How to polish headlights - clean & restore without sanding! Mothers

[Music] hi guys this how to every step guide shows you how i restored cloudy car headlights using only metal polish and without sanding in turn easy-to-follow steps the problem we have here is cloudy car headlights plastic headlights go cloudy because the surface of the headlight oxidizes due to exposure to UV light from the Sun plastic headlights come new with a protective UV coating but this wears away over time the oxidization causes small pitting to the surface of the headlight which makes it slightly rough to the touch so step one clean the headlight lifter bond it throughout the polishing procedure to enable better access and reduce masking time use a wet wipe or similar to completely clean away any dirt from the headlight lens and the surrounding bodywork repeat wiping until completely clean any dirt left could cause scratches during polishing dry with a lint-free cloth as the headlights fully dry you will notice the appearance go back to the cloudy surface again step 2 mask around the headlight lens using bodyshop masking tape mask around the headlight ensuring the tape wraps around the bodywork edge so no paintwork is exposed at the edge you can use 10 mil white tape for this using a number of short lengths of bodyshop tape is easier to apply than one single length on the roll make sure none of the headlight lens has bodyshop tape on it otherwise that part will not get polished and will stay cloudy once the perimeter of the headlight is fully masked then mask the surrounding bodywork with 50 mil bodyshop tape this is to ensure the polishing wheel does not go over any exposed paintwork and cause dulling a common mistake is only to use the 10 mil masking tape which the polishing wheel overlaps and then dulls the paintwork step 3 apply polish to the headlight I used mother's mag and aluminium polish it works well cleaning up my headlights see the Amazon links in the description below apply a generous coating of mothers mag and aluminium polish to the headlight lens try to apply an even layer across the surface of the headlight lens to achieve uniform polishing step four apply polish to the polishing wheel install the drill polishing wheel in the electric drill and fix the polishing foam attachment see Amazon links in the description below to the drill polishing attachment and other tools and materials used apply a good even layer of mothers mag and aluminium polish to the polishing wheel foam attachment step 5 drill polished the headlight drill polished the headlight on a medium rpm and apply medium pressure with a side-to-side action [Applause] do not constantly drill polish in one area as there is a risk of overheating the surface of the headlight lens [Applause] the side-to-side action while polishing around the headlights ensures an even polish and no overheating of the lens [Applause] ensure all of the corners and edges of the headlight lens get a good polish to wear safety glasses when using the electric drill [Applause] once all the headlight has been polished do a quick second pass without applying any more polish [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] most of the oxidation should be removed by now and the headlights should be smooth and a lot clearer if the surface is still rough then do another polishing pass while applying slightly more pressure step 6 wipe down the headlight you need to thoroughly wipe down the headlight to remove any polish residue that will contain the rough oxidized layer this will then provide a clean surface for further polishing then repeat step 3 apply polish to the headlight this time apply a smaller coating of mothers mag and aluminium polish to the headlight lens again apply an even layer of polish across the surface of the headlight lens to achieve uniform polishing then repeat step 5 drill polish the headlight repeat step 5 using the same drill polishing foam attachment [Applause] again drill polish their headlight on a medium rpm and apply medium pressure with a side-to-side action [Applause] again do not constantly drill in one area as there is a risk of overheating the surface of the headlight lens [Applause] the side-to-side action while polishing around the headlight ensures an even polish and no overheating of the lens [Applause] [Applause] ensure all the corners and edges of the headlight lens get a good polish to [Applause] once all the headlights has been polished do a quick second pass without applying any more polish [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] then repeats step 6 clean the headlights lens use a clean microfiber cloth to wipe down the headlight you need to thoroughly wipe down the headlight to remove any polish residue that will contain the rough oxidized layer this will then provide a clean surface for buffing at this stage the headlight lens should be perfectly smooth to the touch and really starting to shine step 7 apply a light coat of polish this time apply a light coating of mothers mag and aluminium polish to the headlights lens fly an even layer of Polish across the surface of the headlight lens to achieve a uniform buffing polish the purpose of this thin coat of polish is for the light buff polishing to give the headlight lens a mirror-like shine step 8 apply polish to the drill buffer ply a small amount of mother's mag and aluminium polish to the buffing pad attachment remove the foam polishing pad from the drill polishing wheel and replace with the buffing pad attachment step 9 drill polish with the buffer wheel drill buff polish the headlight on a medium rpm and apply light pressure with a side-to-side action [Applause] again do not constantly drill buff polish in one area as there is a risk of overheating the surface of the headlight lens [Applause] [Applause] lightly buff polish all over the headlight lens in a side-to-side action [Applause] do between two to three complete passes over the headlight lens [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] step 10 wipe the headlight clean and remove the masking tape fold the microfiber cloth so the outside of the cloth is now clean then wipe away any remaining polish residue including around the edges of the headlight then fold the microfiber cloth again so the outside of the cloth is clean and then hand buff the headlight lens slowly peel off the bodyshop masking tape here is a tip for you peel the masking tape back on itself to minimize lifting off any loose paint work or lacquer if you pull the tape off at 90 degrees to the paintwork then you are more likely to lift the paint give a final buff with the microfiber cloth until you get a perfect shine from the headlight lens there we go guys job done the headlight looks literally brand-new with a mirror-like shine and you can now see perfectly through the headlight lens and see all the detail inside the headlight now the headlight lenses are clear again the light output will be increased meaning safer driving at night the front end of the car is now literally transformed back to new so here is the every step summary and here is a list of tools and materials required found this video useful if you did please like subscribe and leave comments below click above for more how-to every step videos

Channel: How2 EveryStep

Views: 294,480

Keywords: headlight, restoration, polishing, Mothers Mag & Aluminium Polish, car, motorcycle, cleaning

Id: J68_1dU0koY

Length: 19min 44sec (1184 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 10 2020