Headlight Care

[STex]

My cars and truck headlights are in good shape. No correction needed. I have some of the clear polish that Adams made for the clear bra material. Can I use this by hand to polish before sealing or waxing? I am trying to avoid firing up the polisher just for the headlights.  Clay, hand polish then wax or liquid sealer??? Thanks

Edited July 15, 2015 by STex

[Ricky Bobby]

Do they need polish?  From what I knew the clear polish was more of a UV protectant.  Just clay and seal them unless they need actual polishing.

[Chris@Adams]

If they need or you want to polish and you don't want to use a machine. I would clay, use Revive and follow up with QS.

[TheBurninator]

Personally if the UV coating that comes on the headlights isn't compromised, I wouldn't polish them at all. Just clay and seal.

 

If the UV coating is compromised then a headlight correction is in order and I would look into using something to add a UV coating back to them afterwards. Just sealing them doesn't last long and you are back to square one with clouded headlights.

 

Just my $0.02

[Team Adam's]

^^^ Kyle is spot on.

 

If the lights are in perfect shape, no failure, no current problems leave the full thickness of the factory UV coating intact. Just clay if they need it (they usually will) and get a coat or 2 of sealant on them for added protection. Other than that you can pretty much leave them be.

[kfxjc]

If the UV protection is compromised which product would you use that would contain a UV protectant in it.

[TheBurninator]

If the UV protection is compromised which product would you use that would contain a UV protectant in it.

 

This is a tricky question to answer.

 

If the UV protection is compromised, then I would most likely be doing a full headlight restoration. Maybe I will do a writeup soon. There's a certain Mini Cooper S sitting in my driveway that is in desperate need of one.

 

After performing a full restore I would probably end up using OC's Lens Coating. It is specifically designed for this job. If you search around on another "geeky" forum there is a thread discussing some cheaper methods as well.

 

If you do a restore and just apply say LPS, or QS you may find that it doesn't last more than about 6 months and they are back to being yellow.

 

I really feel a proper UV coating on headlights is clutch to preventing oxidization of the plastic lens in the short and long term.

[STex]

Thanks to all for the help.