How to clean your car headlights

Every driver knows perfectly well that, after a certain period of time, the car headlights tend to age and lose much of their original effectiveness. Yellowing, opacity, dirt: there are many things that can ruin the glass of these important elements. It is therefore necessary to know how and why the headlights should be cleaned.

This step is essential to ensure the safety of the driver and the people accompanying you, but also other drivers. The lamp must be visible from a distance of not less than 150 metres, this applies to the front and rear. That is why the maintenance of headlights is essential. So, let's start?

Index of topics covered
Why clean car headlights
How to Clean Mattified Headlights
How to solve yellowed car headlights
A special trick: use toothpaste
How to clean the inside of headlights
You have to clean the plastic of the headlights
Do you clean your car headlights?

Why clean car headlights

It's useless to be around, to go out and say things as they are. A good cleaning of the car headlights is one of the things to do to be able to drive safely. The dirt and opacity of the glass in the headlights, for example, will inevitably lead to a worsening of the situation. And visibility in the dark.

Light from inside the headlights will come out as dim, weak, insufficient to ensure the driver a perfect view.

To remedy this situation, the car headlights must be cleaned constantly. Obviously, one cannot think of having a single solution. The type of luminaire, whether it is an internal or external cleaning, and above all the type of problem, must be taken into account.

How to Clean Mattified Headlights

One of the first problems with headlights is the matting of glass. Whether it is a car or a larger vehicle, such as a truck or a mini van, the glass of headlights will inevitably undergo a process of matting over time. They thus become less transparent.

How to Clean Mattified Headlights

Before thinking about replacing lenses that have been damaged by time, it is important to clean the glass properly. In most cases, no additional costs will be incurred with good cleaning. With a good antioxidant you can do this job in minutes, giving your car headlights their original shine.

How to solve yellowed car headlights

Over the years, the car will undergo a process of ageing. This is normal, even if you pay the utmost attention and perform all the revisions you cannot solve this problem. But this does not mean that you have purchased a machine of little value. As time goes by, it is inevitable that the headlights will turn yellow.

Just as with headlights that have become opaque due to the patina of time, yellowing is also a problem that makes it difficult for the driver of the vehicle. There are many solutions and quality products to this type of problem that can be adapted to your needs: there are light restoration kits, polishing products, and more or less effective abrasive paste.

A special trick: use toothpaste

If you went to the shops selling such products, you will have noticed that they are not super cheap solutions. If you want to buy a polish for valuable headlights, you will necessarily have to spend a reasonable amount of money. Fortunately, we can draw up alternative roads. Where the wallet does not come, the ingenuity can come.

Want to clean the yellowed headlights of your car? Well, as you saw in the video I linked to you, you don't need miracle products, you just need a simple toothpaste. All you have to do is spread the product over the entire surface of the spotlight and rinse it out.

It may seem like a convenient, homely solution. DIY and improvisation based. But try it just once and you'll see if your car's headlights won't get back to their original appearance. This way, no more difficulties in driving. No fear of being on a dark street with low lighting.

How to clean the inside of headlights

Take the machine to your body shop or mechanic to clean your headlights: how much does it cost? This is a remarkable expense, more or less out of the 100 euros. If you don't want such an important figure to leave your pockets, it's better to find solutions and solve your problems yourself. In fact, it is not a problem to clean the matte headlights inside.

Even with the most complex cleaning of car headlights you can get by yourself. All you need is to have the tools to remove the headlight, a good cleaning product and a little patience at hand. Let's see in sequence what are the steps to clean the headlights internally mattified without damaging the car.

Open the bonnet of your car.
Fix the bonnet with the safety rod.
Start unscrewing the screws that hold the individual headlight.
Once the headlights have been removed, rest them on a workbench.
Wipe the product with a cloth on both the inside and outside of the headlight.
Wait about fifteen minutes.
Clean the luminaire with water and remove the product with dirt.
All this. In the space of twenty winds your headlight glass will return as new, causing any stains and/or traces of the passage of time to go away. However, he is paying attention to one detail. It is not enough to clean the glass only; you must also clean another component that forms the luminaire as a whole.

You have to clean the plastic of the headlights

You also have to take care of the plastic surrounding the outside of your car's headlight. When cleaning glass, you should be careful not to damage the plastic with the cloth you are using which will obviously be soaked in a product that is good for glass but not for plastic. In these cases you have to be careful, you have to choose the right solution.

How to clean the inside of headlights

Not only the glass of the luminaire, but also the outer cladding (the headlamp reflector) must be cleaned and kept in an optimum condition. Always remember that cleaning your headlights is a form of roadside insurance.

As far as this external part is concerned, the best thing to do is to be recommended directly by a hardware manufacturer - or the mechanic, the workshop that sells spare parts - who will be able to tell us the type of abrasive paste best suited to remove scratches from the plastic.

Do you clean your car headlights?

Whatever you decide to do, cleaning your headlights is one of those things you can't forget. If you want to drive your car safely, it is very important to take care of every aspect, especially the view. Headlights are important for your driving, try to take care of them.