Fixing Cloudy Headlights for Good (Mar 2026)

Give the whole front end a good wash. You don't want a grain of sand from the bumper getting caught in your sandpaper and carving a deep gouge in the lens.

Tape won't stick to wet trim. Use a blower or a towel and make sure the gaps around the lights are bone dry.

I always put two layers of tape on the paintwork around the light. If you slip with the sandpaper (and you probably will), that second layer is your insurance policy.

Open the bonnet if you can, or chuck a sheet over it. The white runoff from sanding is basically liquid plastic and it's a pain to clean off once it dries.

Run your fingernail over the lens. If it feels rough, that's oxidation. If the cracks look like they are inside the plastic, that's 'crazing', usually caused by heat, and it might not come out completely.

Soak your paper for 10 mins. Spray the lens and start sanding in horizontal lines. You'll see yellow gunk coming off, that's the dead stuff. Keep going until the slurry turns white.

Dry the lens. It should look scary, completely frosted and opaque. If you still see yellow patches, you haven't sanded enough with the 800.

Now sand vertically. By changing direction, you can see when you've removed all the horizontal scratches from the 800 grit. It's a pro trick that saves heaps of time.

Back to horizontal. Keep it wet! If the paper grabs, you need more lube. A customer once brought in a light they'd 'dry sanded', it looked like they'd used a cheese grater. Don't be that guy.

Sand vertically again. The plastic should start looking a bit more translucent now. It'll still be foggy, but 'smooth' foggy.

This is where the magic starts. Use plenty of water. Spend a good 5 minutes per light here. The better you do this, the easier the polishing will be.

Wipe it dry and look at it from different angles with your torch. If you see any deep 'pigtail' scratches, you need to go back a step. (Trust me on this one, you don't want to see them after you've applied the coating).

Put a few pea-sized drops of compound on your pad. If using a drill or DA, keep the speed medium. Keep the pad moving so you don't build up too much heat. Heat is the enemy of plastic.

Wipe off the residue. The light should be about 90% clear now. If it's still a bit hazy, hit it with the compound again.

Switch to a softer foam pad and a finishing polish. This removes the tiny 'haze' left by the compound. It should look like glass now.

This is the most skipped step. Use Isopropyl Alcohol to wipe the lens. This removes the oils from the polish so your sealant can actually stick to the plastic. If you skip this, your coating will peel off like a bad sunburn.

Apply your ceramic coating or UV sealer in a shaded area. Follow the product instructions to a T. Usually, it's a wipe-on, wait a minute, wipe-off deal.