If you have a vehicle that has a headlight that has become foggy-looking due to oxidation, you can attempt repairing it yourself instead of replacing the entire light. Using the following cleaning and sanding method will remove the glazed appearance from your headlight and leave you with a light that illuminates as if it were new.
Materials You Will Need
Clean The Headlight
Before attempting to sand your headlight, thoroughly clean it to help avoid scratches or scrapes from sources other than your sandpaper. Use a sponge dipped in a mixture of water and mild detergent. Scrub the headlight to remove any grime, dead insects, and other debris. Rinse with a garden hose and let your headlight dry in the sun. Use painter's tape around the edges of your headlight so you do not accidentally sand your car's paint job during your headlight repair.
Dry Sand Your Headlight
Wrap a piece of course-grit sandpaper around a block of wood to give it stability while you sand. Scrape the sandpaper across your headlight in the same direction for about ten strokes. Do this again by sanding in another direction. Keep switching the direction you are sanding every ten strokes. Do not sand in a circular motion. Keep doing this until all pits and bumps are removed from the surface of the headlight. Polish the headlight with a piece of microfiber cloth. You will be left with a headlight that appears opaque or frosted.
Wet Sand Your Headlight
After using a dry piece of sandpaper on your headlight, you will be using the same procedure while adding moisture. Place your medium and fine-grit sandpaper into the bucket of soapy water you used to clean the headlight. Fill a spray bottle with some of the soapy water and remove the piece of medium-grit sandpaper from the bucket to wrap around the wood block.
Sand the surface of the headlight with ten strokes in the same direction. Spray the surface of the headlight and change the direction you are sanding. Make sure to spray down the headlight between each ten strokes with the soapy water so it stays wet. After you have completed the entire headlight using this method, continue with the piece of fine-grit sandpaper.
Finish The Job
After you finish sanding the headlight, place some headlight polish on a clean microfiber cloth. Rub this over the headlight using short strokes, in the same way as you did the sanding. Use another clean microfiber cloth to mop the polish off after rubbing over the surface. Repeat this several times to shine up your headlight. Simply apply the polish, rub it in, and mop it back off. Apply rubbing alcohol over the surface to get a crystal-clear finish.
For more information, contact Alaska Professional Auto or a similar company.
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