15 minutes and some toothpaste

[clutchdust]

Guys, I thought about putting it in the tech section but as most Corvettes don't have the polycarbonate headlight covers, I thought here would be as good as anywhere (mods feel free to move if you want).
Anyway, I bought this '93 pick up a few months back and as you might expect with any 20 year old vehicle, it needed a few things. One thing that's been bothering me is how cloudy the headlights have been. If you go in any of the parts stores you'll see those kits to clean headlights for anywhere from $10-25. I recalled an episode on Horsepower TV I saw a couple years back where they tried that stuff. They also said you could use toothpaste and get pretty much the same result.
So I tried it last night, and just for a fair comparison, I only did one side. This is 15 minutes with just regular old toothpaste.

Considering I already have the toothpaste, my total cost for this so far is about five cents. And, as you might guess, the light is noticeably brighter through the clean lens. I'll be doing the other lens tonight so I'm not lop-sided. Highly recommended if you have a vehicle with plastic headlight covers.
Of course, this also works with colored lenses like tail lights and side markers.

 

[mrvette]

Know what the weird shit is, my house faces directly west, and so the afternoon sun burns in really good, fullllll heat....but NONE of the cars tail lights have shown anything from any sun damage....look perfect....

yet any plastic fronts are damaged all over town much less wife's car.....

and yes, going to try the toothpaste, is it done with a polisher or a toothbrush or rag?? or a scotch brite pad?? :shocking::beer:

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

rubbing compound works as well; as does many of the cleaner/waxes. Word to the wise - gel toothpaste is not as effective as regular toothpaste...

 

[MYBAD79]

use some wax after you're done scrubbing all the yellow crud of the lens, that helps delaying the buildup... yes, they'll turn yellow again.... just a matter of weeks....
I sand them wet with 600 grit and then clearcoat the lenses... did my Z28, my Mustang, even my C6 .... on my cars I like to use a little tint in the first coat of clear

 

[Beagle 1]

use some wax after you're done scrubbing all the yellow crud of the lens, that helps delaying the buildup... yes, they'll turn yellow again.... just a matter of weeks....
I sand them wet with 600 grit and then clearcoat the lenses... did my Z28, my Mustang, even my C6 .... on my cars I like to use a little tint in the first coat of clear

Try Plexus as a sealer. It was developed for helocoptor plastic cockpits and seems to work well.

 

[010752]

Toothpast, rubbing compound, mag wheel polish etc all use marble grounds as the abrasive in them, acting like a very fine sandpaper. The abrasive deteriorates and cuts less as used vs diamond type compounds that don't wear out.

The real key is that the plastic has lost it's uv protection layer and as MYBAD79 mentioned has to be replaced with a coating. Never tried Plexus.

Friend of mine works in plastics and uses a homebrew mix of a little MEK and alcohol for the liquid fix method, like what you buy at the parts store.

 

[MYBAD79]

I've had great and very long lasting results with the clearcoat. The toothpast method works well, so does the lens restore kits you can buy from Mothers, Meguiars and so on.... only problem is that the raw plastic is now even more sensitive to UV rays and will turn yellow again....
Now that you got all the yellow crud off the lenses, just have them coated and they'll stay clear for years....
her's a photo of my C6 headlight that I coated in 2009....


.

 

[JeffP1167]

Are the lights minty fresh now