Headlamp Cleaning

[seeker]

Guys,

I need to clean my plastic headlamps at home.. it's not badly yellowed, but darkened enough for me to attempt this DIY..

I couldn't find a detailed description in AL of anybody who has successfully done the job... web gives advice for cars in US..

Appreciate advice from someone who's not busted the job...

[Ripper]

Guys,

I need to clean my plastic headlamps at home.. it's not badly yellowed, but darkened enough for me to attempt this DIY..

I couldn't find a detailed description in AL of anybody who has successfully done the job... web gives advice for cars in US..

Appreciate advice from someone who's not busted the job...

well one fella @my office has done it with Brasso And he claims it was quite good...

[sunny123]

well one fella @my office has done it with Brasso And he claims it was quite good...

Just found the below from the net. hope this might be usefull.

1. 400 grit wet/dry sandpaper: If your lenses are only lightly pitted, then skip this and go to 800. However, if yours are deeply pitted like mine were, I would suggest using 400 first.

2. 800 grit wet/dry sandpaper

3. 1000 grit wet/dry sandpaper: maybe a little overkill, but I used it because it came in a set of assorted sandpaper purchased from Autozone.

4. 1500 grit wet/dry sandpaper: Overkill again, but it worked for me

5. 2000 grit wet/dry sandpaper: VERY IMPORTANT! I thought I could get away with just 1500, but I had to go and purchase 2000 to get rid of a lot of the larger scrapes.

6. Turtle wax: Really, any wax or even polish will do, but this is what I had handy.

7. Meguiars Chanuba wax: A harder shell to go on top

8. Some sort of other protectant: I ignored this step as I am installing Rockblockers tommorow, but you need somesort of clear coat to protect the shine.

Optional: Buffer, which I used and helped shine up the lenses.

Directions

1. Clean off the lens thoroughly with Windex or other glass cleaner. I then used rubbing alchohol to get rid of any remaining contaminants.

2. Begin wet sanding with either 400 or 800 grit sandpaper, depending on how deeply pitted your lamps are. For those of you who do not know the process of wet sanding, your goal is to keep the paper and surface wet at all times. This way, all the things you are rubbing off run off instead of sticking to the surface. I had the faucet running lightly the whole time I was doing it and every 15-20sec would put the paper under it and occasionally wash off the lens. You should begin to see the water turn white from the clearcoat/plastic you are rubbing off. Furthermore, your lens should start to look very scratched up from the sandpaper, but don't worry this will go away.

3. Continue process with 800, 1000, and 1500 grit sandpaper spending aroudnd the same amount of time on each grit (~5-7min)

4. Continue same process with 2000 grit, except be VERY thorough this time. I spent 10-15 min per lens at this level to remove the last imperfections. Do not worry if even after this level, it still looks very scratched up as that is how it should.

5. Clean the lens VERY WELL. I used windex, soft scrub, and finally rubbing alchohol to get all the particles off. It should look slightly clearer after this step. If you have a buffer, buff the surface after you clean it.

6. Apply turtle (or other hard-shell) wax. Cover the surface so it is almost entirely covered and let dry COMPLETELY. Wipe clean, and you will see how great your lens is going to look.

7. Apply Meguiars chanuba wax (or other final-step wax) in a similar meathod, and after dry wipe clean. Now you will see how great your new light looks!

8. Buff if you have a buffer to remove any final scratches.

9. Apply protectant or rockblocker. I am not entirely sure this step is neccecary, as other things I have read ignored this step. I'll update after I drive a few days without rockblockers and take the car to the wash once.

Now you have nice, new looking head/foglamp lenses without the $300 price tag. There will still be some of the deep imprefections left, but they will feel smooth to the touch and look much better.

After:

I also did the headlamps, but did them while on the car. The method is the same, just in done while on the car. I protected the bumper with cloth and tape just to make cleanup easier.

[Devinda_Z]

Sharkster had found himself a good place....

the bigger places like KP do it as well , but i'm guessing it'll be expensive

OT , but Brasso is just awesome - soooooooo many applications! saved a friends XBox cd/dvd with some of that and some of that n some careful polishing! mind you this was a properly scraped and scratched cd - was totally unusable!

[jaga]

I got my one lamp cleaned from the agent. earlier it was not sealed properly and water has gone inside. But it was not succesfully done and they repeated the job for the second time free of charge. Still it is not water tightened and find some moisture inside.

If any body knows a reliable place in colombo. Please advice.

[Ripper]

Sharkster had found himself a good place....

the bigger places like KP do it as well , but i'm guessing it'll be expensive

OT , but Brasso is just awesome - soooooooo many applications! saved a friends XBox cd/dvd with some of that and some of that n some careful polishing! mind you this was a properly scraped and scratched cd - was totally unusable!

totally with you on Brasso...the other thing is Pledge furniture polish/wax.... i use the bloody thing even on fishing gear

Wd40 is also quite cool for many apps...

Though i did have a horrible experience with KP on my bonnet replacement thingy...they do an awesome job on the headlights... They've done a nice cleanup job on the reflectors and though i'm still on the same bulbs as before...the light output is much much better

[Nilantha]

Just found the below from the net. hope this might be usefull.

1. 400 grit wet/dry sandpaper: If your lenses are only lightly pitted, then skip this and go to 800. However, if yours are deeply pitted like mine were, I would suggest using 400 first.

2. 800 grit wet/dry sandpaper

3. 1000 grit wet/dry sandpaper: maybe a little overkill, but I used it because it came in a set of assorted sandpaper purchased from Autozone.

4. 1500 grit wet/dry sandpaper: Overkill again, but it worked for me

5. 2000 grit wet/dry sandpaper: VERY IMPORTANT! I thought I could get away with just 1500, but I had to go and purchase 2000 to get rid of a lot of the larger scrapes.

6. Turtle wax: Really, any wax or even polish will do, but this is what I had handy.

7. Meguiars Chanuba wax: A harder shell to go on top

8. Some sort of other protectant: I ignored this step as I am installing Rockblockers tommorow, but you need somesort of clear coat to protect the shine.

Optional: Buffer, which I used and helped shine up the lenses.

Directions

1. Clean off the lens thoroughly with Windex or other glass cleaner. I then used rubbing alchohol to get rid of any remaining contaminants.

2. Begin wet sanding with either 400 or 800 grit sandpaper, depending on how deeply pitted your lamps are. For those of you who do not know the process of wet sanding, your goal is to keep the paper and surface wet at all times. This way, all the things you are rubbing off run off instead of sticking to the surface. I had the faucet running lightly the whole time I was doing it and every 15-20sec would put the paper under it and occasionally wash off the lens. You should begin to see the water turn white from the clearcoat/plastic you are rubbing off. Furthermore, your lens should start to look very scratched up from the sandpaper, but don't worry this will go away.

3. Continue process with 800, 1000, and 1500 grit sandpaper spending aroudnd the same amount of time on each grit (~5-7min)

4. Continue same process with 2000 grit, except be VERY thorough this time. I spent 10-15 min per lens at this level to remove the last imperfections. Do not worry if even after this level, it still looks very scratched up as that is how it should.

5. Clean the lens VERY WELL. I used windex, soft scrub, and finally rubbing alchohol to get all the particles off. It should look slightly clearer after this step. If you have a buffer, buff the surface after you clean it.

6. Apply turtle (or other hard-shell) wax. Cover the surface so it is almost entirely covered and let dry COMPLETELY. Wipe clean, and you will see how great your lens is going to look.

7. Apply Meguiars chanuba wax (or other final-step wax) in a similar meathod, and after dry wipe clean. Now you will see how great your new light looks!

8. Buff if you have a buffer to remove any final scratches.

9. Apply protectant or rockblocker. I am not entirely sure this step is neccecary, as other things I have read ignored this step. I'll update after I drive a few days without rockblockers and take the car to the wash once.

Now you have nice, new looking head/foglamp lenses without the $300 price tag. There will still be some of the deep imprefections left, but they will feel smooth to the touch and look much better.

After:

I also did the headlamps, but did them while on the car. The method is the same, just in done while on the car. I protected the bumper with cloth and tape just to make cleanup easier.

don't use sand paper.

[Watchman]

don't use sand paper.

it does feel awfully scary to sandpaper your plastic parts.... personally i wouldnt do it. the brasso and WD40 are ok things.. in fact i was told (and i tried it out) wd40 removes that white-ish deposit you get on some plastic parts on your car.. (door handles, unpainted buffer and mostly exterior plastics that get burned in th sun).. and it worked!.. as for headlights, i remember seeing a year or 2 ago some place that did headlight cleaning for 1200/= a piece. probably more expensive than that now, but they will know what they're doing, and if you have any aftereffects like moisture buildup on the inside a reputable place would probably rectify such things....

[Ripper]

don't use sand paper.

yep. true.

sand paper thing can be properly done by those who have worked with them a lot more.

[Pericles]

Guys the sandpaper thing is a US article. Where they drive a lot faster, and loose stones come flying back from the leading car at much higher velocities. Thats why they use car bras and stuff too, remember? Hence "deeply pitted". Its not just about the yellowing on this.

[maithri]

Hello Guys,

I am sure I have said this before, but just last week I cleaned the plastic lenses of a Japanese car using tooth paste. The results were good. Tooth paste on a damp cloth rub in a circular motion and wipe off with another damp cloth. I have also used a polishing compound called Ferecla G3 available in the UK for polishing new water based paints used in most european cars. It is very mild and barely abrasive. I would not dare use any wet and dry paper to clean lights for fear of damaging the lenses beyond repair.

Maithri

P.S. I had to clean these lenses to get the car to meet the minimum MOT requirements of UK. I failed the cars originally for no beam pattern visible during test.

Edited June 4, 2008 by maithri

[seeker]

Hello Guys,

I am sure I have said this before, but just last week I cleaned the plastic lenses of a Japanese car using tooth paste. The results were good. Tooth paste on a damp cloth rub in a circular motion and wipe off with another damp cloth. I have also used a polishing compound called Ferecla G3 available in the UK for polishing new water based paints used in most european cars. It is very mild and barely abrasive. I would not dare use any wet and dry paper to clean lights for fear of damaging the lenses beyond repair.

Maithri

P.S. I had to clean these lenses to get the car to meet the minimum MOT requirements of UK. I failed the cars originally for no beam pattern visible during test.

Well thanks guys... I think I'll try this toothpaste thing first.... failing that, brasso... will see how it goes.....

[seeker]

Hello Guys,

I am sure I have said this before, but just last week I cleaned the plastic lenses of a Japanese car using tooth paste. The results were good. Tooth paste on a damp cloth rub in a circular motion and wipe off with another damp cloth. I have also used a polishing compound called Ferecla G3 available in the UK for polishing new water based paints used in most european cars. It is very mild and barely abrasive. I would not dare use any wet and dry paper to clean lights for fear of damaging the lenses beyond repair.

Maithri

P.S. I had to clean these lenses to get the car to meet the minimum MOT requirements of UK. I failed the cars originally for no beam pattern visible during test.

Well thanks guys... I think I'll try this toothpaste thing first.... failing that, brasso... will see how it goes.....

[leonardo]

well one fella @my office has done it with Brasso And he claims it was quite good...

brasso is fine. a couple of years ago i took my car to del*xe a*to lamp in delkanda to polish. all they did was remove the light from the car and use brasso and buff it off with a clean cloth. do this every month and to maintain the shine.

[gunat]

Hello Guys,

I am sure I have said this before, but just last week I cleaned the plastic lenses of a Japanese car using tooth paste. The results were good. Tooth paste on a damp cloth rub in a circular motion and wipe off with another damp cloth. I have also used a polishing compound called Ferecla G3 available in the UK for polishing new water based paints used in most european cars. It is very mild and barely abrasive. I would not dare use any wet and dry paper to clean lights for fear of damaging the lenses beyond repair.

Maithri

P.S. I had to clean these lenses to get the car to meet the minimum MOT requirements of UK. I failed the cars originally for no beam pattern visible during test.

Maithri- have a rather detailed question for you- can you pls email me at [email protected]?

thanks

Edited June 7, 2008 by gunat

[The Don]

Hello Guys,

I am sure I have said this before, but just last week I cleaned the plastic lenses of a Japanese car using tooth paste. The results were good. Tooth paste on a damp cloth rub in a circular motion and wipe off with another damp cloth. I have also used a polishing compound called Ferecla G3 available in the UK for polishing new water based paints used in most european cars. It is very mild and barely abrasive. I would not dare use any wet and dry paper to clean lights for fear of damaging the lenses beyond repair.

Maithri

P.S. I had to clean these lenses to get the car to meet the minimum MOT requirements of UK. I failed the cars originally for no beam pattern visible during test.

I have been using tooth paste to clean plastics and broken CD's for many years

[maithri]

May be the tooth paste in uk is more suitable for cleaning head lamps than the tooth paste in SL!

gunat I will email you very soon.

Maithri

[dhp]

May be the tooth paste in uk is more suitable for cleaning head lamps than the tooth paste in SL!

Maithri

I have used toothpaste myself and is probably the best bang for ur buck/time. U just need to find the so called "whitening" toothpaste. This is the stuff that feels coarse in your mouth like fine sand. It has a fine abrasive that eats off the surface.

next step higher would be brasso for fine scratches

You can use the sand paper just don't start with 400 unless its deeply pitted like Peri said. I would start with 800 or higher. Better yet if you can find some water-sand paper and take your time.

[Devinda_Z]

May be the tooth paste in uk is more suitable for cleaning head lamps than the tooth paste in SL!

gunat I will email you very soon.

Maithri

don't underestimate the power of a tube of Supiriviki

j.k

[Corolla121]

don't underestimate the power of a tube of Supiriviki

j.k

you are all talking about cleaning a head from outside. What about cleaning the inside of a headlamp.

[lakshank]

Guys...how abt "ameri kudu"

is it too harsh

[Arc Angel]

you are all talking about cleaning a head from outside. What about cleaning the inside of a headlamp.

there's this place called 'deluxe' headlamp something in Delkanda. The y clean the inside as well (on most lights). They did a pretty decent job.

[GuruG]

there's this place called 'deluxe' headlamp something in Delkanda. The y clean the inside as well (on most lights). They did a pretty decent job.

Been there. They do a good job on buffing but dont apply any sealer or protective meterial. So eventualy it turns back yellow after a moth or so. And instead of mercury coating the reflector they paste a silver sticker. They charge arround Rs.750 per lamp for full resoration (inside out).

I've found the toothpaste solution handy in most of the time. Or u can use Vi*m (green bar) as well.

Any1 know a place to buy transparent stickers to paste on top of the lights after cleaning them. No not the rockblockers. For that price I can find a good used lamp.

[xXx]

Any1 know a place to buy transparent stickers to paste on top of the lights after cleaning them. No not the rockblockers. For that price I can find a good used lamp.

cleanpark does this. no too sure what brand

[Devinda_Z]

cleanpark does this. no too sure what brand

3M possibly - most their other stick on films are from them..

[Ruslan]

Brasso and lot of Elbow grease would do wonders! i tried myself and got superb results..