2 Minute Cloudy Headlamp Fix

I'm woring on a vintage motorcycle project and have been using a cotton wadding metal polish to spruce up the aluminum. My product is an old can called "Ouater" (pronounced, water) but it is essentially the same as NevRdull. Ouater doesn't seem to be made anymore from what I could find.

The stuff works wonders on aluminum with minimal physical buffing effort and proved much more effective than using polishing compound and a wheel on my drill. Anyway, the wife's Jetta has a cheap aftermarket headlamp on one side that had turned cloudy as they do. On a whim, I tried this stuff on the lens. I kid you not, in about two minutes the haze was gone by just wiping the stuff on and then buffing it off with a cloth. I wish I'd taken a photo but I never expected it to work so well.

So, my Life Hack for today. Not a canoe. How long does it last? Can't say yet. Really don't care. If I have to hit it again after every other car wash it's still better than buying some headlamp repair kit, taping off the light and running a buffing wheel over it.

I've used a Meguiar's plastic polish on mine but the finish never lasted long (even using their headlight protector stuff afterwards). The last time I did it I had just rain-xed my windshield so I thought why not, I'll try that on the headlight after the polish. It has actually kept that headlight surprisingly clear for quite a while now. They specifically say not to use it on plastic though as it formulated for glass so use with caution, they also have a specific version for plastic so maybe that would work even better.

I saw a video years ago that showed a guy using Off bug repellant with DEET.  I have no idea if it just "wetted" the lens and made it look good for 10 minutes, but I always wanted to try it.

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

DEET will melt plastic, so maybe it smoothed the surface out.

I've always used metal polish (Flitz, Simichrome, etc.) on plastic parts.  Works great.

Wet sanding ant then polishing with a cheap orbital buffer worked wonders with my Sprinter's headlights.

Using DEET on your headlights will cause more harm than good.

Shadeux (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

DEET will melt plastic, so maybe it smoothed the surface out.

It certainly does.  I left some bug spray in my tackle box one year.  It leaked and turned the box into goo.

I've done a few "fixes" for headlights.  I think the one that worked best was sanding, polishing most of the scratches out, then coating with clearcoat from a rattle can.  Nothing will replace the original UV coating put on from the factory, but it was a good way of getting it to last a few years.

When I bought my current truck, the lenses were bad.  I bought one of the Meguiar's kits that was a sand/polish/UV coating.  It lasted one summer and I'm back to square one.

I then realized that new headlight buckets for my truck were $26 each.

Wet sanding, polishing, buffing, then coating with a commercial product or clear spray like Curtis mentioned can all be effective to some degree.

Once you get to that point, they have to be maintained. I use turtle wax to do a quick buff and re-coat when I notice them getting bad again.

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

Sounds like you've done it a few times- any favorite clearcoat material?

I have done 800, 1200 to 1500  wetsand, wipe with alcohol and hit with spray clear.

I've not done it, but my brother used Rain-X on his and it killed the lenses.  Something chemical it didn't like, now new suggestions scare me.

I used 2000 grit wet sand paper and Blue coral head lamp  polish on my Saturn SC years ago. Worked good but had to rebuff every 6 months or so.  Tried the same thing on my '98 Jimmy and no change at all. New headlights from Rock Auto are cheap....

OUATER. Wasn't that a Van Halen album? Or was it OUATER 2?

In reply to ddavidv :

I can't speak to usage on headlight but I spend hour upon hour polishing chrome with that stuff in high school. I thought it was great. 

I've gotten pretty good results with Brasso!

Not 2 minutes, but I used apple cider vinegar,  Colgate whitening toothpaste, and a little Meguiars paint polish. 

Each as a separate step. 

Just with cloth.

Don't know how long it'll last, but worked really, really well. 

Did it on a crazy whim, so no before after pics. 

If they're not too bad, I usually just throw a dab of compound on a paper towel and go for it by hand.  5 minutes later, they're clear and shiny again.  After that, give a good coat of wax and expect to repeat in 6 - 9 months depending on how much sun exposure they get. 

I've done a whole bunch of headlight refinishing for someone who doesn't really do it for work (i guess ive been paid a few times) and im fine with my own process but since i didn't know this cotton wadding polish stuff even existed, im super happy i opened this thread. 

One thing im curious about but haven't tested as far as 'maintaining' refinished lenses is if putting a protective vinyl over it (they sell precuts online for most cars, i think) would help the headlight surface stay clear longer. 

I event seen a can of Quater in many years. I discovered it for the chopper in the mid 80's. Great stuff.

The "yellowing" headlights I have are yellowed on the inside surface. Knew they needed work on my wife's 07 highlander when we bought it, but had just put a very nice set of aftermarket "Angel Eye" type lights on our Magnum for very cheap. Then found out nothing is available cheap for a highlander 

maj75 (Forum Supporter) said:

OUATER. Wasn't that a Van Halen album? Or was it OUATER 2?

I think you're right. Also the next one was called B.E.R.K.E.L.E.Y.

For turn signals and the like, I have been using Plexus. It makes the colors pop. 

I'll try to remember to report back in a week or two. The Jetta DogWagen has been parked outside since and also gone through the car wash once.

Try a UV protecting Clear coat after cleaning.

Very happy with the 3M headlight restoration polishing/sealing kit. Comes with all the polishes and wet sand pads of 3 diff grits and sealer. Enough to do 3 sets of headlights ~$20