Content

• Part 2 of 3: Grinding the headlights
• Part 3 of 3: Polishing your headlights
• Tips
• Warnings

1 Examine the nature of the damage to the headlights to understand which method will be most effective. If you find that the glass on your headlights is not as clear as it used to be, you should carefully examine both the inside and outside of the glass. The nature and extent of damage will determine the method of recovery, and the need for professional intervention, and may even tell you that a replacement is the best solution. Examine the largest chips, very often there are more serious damage next to them, such as cracks.

2 Wash your headlights with automotive shampoo. Road dust and dirt will create a cloudy film that makes inspection difficult. Before proceeding with the inspection, you should thoroughly wash the car. Dry the headlights with a dry cloth and inspect for damage.

3 Clouding. Clouding occurs when the hard protective layer wears out and the polycarbonate begins to take all the negative external influences on itself, which leads to scratches, cracks and craters. This problem will cause the headlight to become completely cloudy and yellow over time.

• If you are faced with this problem, then relatively simple solutions can significantly slow down the destruction process, but in some cases you will have to resort to more serious measures.

4 Yellowing. The headlamp begins to change color when the hard protective layer has become very thin and loses its adhesion to polycarbonate. Solar UV radiation changes the structure of polycarbonate polymers, which leads to the absorption of blue light, as a result of which we see that the headlight turns yellow.

• If you find yellowing on your headlights, X-ray treatment or abrasive polishing will be necessary to get rid of it.

5 Scratches and cracks. If the protective layer starts to break down, you will notice a difference between the coatings in the center and in the corners of the headlight. The protective layer may begin to chip off. Destruction of the protective layer will lead to the formation of cracks in the thickness of the lens.

• In this case, you need either professional help or headlight replacement, which in the end may be cheaper and of better quality. At this stage, clean the headlights from dirt as much as possible and start asking the price for new ones.

6 Contact the professionals. Most headlights are made of polycarbonate and will show the above symptoms. Maintenance of glass headlights that were previously installed on cars requires refurbishment using more sophisticated methods. If you have glass headlights, and you find many defects on them, contact a professional.

Part 2 of 3: Grinding the headlights

1. 1 Prepare wet and dry sandpaper of varying abrasiveness. First, you need to level the surface of the headlamp using coarse to fine sandpaper. 3M makes excellent abrasives. You will need fine sanding paper (P1500) and polishing paper (higher than P2000). At your discretion, you can start with coarse blasting.
2. 2 Remove the headlights. Any work with grinding requires dismantling the part, since with one wrong movement you can scratch the paint. If you cannot remove the part, protect the area around the part with masking tape and heavy cardboard. You may not defend the body and hope for your agility, but it is better to spend a little time than to regret later.
   • Before polishing, wash the headlights with rubbing alcohol and paper towels. The alcohol evaporates quickly and the headlights are ready to be sanded.
3. 3 Wet the sandpaper and start sanding. Keep a bucket or water bottle handy to wet the sandpaper regularly. Try to maintain the same pressure on the sandpaper, and sand until the headlight is evenly matte.
   • During the grinding process, the factory protective layer may begin to chip off, this will manifest itself as chips with sharp edges. If this happens, the best solution is to remove the entire protective layer.
4. 4 Go to sandpaper with a finer grit. Thinner sandpaper will make the matte finish on the headlamp more even and transparent.
   • On headlamp glasses where there is texture on the inner surface, sanding can be completed with P1500 abrasive. The headlights will look evenly matt and the yellowness will disappear.

Part 3 of 3: Polishing your headlights

1. 1 Choose a polish. After sanding, the headlamp lenses should be evenly matte, when you've done that, it's time to start polishing. There are many manufacturers of polishing pastes: McGuire's, M105, 3M, etc. Go to any car dealer and check out the selection. Aluminum based polishing compounds are the best choice for refurbishing headlights. Non-abrasive bath cleaner is made specifically for plastic and may already be on your farm.
   • If you want the cheapest option, use regular toothpaste. Peroxide toothpastes or special whitening additives will not work.
2. 2 Apply the polish to a clean microfiber cloth. Keep a clean towel handy to wipe off the polish and monitor the results. Concentrate on a small area of ​​the headlight, say 10x10cm. Buff in a circular motion, making sure to completely cover the entire area evenly. The selected area should become transparent in 5 minutes. Once you're done with one section, move on to the next.
   • You can use an electric drill to speed up the polishing process. Apply the polishing paste directly to the polishing wheel and run the drill at low speed.Apply moderate pressure, smoothly move over the headlamp surface (2-3cm per second), trying to evenly cover the entire headlamp surface. The power tool will greatly speed up the work.
3. 3 Continue polishing until the headlight is clear. Prepare for the manual process to take a lot of time and effort. Get ready for the fact that you will need to change the polish to clean 3 times. Polish until you are satisfied with the transparency and smoothness of the headlamp. Check that the headlights are working and adjust them by turning them on so they shine on the garage wall.
4. 4 Apply a protective layer to the headlight. If you want to keep the result for a long time, apply a special protective agent, such as the Bulldog brand. Several layers of protective equipment will fix the result for a long time and will cost around 1000r. A budget option would be an acrylic floor polish. Apply polish and let it dry. The more layers there are, the stronger the coating will be.

Tips

• If the protective coating on the headlights is worn out, reapply the coating, first restoring the headlamp by sanding or another method, and then bake the protective coating. This will protect your headlights from external influences for a long time.
• Paint kits are available that include 300, 600, 900, 2000 and 4000 grit sandpaper. With this kit, you can easily refurbish your headlight and get great results. Sometimes the set includes special polishing pastes. Such a set can cost up to 1000 rubles, it is worth looking at the products of the companies 3M, Meguiar’s, Turtle Wax, Sylvania, Headlight Wizard, Mothers.
• Special kits for plastic glass restoration are on sale. This can be a very convenient and cheap solution.
• Wear rubber gloves to prevent the polish from clogging under your nails.

Warnings

• If you decide to polish your headlights, keep in mind that this procedure will have to be performed regularly, as you will erase the entire protective layer. You will need to clean your headlights monthly. To reduce the risk of damage, you can apply a special coating that is baked on the headlamp or polymerized under UV radiation. Every time you polish your headlight with polish or toothpaste, you will rub off the protective layer, which will lead to yellowing of the headlamp glass, so it may be worth getting a headlight anti-yellowing agent.