How to Polish a Plastic Auto Headlight Lens

Plastic headlight lenses are clear and free of scratches when brand new, but over time they can discolor and turn hazy. Yellowed and scratched lenses prevent your headlights from projecting brightly and far down the road at night. Cleaning the lenses is an essential part of detailing your vehicle. A professional headlight cleaner is easy to use and will restore your headlight lenses to their original state.

Things You'll Need

• Microfiber cloth
• Headlight lens cleaner
• Standard drill with buffer attachment

Instructions

1. Attach the buffer to your standard drill, then squeeze a quarter-size drop of headlight lens cleaner onto the buffer pad. You can use any brand of cleaner, such as Meguiar's. Using a small buffer is better than using a regular car wax buffer, which is too large to buff every angle of the headlight lens.

2. Turn on your drill and put the buffer pad on the headlight lens. Work the headlight lens cleaner into the plastic lens for about one minute. The lens cleaner should have the matte appearance of car wax that's been buffed into paint. Headlight lens cleaner is safe to use on any plastic headlight lenses, even on high-end cars.

3. Use a microfiber cloth to wipe off the headlight lens cleaner, just like you would wipe wax off car paint. Now your lens should be free of scratches and discoloring. If there are areas on the lens that are not fully polished, you can repeat the steps and buff specific areas.

References

• How to Use Meguiar's Headlight Restoration Kit