How To Clean Headlights Using Sandpaper

Use even pressure and sand away at the headlight until you have an even dull finish.

How to clean headlights using sandpaper. Then move to finer 2000 grit sandpaper keeping it wet as you sand. Cleaning headlights with sandpaper and polish if you re looking for the most effective method for completing diy headlight restoration this one is likely the winner. By polishing headlights you can restore the clarity and brightness of your car s headlights. Place the sand paper on the headlight it will stick by itself and continue to spray the whole headlight until the whole headlight is wet. Dip the sandpaper in clean water and wet the headlights.

Move the sandpaper in the same direction that you used with 600 grit sandpaper. Slowly start sanding the headlight making sure to spray water while you sand. For this one you ll remove the majority of the haze or foggy stuff with light grit sandpaper from 600 to 3 000 grit using a color sanding technique then finishing it up. Before you get started it s a good idea to tape off your headlights with painters tape since you will be using sandpaper. Polishing plastic headlights is quite simple and there is a couple of ways that you can go about it you can use the services of a professional headlight restoration service buy and use a commercial headlight cleaning and polishing kit or you can save a lot of.

To get the oxidation off these headlights we re going to be using three different grits of sandpaper to sand down any oxidation we re gonna start with a 500 grit. Find the rougher patches of the headlight and patiently scrub them until there is little resistance. Clean the headlights again with clean water. This will make it quicker to work since you won t have to worry about making contact with the paint. Use the wet 1200 grit sandpaper to get rid of the pits and scratches.

I m gonna be using a da just to speed up the process that just velcro s on this power sander we re gonna go from 500 to 800 grit and then to a final polish with a 3 000 grit. Have a clean cloth around so that you can wipe off the residue then you have to move to the 1400 grit sandpaper to start smoothing out the headlight. You ll want to sand in horizontal straight strokes. Make sure you always sand in the same direction and make sure to also keep the surface of the headlights wet throughout the process. If the factory coating begins to come off you will notice a hazy line begin to appear and change shape as it is sanded off.

Tape off the headlights and cover the paint. Almost like it is still brand new.