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Your car's headlights are not just aesthetic features—they play a crucial role in providing visibility on the road, especially during low-light conditions or inclement weather. Over time, headlights can become foggy, hazy, or yellowed due to exposure to the elements, diminishing their effectiveness and potentially compromising your safety.

Not only are cloudy headlights annoying, but they are a safety hazard. We will walk you through the process to not only clean your headlights but also restore them to look good as new!

 

Tools Required:

•    Bucket

•    Car wash brush

•    Garden hose

•    Large car sponge

•    Random orbit sander with buffing pad or automotive buffer

 

Materials Required:

•    Automotive rubbing compound

•    Car soap or heavy-duty dish soap

•    Painters or masking tape

•    Water

•    Polish or UV Sealant

 

What to do:

1.  Wash the Headlights

Start by filling a bucket with car soap and water, then using a car washing sponge to thoroughly scrub both headlights and taillights.

Rinse the soap off the lights when you’ve scrubbed all the dirt away.

 

2. Tape Around the Headlights

Tape the headlights surrounding it to prevent your car’s paint from peeling during the cleaning process. When you start buffing (or sanding), and your hand slips off, you’ll be glad you protected your car.

 

3. Apply Rubbing Compound

Drizzle some liquid automobile rubbing compound on the foam buffing disc on your random orbit sander or buffer.

Push the buffing pad firmly against the first headlight before switching on the tool. Moving it slowly and evenly over the entire headlight.

Some methods have you start with 600-grit sandpaper and move to a finer piece of sandpaper before applying the rubbing compound. However, this is a little aggressive if you’ve never done this before.

 

4. Rinse and Evaluate

Rinse the rubbing compound off your headlight, let it dry completely, then re-examine.

If it’s still yellowed or cloudy, add fresh rubbing compound and buff it again. This will be a long process, but the results are worth it!

 

5. Apply Polish and UV Sealant

Since sanding removed much of the headlight’s original UV sealant, you’ll want to apply both polish and UV sealant.

This step helps you protect the headlight housing and prevents it from getting cloudy again.

Now your headlights should be good – and bright! - as new.

When the sun goes down, take your vehicle out for a drive, and test out your clean, clear headlights. And enjoy that mighty visibility on those dimly lit roads!