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It’s no surprise that getting your headlights professionally restored can cost you a pretty penny. While dealerships and detailers can ensure a job well done, it’s worth looking into options that might be cheaper, but just as effective. Thankfully, recent developments in this technology have made it possible to restore your own headlights from the comfort of your own home. A do-it-yourself headlight restoration is the easiest it’s ever been.
But before you go tinkering with your lenses, it’s best to read up on some practical tips on doing that restoration yourself. Let’s try to not make those micro-holes and yellowing any worse and go through these basic tips below.
- Properly assess the damage on your headlights
While this seems like an obvious tip, you’d be surprised at the number of people who would just look at their headlights and go straight into sanding. A proper look at the damage will give you a better idea of approaching restoration. For example, how scratched up the glass and level of discoloration might determine the sort of cleaning and polishing chemicals you’d need. There might also be damage inside of the lens itself, something you might easily overlook if you gloss over proper damage assessment. Damage inside your headlights means it likely needs to be drained first, emptying the accumulated moisture.
- Look into different headlight restoration kits
Headlight restoration kits are becoming more and more common as more people are doing this at home. While every kit seems to promise a quick and easy fix, sadly not all headlight restoration kits were created equal. It’s actually worth comparing each kit carefully as more often than not, these kits are made to address varying levels of damage and sometimes, only fix specific types of headlights. Sandpaper ‘grit’ varies greatly, which is something to take into consideration. Sprays or agents might also have different strong suits, sometimes made for just one type of headlights. Familiarising yourself with the most trusted brands might also come in handy, as they often ensure quality and more bang for your buck.
- Always test your sprays and agents
Already knowing that not all restoration kits are made equal, the task to find agents and sprays that work for your headlines becomes a challenge. Before going all out with your cleaning and polishing, only test on a small portion of the glass. If this portion becomes clearer, only then should you clean your headlights to your heart’s content.
In addition to your usual sprays and agents, you might want to look into a good headlight deoxidizer as well. This removes oxidation on plastic headlights and might improve night vision for your vehicle, too!
Now that that’s covered, you’re ready to do that headlight restoration by yourself! Do-it-yourself headlight restoration really isn’t as hard as it seems. So long as you stay practical, efficient and smart about what agents to use and how you use it, doing it yourself might just be worth it in the long run.
