How To Clean Plastic Headlamps

Remember your brand new car with those spotless, crystal-clear headlights? While the business of life kept you sharp in other areas, your car headlights started to develop a certain tint of yellow haze. Now that you notice them, you wonder if it's too late. Is there anything you can do about it without spending a lot? Replacing them would be an unwise financial decision, but you do need them back to their original brilliance. Here are 3 solutions that are sure to shine a light on how to clean them right.

Toothpaste and a clean piece of cloth

Hazy headlights? Here's how to shine them.

If the headlight haze hasn't become a major issue, and you've caught it in the initial stages, this is a good in-house DIY to maintain your car headlights.

Step 1

Get a foil of toothpaste and a clean cloth. Add a good amount of paste to the cloth.

Step 2

Use this cloth to scrub the headlights for a couple of minutes. Scrubbing in circular motions works best.

Step 3

Dampen the cloth with plain warm water.

Step 4

Wipe clean the headlights. If needed, repeat the process multiple times as per your requirement.

Soap, sandpaper, and polishing compound

Hazy headlights? Here's how to shine them.

Step 1

Wash the headlights with regular car soap to take care of the light buildup of dirt and muck, especially in the corners.

Step 2

Mask off the edges of the car around the headlight with masking tape, to prevent scratching the car with sandpaper in the next step. This is a crucial step.

Step 3

Wet the headlights and abrasive sandpaper, and scrub your headlights consistently for 8-10 minutes in horizontal strokes. Be very careful while executing this step. Make sure the sandpaper is wet at all times since this could also result in a badly scratched headlight if done incorrectly. Once you're through, wipe the headlights with a soft, clean cloth.

Step 4

Polish and wax your headlights using a polishing compound and a microfiber cloth (or a buffer, if you have one) for a few minutes, and you're good to go.

Using WD-40 to clean headlights:

Hazy headlights? Here's how to shine them.

Step 1

Wipe the headlights for surface-level dust and muck with a damp cloth

Step 2

Spray a generous layer of WD-40 over the headlights and let it sit for 5-10 minutes. While you wait, the specially engineered solution will expertly get under the buildup and muck, making your next step easier.

Step 3

Take a soft, clean loofah and scrub the headlights gently. Next, just wipe the headlights with a clean cloth, and you're done.

An added advantage of using WD-40 is that it doesn't just help give your car headlights a brand new shine, it also adds a protective coating over it, that makes the shine last much longer!

Maintaining your headlights is important but so is maintaining your car, so you shouldn't forget to take care of your car's interior and exterior as well.