Headlight Lens Restorer?

[pincher]

Need to give a couple of the headlights on my cars some TLC and was wondering what the current flavour of the month is - Meguiars or Autoglym, or is there something else better out there ?

Edited by pincher on Thursday 11th August 15:32

[Belle427]

I’ve used the Meguiars kit without issue, did a good job.
Contains a small wet and dry sanding pad, a drill attachment for polishing and the polish.

[pincher]

They both look much of a muchness to me but I seem to recall the Meguiars kit getting good reports before, so will probably plump for that one

[CLX]

I've just used a Holts one. Worked ok. Also included some UV spray, to coat the lens afterwards.

[SturdyHSV]

Following on from this, I just want to spray on a UV resistant clear coat after restoring the headlights, and yet it seems such a product only occasionally exists in America?

What obvious product am I missing?

There's a Spraymax 2k 2 in1 headlight clear that isn't available anywhere, meguiars seemed to do an appropriate product but that isn't really available over here, seemingly the same with Sonax Profiline, the headlight protection isn't available...

Or is it just a case that once the mythical manufacturer UV protective coating is polished off, headlights just go yellow every month or so unless you constantly apply a UV protective sealant?

[RobXjcoupe]

I’ve literally just polished up the headlamps on an 04 focus ready for its mot tomorrow.
I don’t use anything fancy. My go to is brasso. Polishes the plastic lovely. Just damp the lense first, apply brasso to a soft cloth then polish away. Buff off when dry, damp lense again to get rid of any residue, then another buff till dry.
Lasts about 6 months. Takes 10mins of my time so no need with uv protection sprays.

Edited by RobXjcoupe on Wednesday 17th August 20:18

[pincher]

I used the Meguiars kit on mine in the end - only did a quick test but it came out quite well:

Before


After


Only thing missing in the kit is some UV protector but I’ve got a can of clear coat in the garage, so will use that.

[CLX]

In the Holts kit I used, it did say the UV spray would need to be reapplied periodically. The other thing is, once I'd applied the spray, the finish also became better - clearer and brighter. The kit wasn't expensive, so you could buy it just to get the spray.

[Bill]

Just ordered the Holt's kit to have a go at this!

[Pica-Pica]

Toothpaste, jeweller’s rouge?
I have not tried either, just a suggestion.

[Smint]

Any metal polish will do the job, Peek, Autosol or as above Brasso.

[sortedcossie]

I polished out much worse than that mini image, those are easily salvageable with some elbow grease.

[vikingaero]

Anything mildly abrasive such as toothpaste, brasso, metal polish will do the initial job, but most YouTube videos advise against it.

Whatever you do, you really need a UV sealant. I have the elcheapo Turtle Wax Lens Restorer Compound, which is claimed to last ages, but starts to fade again after 6-9 months. I have another Turtle Wax Kit which has lube spray and mini sanding pads, but not got around to using it. The one car I did mask up properly, polish and UV spray during lockdown is still clear.

[DickyC]

Spraying them afterwards, as mentioned, is the most important element of the whole process. Wasted time otherwise.

[dontlookdown]

No need for a kit. Wetndry in 2 stages - 1500 and then 3000 - followed by t cut or similar, then polish or clearcoat. Clearcoat much longer lasting but more faff, ,obvs.

If the lens is totally opaque and pitted you can start with 600 grit wetndry but not usually necessary.

[bern]

SturdyHSV said:

Following on from this, I just want to spray on a UV resistant clear coat after restoring the headlights, and yet it seems such a product only occasionally exists in America?

What obvious product am I missing?

There's a Spraymax 2k 2 in1 headlight clear that isn't available anywhere, meguiars seemed to do an appropriate product but that isn't really available over here, seemingly the same with Sonax Profiline, the headlight protection isn't available...

Or is it just a case that once the mythical manufacturer UV protective coating is polished off, headlights just go yellow every month or so unless you constantly apply a UV protective sealant?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/E-TECH-Restored-Headlight-Headlamp-Protect-Clear-Coat-Lacquer-Spray-Sealer-200ml-/123821292309?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286&mk

[Oilchange]

I used an old dish sponge/scour and some white toothpaste and it worked ok. Maybe not the best but an improvement

[Blanco92]

For the after polish protection, I used Aerospace 303 on my old Audi. It's a spray and wipe job which takes no more than a minute. Sure you need to do it periodically (I did it approx every 2-3 months) but no issues with them fading again.

Also works great as a mid-sheen UV protector for dashboards and black trim.

[andygo]

Why not polish the lens and then apply a £25 PPF kit?