Headlights are one of your car’s most important features and yet, the thought of cleaning them probably isn’t one you have often.
You could pay for headlight restoration, or you could approach it the good ol’ fashioned way and take care of them yourself.
There’s plenty of options to handle this, from kits to homemade remedies.
Read on below on the best way to keep your lights shining brightly.
Hit the Store for Headlight Restoration Kits
If you hit up your local NAPA or Pep Boys, you’ll find plenty of options for easy-to-figure-out kits that’ll assist in your headlight cleaning.
Feel free to do a little research online before heading out. Kits can range from liquid cleaners to sanding attachments for a cordless drill.
Two examples of kits:
Sylvania Headlight Restoration Kit: This package comes with three bottles (surface activator, cleaning compound, and UV block) along with a pair of gloves and cleaners that’ll be used to sand down the headlights. The only downside? Having to physically scrub away the dirt and grime.
3M Headlight Restoration System: Meant for use with a cordless drill, this kit comes with a disc pad holder, interface pad, sanding discs, finishing discs, a trizact disc, lens polishing compound, and a buffing pad. If you’ve got a drill and want to make the process easy, the 3M kit is a good bet.
Home-Sourced Cleaning Methods
You won’t be hard-pressed finding the necessary ingredients for a clean headlight at home.
At the most, you want to go out and purchase a cleaning solvent or thinner (think Lacquer). At the least, go find yourself a tube of toothpaste.
Yes, you read that right. Toothpaste, for some reason, makes a perfect headlight cleaner.
For both methods, the approach is about the same. Apply the cleaning agent to a lint free cloth and then go to town on that bad boy. If you’re using thinner, make sure you’re wearing a pair of gloves to protect yourself from any harmful toxins.
Bottom Line
If you haven’t given thought to your headlight restoration before, hopefully that’s changed.
Even outside of maintaining a clean car, regular restoration of your headlights are essential. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, over half of all fatal crashes occur in the dark.
As with any aspects of your vehicle, keeping them clean and in tip-top shape helps keep you and your family safe.
If you’ve got any questions about fixing up any of your vehicles, take a quick look through our website and see what we can help you with.