how do YOU clean/restore headlights?

[roland bourbeau]

I am in the market for a kit. First place I looked was autogeek. I am going to post 2 links to products they offer. If you have another suggestion or link to another kit I should look into, by all means, definitely share!



this is the wolfgang kit:

Wolfgang Plastik Lens Cleaning System is a three-part system for clean, clear headlight lenses! (http://www.autogeek.net/plastik-lens-cleaning.html)



their "professional" kit:

Professional Plastic Restoration System (http://www.autogeek.net/lc-plastic-pro-kit.html)



and they also have a diamondite kit.



most of these are right around 50 bucks. How many cars you think I could achieve with this amount of supplies?



Thanks for any suggestions!



James

[Old Pirate]

I never use any of them to clean up headlights, so far i use my 4" pads and a drill or my UDM with polish (106ff) so far i haven`t had any problems yet. It depends on how bad it is i think. Somebody else could fill you in on does products your asking about.

[imported_smprince1]

I`ve never used those products so they may work better than what I use. But I just used some products I already had and it didn`t cost me an extra 50 bucks.



http://autopia.org/forum/click-brag/94765-headlight-polishing-30-minutes-spoiled-man-inspired-me.html

[getright]

+1 for Spoiledman and using polish and pads you already have (assuming you do have them). I am a big fan of wetsanding severly degraded lenses. Obviously small pads are better but 6 or 7.5 should work. Do your headlights have dimples? That makes the job significantly harder but still doable.

[imported_Eric]

I have been using TW F21 protectant on my plastic headlights and tails. Since it has sunbloc and is a specified use Iplan on using on my new vehicle and thinking it will prevent yellowing and hence negate requirement for restoring them.



Any thoughts? Any better ideas? Any better products. I used to use the Vinylex but switched to this product about a year ago. I like it. And now that I have been using it it probably makes sense to stay with one product on the surfaces I have treated.

[imported_karwaxer]

Hi I have never used a kit either if the lenses are not sever then I use my drill and a 3 inch wool pad with a plastic cleaner then follow up with a 3 inch foam pad and a polish and wax. If they are severly discolored then I wet sand starting with 1000 grit and moving up to 2500 grit then use the plastic cleaner and polish. Keep your $50 you can put this together yourself for under $15

[stiffdogg06]

I do 2000-4000 grit wet sanding depending how bad they are. And then I presume to polish them with SIP/106ff and then put a good coat of Collinite 845 on them.



via rotary on 6.5" LC Flat Foam Pads.

[imported_GregCavi]

Here is how I do it:



Sand with 2000-3000-10000 grit



Meguiars plastic twins (forget number) polishing pad, rotary, @ 600 rpm



Greg

[mzmtg]

PlastX by hand.



But, neither of our vehicles were too bad to start with.

[Paulie Walnuts]

Megs PlastiX with the rotary and a 4 inch cutting pad. Crank that sucker up to 3,000 rpms.

[TrueDetailer]

500-1000-2000 grit paper.



Cut with wool pad and heavy compound. Then pro-polish on a foam polish pad and then seal.



Never fails



Heres a before and after of my process.



http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c231/truedetailer/Picture065-1.jpg



http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c231/truedetailer/Picture071-1.jpg

[imported_GregCavi]

Good work TD!



Greg

[SpoiledMan]

http://autopia.org/forum/click-brag/94740-headlight-restoration.html

[NighthawkBlack]

Nice before and after shots! Huge improvement.

[JustA5.0]

If they are really cloudy or yellowed, you`ll have to wetsand first before applying polishes/swirl removers.



Don`t be afraid to use a 400-600 grit sandpaper as your first step either, as long as you`re wetsanding with it. I kept pouring water over my headlights and dipping the paper into a bucket of water. I followed up the same method using 1000 grit, then 2000 grit. Next step I applied a swirl remover, and finished off applying Meg`s PlastX. Between sanding steps I wiped off the headlights with a terry towel, and between polishes I buffed off excess with a microfiber (and of course at the end).



Hopefully my headlights will stay like new now, simply by using Plexus on them monthly or so.