Giving your car a much-needed makeover takes time, money, and effort. However, you should remember that cleaning your car means that you have to pay attention to all its various components, including the areas you didn’t think would need regular cleanup, such as the engine compartment, the chassis, and the head- and taillight. Check out why you need to clean foggy headlights below.
DIY Headlight Restoration
Your lighters need to be wiped down, waxed, and polished every once in a while, just like the rest of your car. You can call in a professional detailer to perform most of these jobs. But if you don’t mind a bit of DIY headlight restoration, then you can take the matter in your own hands. Whoever said that you need to rely on the experts for all your car care needs has no love for his car. You can clean your foggy headlights by yourself!
Why You Do Have to Clean Foggy Headlights
Cloudy, foggy headlights can be such a hassle when you’re driving in bad weather, or even when the road you’re on is not well-lit. Apart from the obviously limited use you’ll get out of your dirty headlights, they can also be such an eyesore in broad daylight. What good is a car that gleans with freshly-applied wax if the lights on it are dull and dark? That’s why you need to clean foggy headlights, if you have such from time to time.
When to Clean Foggy Headlights
Whether your car is only a few years old or a vintage piece, your headlights might already start yellowing and fogging over. The sun, other weather conditions, and plain ageing can all work against the beauty and functionality of your car’s headlights. If you want to make your car’s headlights to look better and actually work well, you better pick up your car cleaning tools now and get to work. Start when you see the first signs of fogging.
Car Headlight Restoration
The good thing about car headlight restoration is that you can purchase an all-inclusive headlight cleaning kit at your favorite automotive supply store. The kit will typically contain some pieces of sandpaper of varying grades, a non-abrasive wash cloth, a pair of latex gloves, and a bottle of plastic restoration polish.
Clean Foggy Headlights – Before You Start
Before you work on milky headlights, remove the bonnet and put waterproof tape all around the headlight and the bumper. This will ensure that sanding water, dust, and stray drops from the cleaning agent will not affect other portions of your car.
Clean Foggy Headlights – The Restoration itself
Now you’re ready to do some elbow work. Wash the headlight with a generous amount of water, and then begin wet-sanding the entire headlight. The time it takes for you to get rid of the yellowish color and to even out small nicks depends on how badly yellowed your headlight has become. While sanding, you don’t have to apply too much pressure as you scrape the headlight back and forth. You can simply swap the sandpaper for a higher-grade piece if you need to work on deeper gouges or dirtier areas.
When that’s done, you will notice that your headlight will have become clean once again, but it will not be crystal clear yet.
To get that extra impressive result, you need to apply the polishing compound to bring out the beauty of your headlight. You will notice that your headlights will acquire a crystal clear finish that makes it look like new again.
If you don’t feel like DIY headlight restoration, schedule an appointment today.
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