Cleaning headlight lens

I finally decided to try one of these. I got the Turtle Wax restoration kit for $8 at Menards. I didn't have high hopes but it turned out better than I thought. I'd say it brought the lens back to about 90% original shine. I think it took about 60 minutes total.

 

nice job

 

Much better! But in doing so you also removed the UV stabilizer. Your lenses will degrade rapidly. You need to add back the UV stabilizer coating to protect the lens.
http://www.meguiars.com/en/automotive/products/g17110-headlight-protectant/#hZeUjhVT8yvyQg4h.97

 

It supposedly came with some that I wiped on at the end. I guess we'll see.

 

I've used that kit and the Mothers Powerball kit. I prefer the powerball for ease of use - especially if you have to touch them up later. Just mask off the area with some painters tape and load it up in a power drill.

Either way, I use Meguires Cleaner Wax on the headlights every few weeks and they stay clear. I got a lot better life out of the Meguires than the Turtle Wax wax.

 

I used that exact same kit.
I took me a couple hours. I did my best to get it really clear.
Mine lasted about 1 year before I started to notice the hazing again.
I'm on year 2 now. It's as bad or maybe worse now.

I might try to redo them again. But after that I'll just replace them.

 

You must reapply the UV stabilizer, it is not a do it and forget it treatment. It is maintenance like waxing, I'd do the UV coating reapplication at least every 6 months.

 

Ah. It only came with a single use wipe so I guess I'll need to pick some more up at the auto store. Thx

 

This. It's very important. Restoration kits are like sanding/buffing off the oxidized layer leaving an untreated underlayer exposed.

 

I agree, I used the turtle wax stuff today and it really worked well. After I did mine I tried it on my wife's SUV, which were much worse than mine, and it worked well there also with a little elbow grease.

 

I do my Camry headlights about once a month. I get them nice and clear with NOVUS plastic polish and put some Mcguires on them. I recently started using some clear stuff from PepBoys that is suppose to uv protect them but I'd does very little. Not sure the deal with this stuff, it says to coat the light, not to drive it while drying, the wipe off when dry. This stuff is like an oily clear liquid and I have never seen it dry yet after months of using it. After 24 hours I wipe the oily haze off.

My wife hit a deer in her Camry so new headlights were in order. Now I only have to polish one set of lights...lol.