the life of headlamps.

I would do this to my cars that I owned just for commuting to work (47 miles each way).

Garaged a lot, may 70% of the time, but exposed to lots and lots of mag chloride driving mountain roads.

These were also Honda Civics that got every piece of sand and gravel kicked up right in the grill/lights as well.

Worked great. Definitely improved how well I could see at night. I usually drove to work and home in the dark a good bit of the year, working from 0630-1930 or so most days I worked.

We're gonna start searching for this '3M' kit, and see if it is "gettable" locally. Thanks guys.

Neighbor across the street told me that nail polish remover works great. Tried it out and sho nuff, it worked!

Jscb1b said:

Shit, I was thinking titties and nipples. False advertising!

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Thanks for that, now that's what I am thinking about too.

Toothpaste with baking soda is what my body man did to mine with a fluffy powered buffer. Lasted about two years on a ten year old car that has never been in a garage and faces the sun for about 8 - 10 hours a day.

Sean the Nailer said:

We're gonna start searching for this '3M' kit, and see if it is "gettable" locally. Thanks guys.

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They carry it here in Walmart and in many of the auto parts stores like AutoZone and Advance Auto.

My headlights were really bad, so I used the Heavy product.

I clicked the link with the expectation of seeing boobies. Oh well, I’ve learnt a lot about headlights.

Headlights haze when the sunblock fails

so when you clean them up, use a new sunblock

3m clear film

Or
Ceramic paint coating- reapply yearly

Or
Wax- reapply monthly. Takes 2 minutes

I used car polish on a pad
Painters tape around the headlights so when pad slips you don’t hit the paint with abrasive polish.

At night or in the fog it makes a huge difference to have clear lenses

hermosabeach said:

Headlights haze when the sunblock fails

so when you clean them up, use a new sunblock

3m clear film

Or
Ceramic paint coating- reapply yearly

Or
Wax- reapply monthly. Takes 2 minutes

I used car polish on a pad
Painters tape around the headlights so when pad slips you don’t hit the paint with abrasive polish.

At night or in the fog it makes a huge difference to have clear lenses

Click to expand...

Just finished using the 3M kit. Worked like a damn charm. Headlights look brand spankin' new.

Put a coat of good UV protective wax on them after the final polishing.

Thank you OP. Perfect timing to as we just got my son his first car 2 days ago.