Can plastic headlights on a car be cleared up?

This should help. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMwQpmY1_8M

@XOIIO Interesting. Too bad he does not recommend it for restorations, just beater vehicles.

@Dog Yeah, but it’s in the general area. You could see if they make custom glass ones and ugrade it.

polish it with cif or jif…..or some similar creamy white cleaning product

I don’t know why the guy in the video would recommend against toothpaste. I’ve heard of that being used to restore clarity to sailboat porthole glass (plastic) that gets fogged by exposure to salt water, grit and weather (same as plastic headlight covers on cars, more or less). It seems that it would even be less abrasive.

@CWOTUS If it was less abrasive it would be less effective though.

Try Fast Orange maybe.

I saw an episode recently on some car show about this very thing. I think it was on Goss’s on Motorweek, but not sure. I didn’t find it easily on the site, but gave you the link in case you wanted to surf it or bookmark it for the future. I found this and it was similar to what I saw on TV.

We had an old Citroen and the plastic guards over the headlamps were terrible. My mate picked up a product at the discount auto store that helped. It didn’t make them look like new again, but did help somewhat. Of course I forget the name of the stuff, but if you go to Repco (are they in USA, I forget???) or other auto parts store, they should know what it is.

There are at least two products for clearing up this stuff. We’ve used both types, and it worked for a while (maybe 6–9 months) on the first remedy. Yesterday we bought the second remedy to see if it stays. But it did work.

There are detailed instructions on this website. He suggests sandpaper if it is really bad which seems a bit drastic but appears to work.

Thanks, @flutherother. Of course, if you read to the bottom of those instructions, two users have commented that “toothpaste works”, and I suspect that if the lenses are merely hazy, with no pitting or crazing, that toothpaste would be all that’s needed.

There is a product at AutoZone and O’Reileys that is made specifically for this problem.

I bought a can and it worked. It only last for about three months and then you have to repeat the process.

I don’t think I would ever use sandpaper on plastic lenses.

Never tried toothpaste, but I will give it a shot. jp

I used 3M’s Headlight Restoration Kit on my cloudy headlights last summer and was amazed at how well it worked. They still look brand new.

And, yes, the kit does include fine grade sandpaper. It didn’t damage my headlights at all.

Yes. A previous employer of mine offers a headlight-cleaning service. Ask your local auto-detailing place!

Thanks everyone!

I am going to look into the restoration kit first if I can swing it (It seems to last the longest) and will hit the other suggestions if not.

You jellies are THE BEST!

I’ve got to say that I finally tried New! Colgate™ Super-Halogen, and now, not only are my headlight covers shiny and my lights all bright again, but they smell minty-fresh, too!

“They smell minty fresh.” Hilarious!