Headlight Hazing Cleaner
i have haze on my headlights, im not sure if its on the outside or inside, but it doesnt seem to do anything when i wash em... so do you guys also have problems removing hazy headlights even though its on the outside? doesnt seem like it even goes away... im hoping its not condensation, but then again wouldnt that look like small moisture droplets on the inside of my lights if it was?
Originally Posted by G.Ride
What do you guys use to clean the hazing off of the headlights?
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Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 985
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From: Overland Park, KS
+1 meguiar's plast-x..my friend said he will wet sand them next week because there is some stubborn hazing that even the plastx wont take off.
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Meg's works well but it doesnt get it all off. Makes me mad that my car is 7 months old now, less than 6000 miles on it and the headlights are already hazing. Going to the dealership to complain. I heard that if you take it in and complain, theyll clean em for you since its a known problem
Plasic polish seems to work great. Most any fine cut polish would probably work. But I notice that the haze comes back pretty fast. I wonder if a coat of wax help fend off the haze?
Originally Posted by Jeff92se
Plasic polish seems to work great. Most any fine cut polish would probably work. But I notice that the haze comes back pretty fast. I wonder if a coat of wax help fend off the haze?
I use some fine polish on a porter cable.
Then I top with a wax/sealant and it stays clear for months.
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Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 644
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From: Metropolitan South Farmington, not too far from the supercity we all know as Wilmot, NS
Not sure what others are using for washing, but soap may have something to do with returning hazing.
I'm a Zaino guy, I use their wash, and I never apply anything else but the occasional Zaino plastic polish application, and I never have a prob with hazing. It is also probably related to how much one drives with the HIDs on, but my lamps stay looking brand new. I think at least some waxes would exacerbate the problem, with the heat generated by the lamps. I do not use Zaino Z2 or Z6/Z8 on the lamps, as I found they did not perform well.
I've never tried the plastic cleaner/polish on the interior bits, but it would certainly be viable for guage cluster and radio display. Use Aerospace 303 for vinyl bits and dash.
Cheers,
Derek
I'm a Zaino guy, I use their wash, and I never apply anything else but the occasional Zaino plastic polish application, and I never have a prob with hazing. It is also probably related to how much one drives with the HIDs on, but my lamps stay looking brand new. I think at least some waxes would exacerbate the problem, with the heat generated by the lamps. I do not use Zaino Z2 or Z6/Z8 on the lamps, as I found they did not perform well.
I've never tried the plastic cleaner/polish on the interior bits, but it would certainly be viable for guage cluster and radio display. Use Aerospace 303 for vinyl bits and dash.
Cheers,
Derek
My choice for 'light' jobs is Zaino Z12 Plastic Polish.
For 'tough' jobs, I wrote up this article about 2 years back when I had my Integra....
For 'tough' jobs, I wrote up this article about 2 years back when I had my Integra....
This guide will assist greatly in your road to re-finishing your dull, scratched, swirled, and/or oxidized lighting such as tail lights, corner lights, or headlights. Now, you can vary which products you use, but I hope you see the results I achieved with the ones present. What you will need is:
-Spray Bottle (Home Depot)
-Your Favorite Car Wash (Pep Boys or PAC)
-3 Towels (I prefer Microfiber from PAC)
-2 Applicators (I prefer Microfiber from PAC)
-A Aluminum Polish (I chose Mother’s from Wal-Mart)
AND/OR
-A Paint Polish (Like Meguiar’s #82 Swirl Free Polish from PAC)
-A Rubber Sanding Block (Ace Hardware)
-1500 Grit Wet-Sanding Papers (Ace Hardware)
-A Nylon Bristled Brush (Wal-Mart)
-A Protectant (I chose the Klasse Twins for their durability from PAC)
First off, you want to start by cleaning the lighting surface and inspecting it for damage. In the spray bottle, put 1oz of car wash and the rest water (low pressure), then tighten the bottle and shake up to mix. I used this mixture along with a microfiber towel to clean the surface. The best way to check for damage is to hold the surface into a bright light allowing the sourced lighting to reflect off what you are working with, in this case a tail light. This amplifies imperfections, and in this case, swirls were the main problem. However, there were a couple scratches in which I eventually removed.
Notice the haze over the suface...They are actually swirls
After you inspect, you could do 1 of 2 things. If your surface is pretty much flawless, I’d go straight to the polishing step, but since I had a couple scratches, the next step was to wetsand the lights down to level the surface. I took a sheet of 1500 grit wet-sanding paper and soaked it in a bucket with 1 gal water:1 oz car wash for 20 minutes. Next, I cut to fit the paper and mounted it on the sanding block. I then sprayed the taillight generously with the soap:water mixture to lubricate and began wet sanding. I went side to side which I found easiest using medium presure. DO NOT DO IT IN CIRCLES or PUSH HARD. I sanded for about 20 seconds each section (see pic) to level out the surface. I then sprayed down the light and wiped clean with my microfiber to inspect for a level surface. After inspecting, I finished up the remaining areas and went to the polishing stage.
For the polishing stage, you want to remember this. Unlike paint, you need to let the polish do all the work here, not the heat you are producing. Plastic is much weaker to heat than a clearcoat is and it will burn easily. With this said, I applied the Mother’s Aluminum Polish generously on the surface. I then took my Makita Rotary w/ polishing pad at the LOWEST speed and polished til there was only a slight haze of product, then wiped clean with a new microfiber. I inspected the surface and repeated to insure a full polishing out of all the defects. Repeat if necessary. Now, if you just have a PC, then use a polishing pad on a low setting allowing the polish to do the work, just like I stated above. By hand, you will need to start off with a paint polish like Meguiar’s #82 SFP or #83 DACP applied with a cotton or microfiber applicator in the same way you wet-sanded, side to side. You don’t want to press to hard, remember, let the polish do the work. Work it until you have a light haze of product, then remove with your microfiber. Follow this up with an aluminum polish using the same technique to bring the lights to a deep, defect free gloss. With the detailing brush, you will want to gently brush any polish from the raised lettering in “Koito” or the other words so there is no white residue.
After re-inspecting the surface under the light, you will want to protect your lighting from future dulling or oxidizing. The only way to protect them from scratching and swirling is to touch up your car-washing skills. Now for protecting, I chose the Klasse twins for their remarkable durability. I applied AIOx2 to insure all the oils from the polishes were removed, then SGx1.
Left is untouched, Right is after this full process
High Gloss and Defect Free!
This concludes the lighting restoration guide. Remember, this will work on any hard plastic lighting, but don’t attempt this on soft plastic windows. Any questions, post them back here. Good Luck!
-Spray Bottle (Home Depot)
-Your Favorite Car Wash (Pep Boys or PAC)
-3 Towels (I prefer Microfiber from PAC)
-2 Applicators (I prefer Microfiber from PAC)
-A Aluminum Polish (I chose Mother’s from Wal-Mart)
AND/OR
-A Paint Polish (Like Meguiar’s #82 Swirl Free Polish from PAC)
-A Rubber Sanding Block (Ace Hardware)
-1500 Grit Wet-Sanding Papers (Ace Hardware)
-A Nylon Bristled Brush (Wal-Mart)
-A Protectant (I chose the Klasse Twins for their durability from PAC)
First off, you want to start by cleaning the lighting surface and inspecting it for damage. In the spray bottle, put 1oz of car wash and the rest water (low pressure), then tighten the bottle and shake up to mix. I used this mixture along with a microfiber towel to clean the surface. The best way to check for damage is to hold the surface into a bright light allowing the sourced lighting to reflect off what you are working with, in this case a tail light. This amplifies imperfections, and in this case, swirls were the main problem. However, there were a couple scratches in which I eventually removed.
Notice the haze over the suface...They are actually swirls
After you inspect, you could do 1 of 2 things. If your surface is pretty much flawless, I’d go straight to the polishing step, but since I had a couple scratches, the next step was to wetsand the lights down to level the surface. I took a sheet of 1500 grit wet-sanding paper and soaked it in a bucket with 1 gal water:1 oz car wash for 20 minutes. Next, I cut to fit the paper and mounted it on the sanding block. I then sprayed the taillight generously with the soap:water mixture to lubricate and began wet sanding. I went side to side which I found easiest using medium presure. DO NOT DO IT IN CIRCLES or PUSH HARD. I sanded for about 20 seconds each section (see pic) to level out the surface. I then sprayed down the light and wiped clean with my microfiber to inspect for a level surface. After inspecting, I finished up the remaining areas and went to the polishing stage.
For the polishing stage, you want to remember this. Unlike paint, you need to let the polish do all the work here, not the heat you are producing. Plastic is much weaker to heat than a clearcoat is and it will burn easily. With this said, I applied the Mother’s Aluminum Polish generously on the surface. I then took my Makita Rotary w/ polishing pad at the LOWEST speed and polished til there was only a slight haze of product, then wiped clean with a new microfiber. I inspected the surface and repeated to insure a full polishing out of all the defects. Repeat if necessary. Now, if you just have a PC, then use a polishing pad on a low setting allowing the polish to do the work, just like I stated above. By hand, you will need to start off with a paint polish like Meguiar’s #82 SFP or #83 DACP applied with a cotton or microfiber applicator in the same way you wet-sanded, side to side. You don’t want to press to hard, remember, let the polish do the work. Work it until you have a light haze of product, then remove with your microfiber. Follow this up with an aluminum polish using the same technique to bring the lights to a deep, defect free gloss. With the detailing brush, you will want to gently brush any polish from the raised lettering in “Koito” or the other words so there is no white residue.
After re-inspecting the surface under the light, you will want to protect your lighting from future dulling or oxidizing. The only way to protect them from scratching and swirling is to touch up your car-washing skills. Now for protecting, I chose the Klasse twins for their remarkable durability. I applied AIOx2 to insure all the oils from the polishes were removed, then SGx1.
Left is untouched, Right is after this full process
High Gloss and Defect Free!
This concludes the lighting restoration guide. Remember, this will work on any hard plastic lighting, but don’t attempt this on soft plastic windows. Any questions, post them back here. Good Luck!