Cleaning Yellow Headlights

Cleaning Yellow Headlights

by Liv | Published on October 10th, 2010, 2:24 pm | Sports

Tried cleaning the headlights today on the car. They make a over the counter medication available at Advance called "Blue Magic Headlight Restorer", and I figured I'd give it a go for $6.99. Unfortunately it wasn't very successful though it is better than it was. Anything will help, as its starting to get very frustrating driving to school at 5am in the dark, and barely being able to see the road. I'm accepting advice, from anyone who has successfully done this, but I may have to accept these head lamps are too far gone to clean:

: The uncleaned, untouched headlight.

: Headlight after restoration and cleaning.

Clearly you can tell it did clean the top part of the lens, and removed several shades of yellow, but still there appears to be an opaque glue like covering on the lower part of the lens.

I'd say this stuff would work on mildly yellow headlamps, not ones with 25 years of road grime on them.

THAT LENS CLEANER STUFF FOR THE MOST PART IS JUST A JOKE. It would likely be easier to just order new headkight lenses. That's what I did. You can find them on Ebay for cheap.

I might try the whole "wet sanding" deal, if I can dig up the appropriate sandpaper.... and try that.... though... fall break is over in two days... and its back to work... so I might just live with it for now.

Liv wrote:I might try the whole "wet sanding" deal, if I can dig up the appropriate sandpaper.... and try that.... though... fall break is over in two days... and its back to work... so I might just live with it for now.

I did the whole wet sanding thing. It didn't work and I blew the better part of my Saturday doing it.

It depends on how bad the plastic is oxidised. Usually it's only a surface layer and polishing works fine. I've used the 3M kit with good results

Is that clouding on the inside of the headlight? - It looks as if it might be moisture related to me. What happens of you use a long artist's bush to clean the inside?

It's on the outside, like almost a "superglue" layer on it.

I'd try going to town on a small area. Use some 600 grit wet and dry paper. If you can get that clear then you know it's not all the way through

The 3M kit contains abrasive pads, compound and a buffing wheel. It's not cheap at just under $40, but it worked for me, although my car was only 10 years old and the frosting wasn't as bad as yours

Yeah, the only way to truly do that is to use a good compound and pads with a quality buffer. To echo what APerson said, you may want to do the wetsanding method. Be sure to start with a 600, then 1000, then 2000 or higher. finish by polishing with a random orbital buffer if you have one. .

I wet sand and buff (using blue magic) probally 3 pairs of lights like yours a month. For the wet sanding the 600 1000 then 2000 grit is the best method. You can get by with just the 1000 grit and then buffing with a sponge pad on a drill and the blue magic. From looking at your lights at the moment I wouldn't expect anymore than a 50% improvment on the light to the road. This should take about an hour to do both sides.

I guess BHL didn't pray hard enough while sanding October 11th, 2010, 9:27 am

I guess BHL didn't pray hard enough while sanding :lol:

I love the fact they use a Taurus in their video.... Fun....

Oh - if you've never tried a crepe rubber sanding belt cleaning block - you should.

3M say 'when the disc is loaded, discard it' but with a rubber cleaning block you can get three to four times the life from a sanding disc or belt - use it often - before the disc gets clogged and glazed

I have a large one and it's lasted years with a belt sander, orbital sander and disc sander

Thats a great pro-tip, APerson. I hate going through so many of those dremel sanders and that might be just what the Doctor ordered.

A Person wrote:I guess BHL didn't pray hard enough while sanding

I'm betting Liv doesn't get those lenses clean like she wants. They are too far gone. My other car was the same way. There was also issues on the inside of the lens as well.

Anyone try the old school rubbing compound? October 11th, 2010, 2:07 pm

Anyone try the old school rubbing compound?

Liv wrote:Anyone try the old school rubbing compound?

It's not aggressive enough to cut through the oxidized layer and it's too coarse to give you the final polish.

BecauseHeLives wrote:I'm betting Liv doesn't get those lenses clean like she wants.

I'm betting no amount of rubbing will get Liv what she really wants

I love the new Mustang... but honestly (and everyone and their mother has one here).... I've got a new car I want:

Though I still stand by my love for a Supercharged Landrover if funds weren't an issue....

But definitely.... I'd take a CRZ....

You know it doesn't come with the chauffeur? October 11th, 2010, 2:44 pm

You know it doesn't come with the chauffeur?

A Person wrote:
I'm betting no amount of rubbing will get Liv what she really wants

No amount of rubbing gets me what I really want either...

Around five minutes is all I need October 11th, 2010, 3:10 pm

Around five minutes is all I need

A Person wrote:You know it doesn't come with the chauffeur?

Not that cute... Now if it came with Johnny B... look-alike.... I'd go take a loan out this minute.

Haven't tried it... but heard this one tonight: Toothpaste to clear headlights:

How about whitening strips? October 26th, 2010, 8:36 pm

How about whitening strips?

Tried Bubble fun by Aquafresh... and it did take some dirt off, but not the film. If your headlights are mildly hazed and you're too cheap to go to the autoparts store, then I'd say it's viable....

On the upside... they now smell like bubblegum.

Based on information on the internet, probably the most recommended method is Mothers brand Mag and Aluminum Polish on the headlights. Picked some up today. Did the worst so far IMO....