Headlight Cleaning

[KansasKid]

So Azumi is 7 years old, and her headlights had finally fogged up to the point that it was aggravating me. They weren't completely yellow and fogged over yet, but the tops of the headlights were getting pretty yellow. It took me a few attempts, but I finally found a good combo of cleaners for a reasonable price that doesn't require anything more than some elbow grease.

Stuff for the job:

1. Meguiar's Two Step Headlight Restoration Kit

• Meguiar's Plast-X

• Scott's Shop Towels

So the "Two-Step Headlight Restoration Kit" comes with a bottle of "Cleaning Solution", some abrasive pads, and a can of Headlight Coating.

For the lightly fogged spots, you just squirt a little of the "Cleaning Solution" onto one of the pads, scrub it on for a while. Keep scrubbing until it looks like it's starting to dry, then wipe it off with a towel. I tried to use about a quarter sized squirt of the cleaner on the pad, and would apply to roughly 1/4 to 1/3 of the headlight.

For moderate/heavy fogging spots, multiple scrubs/wipes will be needed, and you may not see a lot of clarity develop yet. After a 2-3 runs on the bad spots with the "Cleaning Solution", squirt some of the Plast-X on a towel and rub it on there. Again, about nickle-to-quarter size squirts, and about 1/4 to 1/3 of the headlight at a time, and this stuff you can wipe off the excess with a dry towel or rub on until it completely dries.

After the Plast-X, you should start to see some improvement in the lightly fogged areas, and most of the yellow lift off the headlight. If an area is still yellow/particularly foggy, hit it again with abrasive pad, wipe it clean, and then hit it with the Plast-X until you're happy.

Don't worry about scratches. This process will help reduce most of them, but isn't going to completely eliminate all of them. The point of this process isn't to remove every slight imperfection out of your headlights, it's just meant to clean'em up so for optimal lighting performance. If getting out ever little scratch is what you're goin' for, there are other kits out there for that.

After a bunch of passes with the cleaner and Plast-X, it may be just a wee bit fuzzy in the worst spots, but the rest of the headlight is clear. Now it's time to apply the Headlight Coating. I don't know what it is about this stuff, but it makes the headlight WAY clearer than just the cleaners/Plast-X alone. On top of that, it acts as a sealer to protect your headlight. Just spray on a coat, wait about 3-5 min, spray on another coat, and you're done. Then you should be able to get by with just cleaning the headlight once a year with Windex (or Invisible Glass), and hitting it with the coating again, and you shouldn't have to worry about the headlights degrading ever again (at least, according to Scotty Kilmer, who has a Youtube video about using Plast-X + the Headlight Coating. I tried following the instructions in his video, and didn't think the Plast-X was getting the job done by itself, and decided to go get the Two-Step kit to help).

So there you go. Here's a comparison picture I took of Azumi, after treating the driver-side headlight on her with the process (ignore the black dot on the hood. While I was cleaning the throttle body on her, some how I punctured the lens on my phone's camera, and put a pin-hole scratch on the camera itself). With a little elbow grease, your Kizashi can also have clear headlights like it just rolled off the assembly line.

IMG_20180908_162633.jpg (203.12 KiB) Viewed 10024 times

[Ronzuki]

Nice. That's a great 'before and after' comparison pic. So how long did it take you to get that result?

I had really nice headlights before that damn tornado came along and slapped the crap outta the car with shingles. The ones the body shop replaced my originals with (which for the majority of their daily parked lives were out of the sun) weren't as un-aged as my originals were and then clouded up rather quickly now that my office moved and there's zero shade to park in.

[KansasKid]

Honestly, I spent like 3- 20 min sessions on then driver's side before the pic was taken. First round was just Plast-X, second round was Restoration Kit + Plasti-X, but I didn't seal it. I thought it was still a little fuzzy, so I hit it a 3rd session and then sealed it, then picture. Each session was at least three applications of cleaner/Plast-X. I rushed the passenger side and just did one 30 min session, again with at least 4-5 applications of cleaner and Plast-X, but I mostly targeted just the worst spot over the turn signal.

There's still a little fuzzy spot over the turn signal on the passenger side that didn't turn out quite as clear as the driver side, but you can't tell from 10 ft away. The rest of the passenger side headlight looks great after the sealer.

Sorry to hear about the tornado/headlight situation on your Kizashi. Scotty mentions in that video I linked that a lot of aftermarket headlights use cheap clear paint that's completely worthless.

[KuroNekko]

Nice results. My headlights are now showing UV damage as it's parked outside all the time in the So Cal sun. While you don't see any rust on cars here in California, clear coat damage and yellow headlights are very common on older and neglected cars.

I polish my headlights at almost every car wash with PlastX or 3M's equivalent. However, an abrasive pad is required for more thorough restoration for better clarity at times.

Another thing I've noticed is that my headlights seem darker than years ago. Not as in the clear plastic but the chrome-painted headlight parts. They now look more bronzed than the shiny silver chrome of before. Anyone else notice that too? I think it's not just the yellowed clear plastic making them look that way. I'll have to carefully examine once I polish the headlights thoroughly again.

[KansasKid]

I polish my headlights at almost every car wash with PlastX or 3M's equivalent. However, an abrasive pad is required for more thorough restoration for better clarity at times.

Are you getting noticeable degradation in your headlights between each application? Or are you just applying after every wash as preventative maintenance?

[Ronzuki]

Scotty mentions in that video I linked that a lot of aftermarket headlights use cheap clear paint that's completely worthless.

The replacements were OE 'grade A' salvage parts per the receipt I saw. I had to change the low beam bulbs out several months after I got the car back and confirmed they were factory, not aftermarket. They just hadn't spent the first 5 or so years of their lives in the shade most of the time as my original ones had.

[KuroNekko]

I polish my headlights at almost every car wash with PlastX or 3M's equivalent. However, an abrasive pad is required for more thorough restoration for better clarity at times.

Are you getting noticeable degradation in your headlights between each application? Or are you just applying after every wash as preventative maintenance?

I'm doing it more for preventative maintenance but it appears to be getting worse likely due to age and more sun exposure now. It's never been as bad as your "before" photo though and I can usually restore to good clarity. The problem is how long that lasts before the haze comes back. Given your write-up, I'm thinking the major difference in long term condition may be the Headlight Coating product. I've never tried that though I've used Meguiar's Headlight Protectant after the PlastX treatment. I'm not seeing any long terms benefits so I'm more interested in the Keep Clear Headlight Coating. I'm going to get some and use it next time after a good polish with my drill and a pad. The Keep Clear looks like a more permanent coating product vs. the Headlight Protectant which is more like UV blocker... like sunscreen.

[KansasKid]

I polish my headlights at almost every car wash with PlastX or 3M's equivalent. However, an abrasive pad is required for more thorough restoration for better clarity at times.

Are you getting noticeable degradation in your headlights between each application? Or are you just applying after every wash as preventative maintenance?

I'm doing it more for preventative maintenance but it appears to be getting worse likely due to age and more sun exposure now. It's never been as bad as your "before" photo though and I can usually restore to good clarity. The problem is how long that lasts before the haze comes back. Given your write-up, I'm thinking the major difference in long term condition may be the Headlight Coating product. I've never tried that though I've used Meguiar's Headlight Protectant after the PlastX treatment. I'm not seeing any long terms benefits so I'm more interested in the Keep Clear Headlight Coating. I'm going to get some and use it next time after a good polish with my drill and a pad. The Keep Clear looks like a more permanent coating product vs. the Headlight Protectant which is more like UV blocker... like sunscreen.

Yeah, I haven't seen any bottles of the "Headlight Protectant" product in any of the handful of stores that I've shopped at, and Walmart is out of stock of it online. It seems like that product has been discontinued. The "Headlight Coating" comes in an aerosol can, instead of as a lotion. Azumi was carport parked for 3 years prior to us moving to our current apartment last year. And it seemed like just in the last year or so of parking her out in the sun, it seemed like the headlights got really bad. We'll have to see how the headlights hold up over the next year or so, now that I got the Coating on them.

[Woodie]

I used this kit from Sylvania:

You can also buy just the UV clear coat for half the price.

Very happy with the results. It's only been four months or so, so I can't swear to the longevity.

[KuroNekko]

I used this kit from Sylvania:

You can also buy just the UV clear coat for half the price.

Very happy with the results. It's only been four months or so, so I can't swear to the longevity.

It looks like it comes with a UV clear coat and four months is quite good. I've been polishing my headlights for a while now but nothing I've used came with clear coat. The haze comes back a little within a month in most cases. Keep in mind where I live now, it's full sun during the day. It hasn't rained in literally months. I think the clear coat is the paramount application to maintain the clarity of the headlights. I'll go get some clear coat soon.