The front and rear headlights of any vehicle may face a lot of wear, depending on the use and exposure of the vehicle. If this is the case for your car, you can choose to polish headlights.
Do you know how to polish your car’s headlights? Keep reading to find out how to do just that in 6 simple steps.
Why should you polish your car headlights?
Polishing your headlights is something vehicle owners should certainly consider doing, both for aesthetic purposes and to ensure visibility.
In fact, polishing your front and rear headlights is essential to ensuring your car is able to light up the road ahead and that you are visible to other vehicles.
Everyone knows that when driving in low light or when you have poor visibility, it’s essential that you can see the road and be seen by other drivers.
On that note, if you want to find out how to take the best possible care of your vehicle’s fog lights, check out our article on How to properly care your Fog Lights.
Why should you polish your car headlights?
- Improved road lighting;
- Improved lighting, ensuring you can be seen better by other drivers;
- Cheaper than replacing headlights;
- Avoid risking failing your annual test of vehicle safety.
Which tools do you need to polish your headlights?
- Sandpaper;
- Sander or polisher;
- Polishing disc;
- Polishing paste;
- UV protection fluid;
- Gloves;
- Repair Tape.
If you’re in need of any of these tools, browse the KROFtools catalogue, where you’ll find a complete Headlight Restoration Kit or just a sander and sandpaper, sold separately.
Click on the image below to find out more information about our Headlight Restoration Kit (Ref. 2495).
Click on the image below to find out more about our Orbital Sander (Ref. 9250).
How to polish your car headlights in 6 steps
1. Wash your headlights
Start by polishing your headlights and washing them with warm water and a non-abrasive cleaning agent.
Once you’ve done that, let it dry so that you can see the condition your headlight’s in.
If you detect fractures in the plastic covering your headlights, we advise you to take your car to a reliable mechanic or a specialist at a dealership owned by your car manufacturer.
2. Isolate the area you’ll be polishing
This is one of the most important parts of the entire headlight polishing process. To get started, use the repair tape to protect the paint around your headlights. Be careful while applying the tape, ensuring it protects your car’s paintwork from sandpaper, which could scratch your vehicle.
If you want to find out more about how to hide scratches in your vehicle’s paintwork, check out our article Car paintwork: how to hide scratches.
3. Use sandpaper
Start by using a softer (3000 grit) sandpaper and work your way up to more abrasive sandpaper. The grit you’ll need will depend on the state of your headlights, but other options you may want to use include P2500 or P2000 sandpaper.
Before starting the sanding process, carefully moisten the sandpaper and headlight lenses to ensure you’re taking as much care as possible.
When polishing the lenses, do so in horizontal strokes, ensuring you don’t press down too hard on the glass. It’s worth noting that sanding too hard and using too little water may cause cracks in the glass.
This process takes about 5 minutes.
Click on the image below to find out more about our Grinding pad 3000p for 9260 (Ref. 9260L30).
Click on the image below to find out more about our Grinding pad 2500 for 9260 (Ref.9260L25).
Click on the image below to find out more about our Grinding pad 2000 for 9260 Grit Sandpaper (Ref.9260L20).
4. Apply the polishing compound
Don’t worry if your headlights still look dull at this stage. This procedure involves applying the polishing compound to your headlights or dull headlight lens.
5. Start polishing your headlights
Use the sander or polisher to perform this step and start by polishing your headlights until they are completely clean.
Ensure you let the product stand for at least 5 minutes once applied before using the polisher.
Next, polish in circular movements and watch as your headlight gradually gets brighter and more translucent.
6. Finish off with a UV protector
As you would expect from its name, use the UV protection fluid to protect your headlights from the sun’s harmful rays. This fluid will keep your headlights clean and shiny for longer.
When should you polish your car headlights?
You should consider polishing your headlights from the moment you notice that your car headlights are a cloudy or yellowish colour so as to restore them to their original condition.
Now that you know how to polish your car headlights, you’ll be able to drive safely thanks to your clean, shiny headlights.
Don’t forget to keep your vehicle headlights in good condition by regularly changing your lamps and aligning your headlights.
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