Like I said, one of the things I want this blog to be about is my hobbies. One of my big hobbies that I picked up during college was working on my car (2004 Acura RSX Type-S). Not that it's a really crazy car or anything, but I think just having a nicer car made me want to take care of it.
My car is almost 8 years old now, so things are starting to get old. The leather on my steering wheel is showing signs of wear, the pleather on the driver's seat has a 3 inch rip in it, the window moldings are peeling away, etc. One of the things that has really been bothering me is that my headlights have been hazing. I use some Mother's plastic polish or Meguiar's Plastx on them for a temporary fix that only lasts about a week or two before the hazing started coming back.
I was debating between a few different brands of headlight restoration kits and ultimately decided on the Turtle Wax Headlight Restoration Kit. I think it was something like $8 at Walmart, which really isn't bad at all. I only have a picture of the box, but it does say what's inside.
The kit comes with directions, which are pretty straightforward. They tell you to use the Lens Clarifying Compound first to see if that fixes the problem. It's pretty much just a more abrasive plastic polish, so if you've already tried Mother's Plastic Polish or Meguiar's Plastix then it probably won't fix your problem. I went ahead and tried it anyways, and it worked a little better than the two mentioned above but didn't fix the headlights.
I then proceeded to sanding my headlights. This is the part where you can really ruin your headlights if you're not careful. I did a much better job on the second headlight after learning from the mistakes of the first headlight. You pretty much just use the spray lubricant as your wetsanding lubricant and sand using the provided pads from #1-#4, which go from coarse to fine.
Note: The only advice that I would give that's not in the instructions is that if a portion of your headlights aren't that bad, don't start at #1. Start at #2, because #1 is fairly coarse and will leave noticeable scratches on your headlights. Most of it will come out as you step down each time, but it's better to do as little damage as possible.
After going through each headlight with the sand paper, the headlights will look pretty hazy. Now is the time to use the Lens Clarifying Compound again. I had to go over the headlights about 3 times before they started showing signs of clearing up. Even after this step, they will still be slightly hazy. I used my Porter Cable 7424 random orbital which helps speed up the process.
The final step is to put on the supplied plastic gloves and use the sealing wipe. I'm not really sure what's in it, but as you wipe it over your headlights, it provides a layer of protection. I'm guessing it's sort of like a clear coat. The sealer fills in the micro scratches and creates a glossy finish. Now the headlights will look pretty clean and although not 100% new, they should look much better than before. It takes a day or two for the sealant to completely settle so it's better if you keep it indoors/under shade when it's not raining.
Overall I would give the kit 4 out of 5 stars. It did the job and was fairly easy to use. I'm a little afraid that the sealer will eventually fade away since it doesn't seem that robust, but it's been holding up for a couple months now. It was definitely a good value at $8 though. If your headlights are moderately to extremely hazy, I would definitely recommend this kit. Just note that it won't make your headlight look brand new.
Here are the before and after pictures. They weren't take in the same conditions and they were taken with my Droid 2 Global, so they aren't the best comparison shots. I think you can definitely see a little improvement between them though. My phone didn't do a good job of capturing the haziness in the first picture. The top 1/3 of the headlights were pretty hazy though.
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| Before |
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| After |
