It quickly and easily removes yellow, cloudy deposits from headlights, making your car safer and more beautiful.
I recently purchased my dream car, a customized 2001 Mazda Miata, but my new friend still needed a lot of work to achieve my dream look. Safety is my top priority, and one of the most important and easiest ways to make an older car safer is to replace those yellowed, foggy headlights with brand new ones that can help you in the dark. I did a ton of testing and research to find the best headlight restoration kits, and here’s what I found.
Oxidation from fogged headlights can be dangerous because nighttime visibility can be significantly reduced. Headlight discoloration is caused by UV rays, pollution, ozone, and chemicals used in some car washes. When I was 20, Buddy, I drove with my high beams on all the time, but it still felt like I was driving in the dark.
To find the best headlight restoration kits, I picked six top-selling products and tested them on Buddy and my friend’s 2008 Subaru Outback. The Subaru’s headlights weren’t too hazy, so I decided to try two no-drill kits, one for each headlight. To fix the hazy lens problem on Buddy’s headlights, I took four kits and split each headlight in half. These kits are more durable and require more than just hard work.
In many cases, the results are dramatic, and dull Buddy and Subie headlights are a thing of the past. So, if you’re willing to leave your yellowed headlights in the rearview mirror and aren’t afraid to grab a buffing wheel and polish them, you’ll see brighter, crisper headlights in no time. Also, I haven’t tried these products on taillights or turn signals, only headlights.
The headlight cleaning kit comes with a microfiber towel, a pair of gloves, and a bottle of sealant, but like all kits, you’ll also need a spray bottle of water. The first step is to wet the headlights and use the 2000-grit side of a small buffing pad, then flip it over to the 3000-grit side for further polishing. Dry with the included towel and apply Wipe-It sealant to the plastic lens. The instructions say to let the lens dry within an hour and not let it come into contact with moisture for 24 hours, or it will cause streaks or spots. The ceramic coating chemically bonds to the headlights to prevent fogging and fading.
The Rust-oleum cleaning kit did make the Subaru headlight lenses cleaner, but the small polishing pad was a little hard to get to. It’s about 1.25 inches square and not very thick, so my fingertips often rubbed against the plastic headlight when using it.
The kit includes gloves and sealant, but no towels. The first step is to wipe the dull headlights with an oxide remover. It is very satisfying to see the yellow oxide disappear as you wipe. The lens is then wet polished using a surface prep disc. The wet polishing must be repeated twice: once with 3000 grit sandpaper and once with 2000 grit sandpaper. After thoroughly rinsing and drying the lens, wipe it with clear towels and wait for it to dry. The instructions say to avoid exposing the lens to direct moisture for one hour. This headlight restorer has a professional ceramic coating that provides UV protection and reduces UV damage.
What is the best headlight restoration without drilling? Cerakote Restoration makes lenses clearer than Rust-oleum Restoration and is easier to apply because it comes with an applicator. It is larger and more comfortable to hold. Although the sandpaper sheets are the same color, the grit is clearly printed on the other side. Additionally, each piece of the headlight lens restoration kit is individually packaged in a bag, making it easy to organize all the parts and components.
The Cerakote Ceramic Headlight Restoration Kit definitely makes the headlight lenses clearer than the Rust-oleum kit.
Next, I needed to finish Buddy’s lamp, so I chose a product that could be sanded with a drill. I’m using a Ryobi One+ cordless drill, which has two speed settings: 0-600 RPM and 0-1800 RPM.
This kit does not include gloves, towels, or headlight coating sealant. The first step is to mount the backing plate on your drill like you would any other drill and attach an 800 grit sanding pad. Wet sand the plastic headlight lens and use a 1500 grit pad. Finally, use a 3000 grit foam pad for the final sanding. To polish, replace the foam pad with a PowerBall 4Lights foam ball, apply a nickel-sized amount of PowerPlastic 4Lights polishing compound to the foam ball, and buff. Finish by buffing the surface with a clean, dry microfiber towel.
The Mothers NuLens Headlight Restoration Kit did make the lenses clearer. However, all the sheets of sandpaper were the same color and had different grits on the back. Some of the sandpaper had easy to read numbers on it, but on others, some of the numbers printed on the sandpaper had fallen off and I had to guess. Without a sealant, the lights can quickly become dim again. However, the instructions say to keep things clean by using a foam ball or buffing pad and buffing.
Right – Original Cloud Effect. Left – Mother’s NuLens Headlight Restoration Kit.
The kit does not include gloves or towels, but it does include clear sealant. The first two sandings of the headlight housing were done by hand with a 1000-grit sanding disc, then with a 3000-grit sanding pad attached to a hand pad similar to the one included with the Cerakote kit. To polish, attach the yellow polishing pad to the drill, add a nickel-sized amount of PlastX Lens Clarifier, and polish to your liking. After thoroughly wiping them down and drying them with a microfiber towel, apply the headlight sealant to the gray foam applicator and rub the headlights by hand. The instructions say to dry in 15 minutes, but you should avoid getting the lenses wet for 24 hours.
Once again, the Meguiar’s Heavy Duty Headlight Restoration Kit left my headlights clear, but not crystal clear. The color of the repair disc varies depending on its roughness. However, the instructions do not specify the colors, only the numbers printed on the back. The last part of the instructions is a little vague, only saying “apply coating to gray applicator.” The only thing I did not use was headlight sealant, so the instructions were pretty clear, but could have been a little clearer.
This 3M headlight restoration kit does not require gloves, towels or sealant, and does not require extensive wet sanding. The first step is to attach the sanding pad holder to the drill and sand the dry lens with 500-grit sandpaper, then switch to the 800-grit sanding pad and sand the car headlight lens again until completely dry. Finally, perform a fine sanding with a 3000-grit foam sanding pad and water. To polish, attach the large foam pad to the holder and add a coin-sized amount of 3M abrasive compound. After polishing, wipe and dry the lens with a microfiber cloth.
The 3M Headlight Lens Restorer System is the best kit for repairing foggy headlights. Not only does it provide the clearest lenses, but each lens is color-coded and matches the instruction manual. The manual is very detailed, with helpful tips, color photos, and instructions in large print.
The right side has the original dirty headlight color, the left side is treated with 3M Headlight Lens Restoration System.
Adam’s headlight restoration kit comes with two microfiber towels and a pair of gloves, and a liquid rather than sandpaper like other restoration kits. The kit includes a heavy-duty restorer, detail spray, and polish. It does not include a protective sealant. The first step is to mount the backing plate on the drill and install a “blue microfiber cutting mat” – I’ll go into more detail on this later. Add 3-4 drops of the repair compound, then sand the hazy headlight housing. Once this step is complete, wipe the lens with a microfiber cloth and, if necessary, a detail spray. The second step is to repeat this step using a 4-inch blue foam pad. Finally, buff the surface with a white foam pad and dry with a microfiber towel.
The Adam’s Polishes headlight restoration kit is my least favorite. The packaging looks good, but the instructions are confusing. That “blue microfiber cutting mat” is actually a white mat covered in a thin layer of blue foam. I reached for the blue stuff, thinking I’d need the white mat later. To be fair, there are tutorials online, but since the mat is clearly white, the instructions shouldn’t say “blue.”
In my testing, the 3M Headlight Lens Restoration System was the best headlight restoration kit due to its easy-to-follow instructions and excellent results. Although the 3M kit does not include a UV sealant, it is by far the best of the bunch. I will be restoring Buddy’s other headlights with 3M products.
If you don’t have or don’t want to use a cordless drill, the Cerakote Ceramic Headlight Restoration Kit is the best of the two I’ve tried. It’s much easier to use than the Rust-oleum kit, and you don’t have to worry about which product to use at which step.
Before using any headlight restoration kit, here are some pro tips. First, always cover the paint with masking tape or duct tape first. It’s also a good idea to keep the hood of your car open to allow easy access to the entire headlight housing.
If you have problems with your headlights, a restoration kit will quickly and easily restore them to their required specifications. The restoration kit is excellent value for money. It is cheap, simple, makes your car safer, and only takes about 30 minutes to repair both headlights. There are other headlight restoration kits available on the market, such as the Turtle Wax Headlight Lens Restoration Kit, Sylvania Headlight Restoration Kit, Philips Headlight Restoration Kit, and Chemical Guys Headlight Restorer.