Cloudy Headlamps

[northside]

I watched these videos on youtube where they used toothpaste to clean dirty yellow headlamps. At first, I did not believe it so I went outside and applied Colgate toothpaste on my 2002 Explorer headlamps that were clouded, buffed it with a paper towel and once I rinsed it with water, the lamps were clear again. Amazing.

 

[northside]

My headlamp has returned to its clouded state. The toothpaste method did not last long. LOL

 

[Limited02]

Something I've heard people do is wet sand the headlights (2000 grit) down and once finished, spray a clear coat over them.

Since it lasted you almost 3 months with the toothpaste, I would do it again and then buy all new headlights when you can afford it.

 

[Donystoy]

I have had good success using Meguiar's Plastx for polishing plastic. I even restored a plastic emblem on an old car that had heavy scratches in it. I just started with a coarse enough sand paper to remove the scratches and then kept sanding with progressively finer grit and finished with the polish. Took some time but turned out great. The final grit was the finest wet paper available. I am not saying that tooth past won't work as well since there are lots of polishes out there. Years ago I use to use puma stone that my father used to clean his false teeth with.

 

[Exproblems]

. Years ago I use to use puma stone that my father used to clean his false teeth with.

LMAO! People have since stopped using the puma stone and switched to a Dremmel tool to clean their choppers nowadays.

 

[Exproblems]

My headlamp has returned to its clouded state. The toothpaste method did not last long. LOL

"Bigrondo" has a "how to" post with pics on using the 3M headlamp restorer kit for yellowing headlights. Think he said in his post it cost him $20 for the kit and said it worked great for him. You can find the link to his post under any post he has on the board.

 

[ponkotsu]

I've done this on a couple of vehicles and they always go bad again fairly quick. When you polish the plastic you are removing the outer portion that was molded. That outside surface is harder than the inside due to the way molding works. If they are really bad it's worth doing but don't expect "like new" results to be permanent. Possibly there is some type of clear spray that can be applied but I never looked too hard.

 

[BigRondo]

"Bigrondo" has a "how to" post with pics on using the 3M headlamp restorer kit for yellowing headlights. Think he said in his post it cost him $20 for the kit and said it worked great for him. You can find the link to his post under any post he has on the board.

Tom is correct.

Here you go:

How To: Restore Faded, Yellowing Headlights