Polish Yellowed Headlights

4/2/2019

2974

Polish Yellowed Headlights

Yellowed headlights are a problem for millions of cars. You see them every day in parking lots and on roads. If your car suffers from the same affliction, you had better address it immediately. Cloudy and yellowed headlights are not only unsightly; they can also significantly reduce your visibility when driving at night. To solve this problem, you can buy another set of headlights or clean and restore the existing headlights to their original state. Car dealerships charge around $80 to clean the headlights for you. However, if you have time and a few basic tools, you can do the restoration yourself.

Protect all the areas of the car surrounding the headlights. You can choose either to detach the headlights or leave them on the vehicle as you work. It is easier to do the restoration if you remove the lamps, but if you are new to automotive repair and may find it difficult to reinstall the headlights, it will probably be better if you leave them on. Cover the surrounding surfaces with automotive tape. This should be sufficient to protect the paint job when you begin working with sandpaper.
Remove the yellow buildup from the surface of the headlight. Prepare a bucket of water and a sponge. You will need these to keep the headlight wet throughout the sanding process. Get a sponge and wipe the headlights before working on them with 800- to 1,000-grit sandpaper. Sand the area in circular motions. Dip the sandpaper periodically in the water bucket to remove grit that can further scratch the headlight. Do this for about thirty minutes or until all the yellow buildup has been sanded off. The surface will appear whitish, and the lamp should have a uniform matte look.
Continue wet-sanding the headlight using finer grit sandpaper. Get the sponge and wipe the sanded area to remove the grime from the previous step. Spend about 10 minutes sanding each lamp using the finer 1,500- and 2,000-grit sandpapers. Make sure that after using the two sheets, you will no longer see any traces of the yellow buildup and that the scratches you have made are getting finer and lighter. Rinse the lamp and begin working on the surfaces with the 2,500-grit sandpaper. Sand the surface horizontally for a couple of minutes, then continue rubbing vertically. Check your work by allowing drops of water to fall on the surface. If the drops begin to bead up rather than spread out, you can stop sanding.
Polish the sanded headlight. The headlight should now look sufficiently clear; however, it will still need a bit of polish to make it shine as if it were a new assembly. You can purchase a plastic polish from your automotive or hardware shop. Pour a small amount on a dry polishing cloth. Follow the manufacturer’s directions found on the bottle. Remember to work on small areas at a time.

Once you have restored your yellowed headlights to their almost-original state, make sure to protect the surface against the elements to keep it from yellowing again in the next six months. Remember to apply wax to the headlights whenever you have the car washed and waxed. Apply a form of UV protectant if possible. You can buy these as part of a restoration kit for headlights.

Polish Yellowed Headlights

Polish Yellowed Headlights : Multi-thousand tips to make your life easier.

Protect all the areas of the car surrounding the headlights. You can choose either to detach the headlights or leave them on the vehicle as you work. It is easier to do the restoration if you remove the lamps, but if you are new to automotive repair and may find it difficult to reinstall the headlights, it will probably be better if you leave them on. Cover the surrounding surfaces with automotive tape. This should be sufficient to protect the paint job when you begin working with sandpaper.
Remove the yellow buildup from the surface of the headlight. Prepare a bucket of water and a sponge. You will need these to keep the headlight wet throughout the sanding process. Get a sponge and wipe the headlights before working on them with 800- to 1,000-grit sandpaper. Sand the area in circular motions. Dip the sandpaper periodically in the water bucket to remove grit that can further scratch the headlight. Do this for about thirty minutes or until all the yellow buildup has been sanded off. The surface will appear whitish, and the lamp should have a uniform matte look.
Continue wet-sanding the headlight using finer grit sandpaper. Get the sponge and wipe the sanded area to remove the grime from the previous step. Spend about 10 minutes sanding each lamp using the finer 1,500- and 2,000-grit sandpapers. Make sure that after using the two sheets, you will no longer see any traces of the yellow buildup and that the scratches you have made are getting finer and lighter. Rinse the lamp and begin working on the surfaces with the 2,500-grit sandpaper. Sand the surface horizontally for a couple of minutes, then continue rubbing vertically. Check your work by allowing drops of water to fall on the surface. If the drops begin to bead up rather than spread out, you can stop sanding.
Polish the sanded headlight. The headlight should now look sufficiently clear; however, it will still need a bit of polish to make it shine as if it were a new assembly. You can purchase a plastic polish from your automotive or hardware shop. Pour a small amount on a dry polishing cloth. Follow the manufacturer’s directions found on the bottle. Remember to work on small areas at a time.