Very effective headlight lens cleaner

mohawk69

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Apr 27, 2005
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Richmond Hill, GA (Savannah)
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1996 B4, 1996 B4V, 2000 Beetle TDI
This may have been mentioned before but fwiw.... Someone mentioned this elsewhere and a friend tried it and it worked just as stated. It takes all of two minutes and it's inexpensive. Find a product with the highest amount of DEET. I found deep woods off with 25% DEET. They had some with only 10% so check. Spray on and wipe off. I think if you do it when it's cool and out of the sun it'll probably work better since you can leave it sit for a few seconds. I intend to do it again when I have a little time and then I'll put on a coat of wax. Better and much easier than anything else I've seen.
 

mohawk69

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Richmond Hill, GA (Savannah)
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1996 B4, 1996 B4V, 2000 Beetle TDI
It's been 4 or 5 days and all is still well. I intend to do it once or twice again and then wash and wax the lenses. I'll try not to get any on the paint but isn't every VW over two weeks old devoid of any remaining clearcoat anyway?
 

BobnOH

not-a-mechanic
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May 29, 2004
Location
central Ohio
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New Beetle 2003 manual
One member was putting high SPF sunscreen on every month or so. Anybody try that?
 

stmark

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Jul 4, 2011
Location
WA
TDI
03 jetta wagon
I have a 2003 wagon with 200k on it. Live in WA state so not a lot of uv problems. I used the 3M kit on the lens, easy. Not a lot of clouding, mainly in front of the headlight bulb, probably from heat.? After the process, I notice there is dirt and streaks on the interior of the lens. Great. Going to take the bulb out and determine if I can clean the interior. ANyone else notice this? Is the lens only replaceable?
 

KLXD

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Location
Lompoc, CA
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'98, '2 Jettas
So you neutralize some vinegar with baking soda and rub that on the lens?

Looked better after but it wasn't clear. Just cleaner. I didn't listen to the audio so I don't know what he was claiming about the finished job.

My sister in law wanted to try it so I gave here an old '2 headlight to try. It was bad, even yellow, not just cloudy. Didn't do anything.

The outside of the lens is oxidized or broken down chemically. Only way to remove it is with abrasives.
 
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andreigbs

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Location
Walworth Co., Wisconsin
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N/A
Technically the baking soda acts as the abrasive, the vinegar is used only enough to make a paste. This is then rubbed gently onto the headlight.

It requires several rounds but it worked well for me. A coat of wax and buffing will seal it one you're done.

It's practically free to try and you won't hurt anything. Each headlight takes about 30 min to do properly.
 
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KLXD

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Lompoc, CA
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'98, '2 Jettas
Seems to me the baking soda reacts with the vinegar forming sodium acetate and CO2. Unreacted baking soda dissolves in the water the vinegar was diluted with in the bottle.

If you had an excess of baking soda so some didn't dissolve there would be a mild abrasive effect. But then why not just use baking soda and water and avoid the fizzy mess?

Again, the light in the video was not clear when he finished.
 

andreigbs

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Walworth Co., Wisconsin
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Chemical reactions are as you state, no debate there. The idea is that he used just enough vinegar to make a grainy paste. You can also use water, of course, and other videos show that option.

The fizzy mess actually helps to lift the residue that you'll be removing from the lens as you rub it. Vinegar being the acetic acid it is, makes a pretty good cleaning solution albeit a bit stinky.

I was just sharing my experience that it does work, and quite well. The fact that it's basically free (since nearly everyone has these items in their pantry) is just a bonus. If one prefers to use water instead of vinegar, that is perfectly acceptable as well :)

The other thing I've found that works is rubbing compound, the kind used to remove light scratches and swirls from your paint. I think 3M makes some, as do other brands. It's a nice gritty paste that you patiently rub the lens with several times with a cleaning in between each session. For the record, I've used the power drill and special sanding kit option too; way more time consuming and you risk damaging the paint around the headlight if your drill control is wobbly at all. This manual method is a lot safer.
 

tactdi

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Joined
Jun 21, 2010
Location
North Carolina
TDI
2005.5 Jetta
I use Meguiars Plastic Cleaner #17 and Polish #10. I found a trick to coat the plastic lens with equal parts Mineral Spirits and urethane once cleaned and polished. Seems to help keep the lens from yellowing for about 10 months vs 6 months without the coat.
 

Mongler98

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Mar 23, 2011
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COLORADO (SE of Denver)
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98 Jetta TDI AHU 1.9L (944 TDI swap in progress) I moved so now i got nothing but an AHU in a garage on a pallet.
the ONLY correct way to permanently and properly fix a headlamp lenses is to sand it down with a sanding kit, then buff, polish, degreese, claybar, then mask off, and do 2 coats of clear coat, then a wet sand at 2500 grit, then 2 more coats of clear and another sanding, Claybar, then a nice coat of a quality ceramic paint protector

any other is not going to last and will hase up again with time and sun exposure.

if your trying to sell the car, just rub the hell out of it with toothpaste until its nice
 

hey_allen

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Nov 25, 2006
Location
Altus, OK
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2000 Jetta TDI
I hate to sound like a shill, but I got 1.5 years out of a $30 Walmart polishing job.


The auto center at the one near my home had a Mk4 headlight sitting on the counter, half polished, so I had to give it a try. ~1 hour to have the work done, and I got to get some shopping done while waiting.


It's just in the last month or so started to show a little hazing, so I'm counting it money reasonably well spent.
 

Mongler98

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COLORADO (SE of Denver)
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98 Jetta TDI AHU 1.9L (944 TDI swap in progress) I moved so now i got nothing but an AHU in a garage on a pallet.
I hate to sound like a shill, but I got 1.5 years out of a $30 Walmart polishing job.


The auto center at the one near my home had a Mk4 headlight sitting on the counter, half polished, so I had to give it a try. ~1 hour to have the work done, and I got to get some shopping done while waiting.


It's just in the last month or so started to show a little hazing, so I'm counting it money reasonably well spent.
Sanding kit, $12
Buffing compound $5
some microfiber rags $1
Claybar $20 (If you car enough to do the head lights, you care enough to do a good cleaning so im not counting this as it should be in your car cleaning kit)!
Clear coat $4
Ceramic Paint layer $15

So for about $40 bucks, you can do it once and NEVER do it again!
And you have some nice materials to put on your wheels or your car, that ceramic coating is EPIC.

If your not willing to spend a full day on your week end on it, yea $30 was well spent but it can be done better, at least you didnt use toothpaste!
 

2000alhVW

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Silver Spring, MD
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2000 Golf
the ONLY correct way to permanently and properly fix a headlamp lenses is to sand it down with a sanding kit, then buff, polish, degreese, claybar, then mask off, and do 2 coats of clear coat, then a wet sand at 2500 grit, then 2 more coats of clear and another sanding, Claybar, then a nice coat of a quality ceramic paint protector

any other is not going to last and will hase up again with time and sun exposure.
^^^^ yes.

I've polished the headlights on a few vehicles, So far, I've been lucky they were the flat style, without the little dribbles, so they were easy to sand down.

The issue is that the top layer of the plastic lens becomes...junk. Most of it is oxidation as UV rays affect the plastic, but some of it is also dirt, grime, sand, bugs, baked on as you drive when the lens is hot from the light.

The bug spray/deet is a cool science trick, but it doesn't work. I guess technically it kinda does, but barely. I remember a shady guy standing out front of Advance Auto holding an unmarked can (bug spray with label torn off) approaching people saying "I'll clean your lights for $10". He even 'gave me a sample' and wiped his rag down the middle of my light... Nice of him to leave me with a streak like that.
2 days later, streak looked the same as it did before.
the bug spray 'melts' off the top layer, but leaves it vulnerable so it oxidized even more rapidly.

I picked up a set of lights for a Tacoma I owned. They weren't badly oxidized in the typical cloudy way, but they had this horizontal dis-colored streak about 2/3 down, where I suppose the heat is most intense. I sanded it down, polished it, and did clear coat. These are a few pictures of the process

Original condition. Got that streak, and some spiderweb pattern in the lens, also kind of an orange peel pattern


This is about half way through. I started very fine steel wool, then 500 grit, 800, 1000, 1500, 2000, 2500.


This is the finished product, before and after. Both lights started in similar condition.
 
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BamaB4S

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Oct 28, 2011
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AL
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1996 Passat
Wipe New is $10 on Amazon and has thousands of 4/5 star reviews. Almost 2 years later the lens covers are still crystal clear. Take your time with the abrasive pad before applying the product with nitrile gloves. Once it dries seal it with a high quality wax.
 

Mongler98

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Mar 23, 2011
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COLORADO (SE of Denver)
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98 Jetta TDI AHU 1.9L (944 TDI swap in progress) I moved so now i got nothing but an AHU in a garage on a pallet.
Wipe New is $10 on Amazon and has thousands of 4/5 star reviews. Almost 2 years later the lens covers are still crystal clear. Take your time with the abrasive pad before applying the product with nitrile gloves. Once it dries seal it with a high quality wax.
amazon reviews are from people who have 10 minutes of time with the product, You NEVER focus on the good reviews for anything, ONLY the bad reviews.
Still cheep for a one time use of sanding pads, id buy it fro the sanding pads only, Skip the wax, Ceramic coating. You have no idea how EPIC this stuff is.
 

BobnOH

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central Ohio
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After a couple bad experiences, plus the social impact of the company, I no longer purchase from Amazon. And internet reviews are generally worse than useless.
 

Lightflyer1

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Sep 13, 2005
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Round Rock, Texas
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2015 Beetle tdi dsg
On the other hand I have had pretty good experiences with Amazon. Good service, good return policy, excellent products to choose from, very fast delivery. I leave the social impact of the company to those who work there. If you don't like it effect change or leave. I am just glad they chose not to come to Austin! They aren't always the cheapest though and it pays to shop around before buying anything. I look for reviews in other places than the place selling the item.
 

KLXD

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Lompoc, CA
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'98, '2 Jettas
What'd they do that K-Mart, Target, Wal-Mart, etc didn't do. Not to mention what ebay's become.
 

Fahrvegnugen

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Burlington Vt
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01 golf 1.9 alh gls silver
Scale of the social impact is the difference. As the effectiveness of a distribution increases the impact worsens. When there is just one supplier left, dropping our desires down with drones, will the only hope left be as an employed engineer or one per-center? Belonging to wealth, is it really the highest of humanity?

If someone is living in Seattle now...is there an alternative to working for amazon? The cost of living there doesn’t leave many choices. Want something affordable not made in China with quality in mind? Hmm...Responsible economics could include regional and social well being. That would require laws and oversight, since we appear to move farther away from such responsibility.

I tend to avoid amazon and Walmart, when there’s a choice, but sometimes question my sanity.
 

Mongler98

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Joined
Mar 23, 2011
Location
COLORADO (SE of Denver)
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98 Jetta TDI AHU 1.9L (944 TDI swap in progress) I moved so now i got nothing but an AHU in a garage on a pallet.
Scale of the social impact is the difference. As the effectiveness of a distribution increases the impact worsens. When there is just one supplier left, dropping our desires down with drones, will the only hope left be as an employed engineer or one per-center? Belonging to wealth, is it really the highest of humanity?
If someone is living in Seattle now...is there an alternative to working for amazon? The cost of living there doesn’t leave many choices. Want something affordable not made in China with quality in mind? Hmm...Responsible economics could include regional and social well being. That would require laws and oversight, since we appear to move farther away from such responsibility.
I tend to avoid amazon and Walmart, when there’s a choice, but sometimes question my sanity.
LOL WUT?
a bit off the rocker there, but i get what your sayin
SO BACK ON TOPIC
toothpaste is the best "poor mans" way to do this job.
2.00 at any local store, 1.50 at Walmart and i go buy a 6 pack at amazon of the cinnamon flavored crack toothpaste on amazon for about $4 bucks.
 
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