You may have seen plastic headlight lenses that have become cloudy. These flawed headlight lenses can compromise your safety, as visibility at night could be impaired. Read on to find out how to restore your car’s headlights.
What are headlight lenses made of?1
Most headlight lenses are made of polycarbonate plastic, which can withstand the impacts from stones and other types of road debris without cracking or shattering. The downside of using plastic is that it is not immune to the sun’s harmful UV rays.
To mitigate the sun’s destructive rays, manufacturers coat lenses with a film. Unfortunately, this film eventually succumbs to the sun’s destructive action, resulting in the plastic lens becoming cloudy.
Don’t stress – the lenses can be easy to fix1
If your car’s headlight lenses have started to deteriorate, don’t worry! It is easy to restore them to their original glory. The good news is that you can do it yourself by following the below steps.
- Buy a headlight restoration kit1
This kit has all the items you require to restore the headlight lens. Most kits follow similar procedures. If you have a previous kit’s remains, you could try to replenish it by ordering separate items.
- Basic requirements of a kit1
Wet/dry sandpaper with grits varying from 1000, 2000, and 3000 are great to use. Polishing compound, paste wax, a UV sealant, blue painter’s tape and microfibre towels are also required.
- Clean the lenses1
Thoroughly clean the headlight lenses and surrounding areas with soap and water to eliminate any road grime. Stick on the blue tape along the lens’s entire boundary to prevent any sanding actions or compound application from damaging the surrounding body paintwork.
- Sand the lenses 1
The lower the grit number of the sandpaper, the coarser it is. After wetting the headlight and sandpaper with water, start with the 1000 grit paper. The sanding action should be in straight horizontal strokes. It is essential to always keep the surface wet to avoid scratching the lens. This sanding stage is critical to the lens’s restoration, spend a good 5 -10 minutes on this.
- Start using less abrasive sandpaper1
It is now time to move onto the less abrasive 2000 grit sandpaper followed by the 3000 grit. Clean the lens thoroughly before you move to the next grit size. Use one diagonal direction with the 2000 grit, followed by the opposite diagonal direction with the 3000 grit. Keep the lens wet at all times by allowing a hosepipe to run water over the lens slowly. Again, do not rush the job.
- Polish and wax the lens1
After wiping the lens dry, apply a bit of the polishing compound onto a clean microfibre towel. Use circular rubbing motions while speeding up the process with an orbital buffer. Next, you will need to wax the lens.
- Finally, apply the UV sealant1
This is the most critical step, seeing as it protects the ‘new’ lens from clouding over again. Wet a paper towel and apply the sealant in broad strokes. Follow the instructions carefully and make sure the entire lens is covered. Let the sealant dry by parking the car in a dry spot.
Don’t be too disappointed if the lenses only marginally improved or not at all – it may be that they are too far gone and need to be replaced. Please check your owner’s manual and your closest dealership before you do anything to your vehicle.
Restoring headlights is a good step to showing some care for your car. Are you sure your car is sufficiently covered with car insurance that could help you take care of your car as well? Consider contacting PMD for more information on one of their affordable and reliable car insurance products such as comprehensive car insurance with premiums that never increase* and a reduce to zero excess*. T’s and C’s apply.
This article was prepared by Eric Sandmann in his personal capacity. The views and opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own. The views and opinions in the article should not be attributed to anyone but the author unless expressly stated. Nothing in this article should be relied upon as advice, this publication is presented for informational purposes only. No person should act or refrain from acting in reliance on any information found in this article, without first obtaining proper financial advice from the appropriate professional. The author makes no claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, or completeness, of any information linked from, referred to, or contained in this article. The author reserves the right, to edit and change the content of this article.
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