Headlight restoring kits - recommendations

I've used the Autoglym kit a couple of times.
Pretty straightforward to use.
You will need a drill of some description and masking tape to protect the paintwork.

There's absolutely dozens of methods demonstrated on Youtube for you to choose from. I imagine you'd need at least a decent DA sander or a drill with a polishing mop no matter what polish you decide to use.

3m kit used by me to return frosty VW Golf lenses back to clear a few years back. Like the Autoglym pack, a power drill required for the process. Think it cost me a tenner and an hour of time. Taped the panel edges and worked on the lamps in situ.

I have used normal T-Cut and Brasso successfully by hand. The only tricky bit was making sure I did not damage the paintwork.

NB - It makes a huge difference!

I've used the Armorall wipes, worked ok but doesn't last.

I just use a polihing compound and some rags. If I had a really nice car (I don't) I'd mask off the paintwork around the lights (so I don't).

Unless they are really bad (opaque / proper milky) then the above will work fine. You can get a bottle of stuff to wipe on after that protects from further UV damage - but I just go over them again with the compund every year or so, takes less than 20 mins.

If they are really bad (as one set of mine were years ago) then 1500 and 200 grade wet and dry with plenty of water (definitley mask the paintwork!) and about 45 mins work got them lovely and clear. Quick go over with the polishing compund and job done.

No need for a drill, polishing mop etc.

FWIW the bottle of compund I got about 15 years back is still going strong.

I just used the rainx kit for the first time- it worked well for the polishing part and it has a protector part as well which I'm hoping will pay off. I've used 3M and Armorall before and both got good results but didn't last.

sharkattack
Full Member

I imagine you’d need at least a decent DA sander or a drill with a polishing mop no matter what polish you decide to use.

Nah, it's a very mild polish, you can easily do it by hand with most products. TBH I've a feeling that most of the ones that use a drill or da could still be done by hand.

I used Maguire's PlastRX and wet'n'dry sandpaper. They do a kit but TBH the polishing bit isn't the difficult bit and doesn't need the drill attachment unless you skip the sandpaper and want to spend ages doing it.

Mine were properly knackered though. Pitted and with a spidersweb of crinkling on the surface. All C-maxes of that era seemed to do it, weirdly the OH's Fiesta hasn't at all so it must be a different specification/batch of plastics.

Take the headlights out and Work through grades of wet'n'dry starting with whatever you need to to get the surface smooth and work upto ~2500. Then polish.

n.b. you'll always have to keep doing it even if you get it perfect because it's obviously something attacking the plastic. It's not a fault of the products (unless they're just a quick filler/wax type product). Or just leave it for another decade until it's MOT failingly bad again.

It only takes 45-60min each side max, just don't be afraid to start with the coarser wet'n'dry sandpaper, start with something fairly coarse like 200-400, you won't sand all the way through the "lens" then once it's smooth you're just quickly working through the grades removing the sanding marks.

Another recommendation for the autoglym kit. Worked very well on my old A3.

Another recommendation for the autoglym kit. Worked very well on my old A3.

Ditto - on daughters Clio

I've used the Meguiars One Step Headlight Restoration Kit and it worked well. Comes with a rotary woollen mop so a drill is required. I masked the area around the headlight with some cheap masking tape.

My tip is to start with quite a low drill speed to keep the cutting compound liquid on the surface of the lens, and work it horizontally then vertically. Speed up to buff clear at the end. Kit also comes with some abrasive pads for hand sanding if your lenses are particularly bad - you then progress to the drill and mop for the finishing stage. I didn't need those as mine were quite milky at first but not pitted etc. Kit costs about £22 from a well known online retailer (containing the letter z)

I think the kits mentioned above from other manufacturers will do a similar job. The main issue is that even after applying a sealant (eg car polish) they will eventually go a bit milky again and need redoing. However after the first time I found it's much quicker to achieve a good clear finish on subsequent applications. Did mine yesterday and it took about 15 mins including masking.

Another recommendation for the autoglym kit. Worked very well on my old A3.

Worked well on daughters Golf , which was bad , I was not hopeful but a bit of pressure and a polish , good as new.

If you’re a real cheapskate, toothpaste and a fair amount of hard rubbing. Not that I’ve ever tried it, the plastic lenses on my old Skoda were still perfectly clear after nineteen years.

We tried the toothpaste...........bought a kit.

i have used a 3M abrasive pad followed by autosol. 15 minutes it took.

After the first time I sanded and polished my headlights, I had to re-do them each year.
If you are feeling brave/confident/foolhardy, you could lacquer them after polishing.

Sadly, you can't just use any old lacquer (think it reacts badly with the polycarbonate), it has to one made for headlights.

I used a kit by SprayMax; primer then a 2-pack top coat. They don't seem to do that any more, just the top coat. This should link to the product page:
https://www.spraymax.com/en/products/product/clear-coats-and-spot-blender/2k-2in1-headlight-clear/
The video shows the whole sanding/polishing/cleaning/spraying process nicely. You can see at 2:07 he puts the release button on the release pin on the bottom of the can to release the activator into the lacquer.

The instructions say 'For professional use only':

I worked outside, on a calm day, wearing a mask for organic solvents, eye protection and overalls. Being 2-pack, it is an Isocyanate, just like Araldite, but rather than just breathing in the fumes, you could end up breathing the aerosol particles, so take the material safety data sheet seriously:
https://download.kwasny.com/datasheets/SDBREZ1163_-_Aerosol_2K_2in1_Headlight_Clear_GB.pdf

It is only a small can (about half normal size), but gave a good coating on headlights, which seem quite large (2004 Toyota Celica). I'm not an expert at spraying, and wasn't working in a spray booth, so it wasn't optically perfect, and included the occasional bit of dust. Initially, the headlights looked no worse than in their cloudy state. I let it cure for a week, then carefully sanded and polished, (being careful not to take too much off) and they came up lovely. My headlights looked better than they had for ages, and still do three years on.

I couldn't find anywhere selling it on Amazon. Only one place on ebay, and that is in Germany, which might involve faff with import duty. Shipping of £17.68 brings the total price up to £34.48:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/393024358607?epid=6044090763&hash=item5b8213c8cf:g:JdkAAOSw50dimGBQ
Think I paid about £30 when I did it. It turned out well, so seems worth it to me.

Ebay also shows a set by Wurth that looks similar to the kit I used, and is from a UK seller. It is even more expensive at £45.80, and I don't know the manufacturer or any technical details:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/402744709466?hash=item5dc574915a:g:QdIAAOSwT-RgS2oT

G3 cutting compound, autoglym super resin poish and t-cut.

They all work. Can be done by hand (I did) but I've since bought pads for the drill. Just need a quick going over once every 6 months. 20 year old car.

Used a 3M kit on and old Jimmy before selling it. Worked very well.

You then have the fun of spotting cars that need it badly, and thinking about how much better they’d look if the owners gave it a go!

I used the Autoglym kit on an old Polo. The lamps were pretty bad and they came up nearly new. Lasted about 12 months before it needed doing again. Second time was a lot less work.

Whatever polish you're using, if you're using a drill + pad to apply it, put sheets over the whole front of the car (as well as taping around the lights) before starting, that stuff goes everywhere!

I believe the clouding is caused by UV, so once polished, you need to protect the plastic against further attack unless you want to be doing it again and again. There are many quite pricey solutions for this on the market; I use watered-down (well, white-spirited-down) yacht varnish applied thinly after polishing now and have not had it do it twice again.