how do YOU clean/restore headlights?

R

roland bourbeau

New member
I am in the market for a kit. First place I looked was autogeek. I am going to post 2 links to products they offer. If you have another suggestion or link to another kit I should look into, by all means, definitely share!



this is the wolfgang kit:

Wolfgang Plastik Lens Cleaning System is a three-part system for clean, clear headlight lenses!



their "professional" kit:

Professional Plastic Restoration System



and they also have a diamondite kit.



most of these are right around 50 bucks. How many cars you think I could achieve with this amount of supplies?



Thanks for any suggestions!



James
 
I never use any of them to clean up headlights, so far i use my 4" pads and a drill or my UDM with polish (106ff) so far i haven't had any problems yet. It depends on how bad it is i think. Somebody else could fill you in on does products your asking about.
 
+1 for Spoiledman and using polish and pads you already have (assuming you do have them). I am a big fan of wetsanding severly degraded lenses. Obviously small pads are better but 6 or 7.5 should work. Do your headlights have dimples? That makes the job significantly harder but still doable.
 
I have been using TW F21 protectant on my plastic headlights and tails. Since it has sunbloc and is a specified use Iplan on using on my new vehicle and thinking it will prevent yellowing and hence negate requirement for restoring them.



Any thoughts? Any better ideas? Any better products. I used to use the Vinylex but switched to this product about a year ago. I like it. And now that I have been using it it probably makes sense to stay with one product on the surfaces I have treated.
 
Hi I have never used a kit either if the lenses are not sever then I use my drill and a 3 inch wool pad with a plastic cleaner then follow up with a 3 inch foam pad and a polish and wax. If they are severly discolored then I wet sand starting with 1000 grit and moving up to 2500 grit then use the plastic cleaner and polish. Keep your $50 you can put this together yourself for under $15
 
I do 2000-4000 grit wet sanding depending how bad they are. And then I presume to polish them with SIP/106ff and then put a good coat of Collinite 845 on them.



via rotary on 6.5" LC Flat Foam Pads.
 
500-1000-2000 grit paper.



Cut with wool pad and heavy compound. Then pro-polish on a foam polish pad and then seal.



Never fails



Heres a before and after of my process.



Picture065-1.jpg




Picture071-1.jpg
 
If they are really cloudy or yellowed, you'll have to wetsand first before applying polishes/swirl removers.



Don't be afraid to use a 400-600 grit sandpaper as your first step either, as long as you're wetsanding with it. I kept pouring water over my headlights and dipping the paper into a bucket of water. I followed up the same method using 1000 grit, then 2000 grit. Next step I applied a swirl remover, and finished off applying Meg's PlastX. Between sanding steps I wiped off the headlights with a terry towel, and between polishes I buffed off excess with a microfiber (and of course at the end).



Hopefully my headlights will stay like new now, simply by using Plexus on them monthly or so.
 
There's been no change in the look/clarity of the lenses on our mini van and it's been a bit now. It's certainly not the most cared for vehicle either.
 
I'm with the wetsand boys on this for cases like the ones pictured. Others in better condition get a 4" pad and my rotary. I haven't personally felt the need to get one of those kits.
 
Yeah, I had some cloudy headlights to do today and having never done any wetsanding, I just took my PC + 4" yellow Edge 2K pad with some Menzerna Power Gloss compound. Were they perfect? No. Were they better and not cloudy? Yep. No need to be purchasing fancy kits or anything...
 
When you're looking at targeting people that need headlight restoration you're going to *need* sandpaper. Nobody is going to drop the big bucks for a half job. Not knocking your work at all but yes, sanding is necessary for many lights.
 
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