Yellowing headlight glass restoration tips/methods

[Steelback]

Does anyone have any tips or methods to restore headlight glass/plastic ? Mine are turning slightly yellow.

[john broad]

You can buy stuff on the internet that promises to clean them. I have a normal 240 V polisher which did mine masked everything up and they now look fine. I have a guy that polished some scratches out of my glass, made the glass look new, he said that he could do both my headlights and have them looking as good as new Don't know where you are ,this guy is in Kent.

[Steelback]

Thanks John. I have looked on the internet and have seen a few bits and pieces but not sure if they work or not. I have seen toothpaste being recommended quite a bit

[john broad]

Hi Kev I found that ordinary T cut did the trick with a polishing mop but a little elbow grease will probably work

[Prophead]

If they are plastic I would recommend Plast X from Maguires. Can be done by hand but might take a few goes. Will also work on glass as well.

[Chris H1]

Have a look at the Meguiars 2 step kit its very good & includes everything you need including a laqueur that protects + prevents them yellowing again. Did a day at Meguiars a few years back & they did a demo with this on a headlight you or I would have put in the bin & it bought it back like new! Plenty of product too I have done headlights on 2 cars with the kit & still have enough left to do another set.

With a bit of searching you will find it for £20 (link below shows it at £30 but thats the kit you are looking for)

http://www.halfords.com/motoring/car-cl ... light-kit#

[Sean Smallman]

I definitely wouldn’t use T/Cut, it may work but there are more suitable products out there.

The Meguairs Glass cleaning kits are very good, I use a finishing polish/paintwork cleaner on mine and they look brand new. I also use the same wax as I use on the paintwork to protect the finish from UV. I apply 3 coats, 24 hours between coats.

If you are in Kent drop me a note, we are having a tyre kicking session at my place in April.

[Steelback]

Thanks guys some food for thought there. I will give the Meguires kit a go

[PaulSmith]

A good abrasive polish of any brand should restore a faded/ yellowed surface but be aware that once the UV coating has worn away (or you've polished it away) then they will gradually yellow up again every year. Applying a fresh lacquer will renew the UV coating so it should last the same time as an original lamp.

A lot of Smart repairers and bodyshops now do this on a professional level and as an indication we normally charge around £70 per lamp, which is a waste of time if you own a cheap mass market car where new headlamps cost less than £40 each. However the chap with a 15 year old Volvo T5 was very grateful not to spend nearly £800 on new lamps to get through his MOT

[Red Rider]

I used toothpaste and Brasso metal polish on my Honda truck The lights came up like new again. Spent about an hour in total for the two lights - Just hand polishing with a fibre cloth

[JasonGibson]

I've done both the polishing and spraying methods with good success.

If spraying a new top coat it will also need a base coat that needs to be compatible or it may well react. So this SPRAY-MAX-HEADLIGHT-HEADLAMP-RESTORATION-PROTECTION-KIT has both