Headlight lense polishing

I had excellent results with 3M 39045 Headlight Renewal Kit. The key is to take your time and be very thorough. I would recommend reading the reviews on Amazon for tips on how to end up with good results.

There is a product called "Blue Magic Headlight Lens Restorer" that is inexpensive (I think I paid $12 for an 8 ounce bottle that constitutes a lifetime supply for someone who just has one or two pairs of lenses to polish. If your lenses are really bad, you take some 2000 grit sandpaper to clear away the worst of it, then polish with the goo in the bottle. Works like a charm, but needs a quick repolish every 6 to 8 months. It takes me about 20 minutes to do both headlights on our 2001 Jetta when they get bad, about 10 minutes if I keep up with the chore.

I've tried those kits. They run around $20 for a single use, last no longer than the Blue Magic, take longer, and are more of a pain in the butt than I am willing to put up with.

Meguaire's makes a good kit, that includes a final UV protectant. I haven't used it yet, but plan to do so this fall. I have used the 3M kit, and at the time I used it, it did not include the final UV protectant. That's pretty important, or the headlights will oxidize again pretty fast. I found that out after mine clouded again in about a year.

The 3M kit was pretty nice, gave good results, and if I had known to use the UV protectant, it would have been great.

Colgate baking soda toothpaste worked for me, although my lenses weren't too bad off.

I'll second the recommendation for the 3M product.

I did this restoration a couple years ago and the 3M product worked well.

As noted, it takes a lot of time. So, when my Dutch Star lights needed it, I bought new headlights and just replaced them.

My DS recently restored his with a piece of clay bar. I was surprised how well that worked.

I bought a kit by Turtle Wax at Advance Auto for 9.95. It works pretty good on everything I have tried it on. It does take a little bit of rubbing and the haze does come back after a few months. The last time I did the Camry I put two coats of Meguiar's plastic wax on after polishing and it seems to be lasting longer.
The key word here is a little bit of time but not a lot of effort. If lenses are really fogged I apply the polishing compound with a scrubbing pad, followed by a second polish with a rag, then buff off and apply the wax.

Replacement - one side

We got tired of spending money on kits that either didn't work very well at all or only lasted a few months. I googled the numbers on the original headlights and found that they were for a Ford F-150 and ordered replacements from Amazon's Warehouse Deals website for less than $80 for both. Coach looks much better now. Hardest part was aiming the replacements. Something to consider.

Moved from Forum Technical Support

I don't think I have ever found anything that will restore a headlight lens to like new condition but they do make them look a lot better. The best thing you can do to keep your lens looking good is keep anything but soap and water away from them. Anything with solvent such as bug cleaner, mean green, etc will destroy the lexan plastic in short time.