Foggy Headlight cleaning hack

[Wild one]

Okay i gotta say this is one i've never heard of,but i might give it a whirl on my old winter beater Regal,as the headlights on it,need a good cleaning on a yearly basis.

Household hack: Cleaning foggy headlights with bug spray

News 6 Anchor and Insider Guide Crystal Moyer tries out another household hack.

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[18CrewDually]

That's been going around for years. Temporary results will vary.

 

[mikeru]

I'm willing to try it on my beater. The headlights on my '06 Pathfinder clouded up and now it's a yearly thing to buff them with some rubbing compound to bring them back (mostly). But then I have a mess to clean up. If the bug repellent works anywhere near as well I'll switch to that LOL.

 

[Wild one]

I'm willing to try it on my beater. The headlights on my '06 Pathfinder clouded up and now it's a yearly thing to buff them with some rubbing compound to bring them back (mostly). But then I have a mess to clean up. If the bug repellent works anywhere near as well I'll switch to that LOL.

My old beater Regal has the same issue,if you beat me to it,keep us updated.We have snow on the ground here,so i'm not sure i'll be able to find bug spray easy right now,lol

 

[Wild one]

I'm willing to try it on my beater. The headlights on my '06 Pathfinder clouded up and now it's a yearly thing to buff them with some rubbing compound to bring them back (mostly). But then I have a mess to clean up. If the bug repellent works anywhere near as well I'll switch to that LOL.

Well i'll be dammed it actually works Mikeru.I dug through our summer goody bag and we still had a spray bomb of Off with 25% Deet,and all i did was spray it on the headlights of our old Regal,i didn't even wipe them,and they're probably about 95% clearer then they were.I don't know how long it'll last,but it's temporary clarity sure surprised me.I even did it outside on the driveway,and we're well below freezing here,and it still worked

 

[18CrewDually]

Maybe update us in a couple of weeks. I have my predictions. Anytime I seen it tried they come back 3 times as bad.
My 04 Taco was pretty bad. I wet sanded with 800, 1200, 2000, then polished with an orbital buffer. Followed up with a 90% alcohol wipe down and sprayed clear over them. They look mint. That was 13 months ago.

 

[Wild one]

Maybe update us in a couple of weeks. I have my predictions. Anytime I seen it tried they come back 3 times as bad.
My 04 Taco was pretty bad. I wet sanded with 800, 1200, 2000, then polished with an orbital buffer. Followed up with a 90% alcohol wipe down and sprayed clear over them. They look mint. That was 13 months ago.

I've done that on the Regal and even went all the way to 3,000 grit wet and dry sandpaper,followed up with polishing,then hit the lights with headlight protector,and if it lasts a year,i'm doing good,lol.I haven't done the headlights on it,in about 18 months,so they were getting really foggy,i was gonna do them the traditional way again this fall,but winter hit us early,so i didn't get around to doing them,but i was totally surprised at how well the bug spray worked for now,how well it holds up,is to be seen yet.Considering all i did was spray it on,i didn't even wipe them,it's alot easier and less time consuming then doing it the old school way of wet sanding them /polishing them and putting on the liquid protector,that was usually a full afternoons job by the time i was done both lights,and didn't really last all that long.
If it doesn't pan out,i can always go back to the labour intensive way of doing them,lol

 

[Treburkulosis]

Your best bet it to wet sand and polish them, and then apply PPF over them. That is the only real way to fix them.

 

[Wild one]

Your best bet it to wet sand and polish them, and then apply PPF over them. That is the only real way to fix them.

That only lasts maybe a year,and is labour intensive.I've been sanding and coating the headlights on my old winter beater Regal that way for years,and at best it might last a year before they're fogged over again
I've actually got a partially used Simenize and Meguirs headlight clarity kits sitting on my shelf ,and neither kit provided anymore then a years protection at best,and by the time i had them sanded all the way to 3,000 grit wet/dry and then polished them,it was a good afternoons project,while the bug spray was a spray job and walk away project,even if it only lasts 6 months,it's still a way easier fix,and alot less labour

 

[Treburkulosis]

That only lasts maybe a year,and is labour intensive.I've been sanding and coating the headlights on my old winter beater Regal that way for years,and at best it might last a year before they're fogged over again

When you put the PPF over them, they last 10+ years. Just wet sanding and and polishing won't last anytime.

 

[Wild one]

When you put the PPF over them, they last 10+ years. Just wet sanding and and polishing won't last anytime.

Yea i'm not going out and buying a sheet of gold plated PPF then cutting/trimming and trying to get it to stick to a headlight on a car that's 25 years old and only gets used in the winter,plus throw in the fact i'd probably have to drive a 100 miles just to get a sheet of PPF,as it's not really something you buy in the local corner store up here lol.That ain't happening,especially if the bug spray works long enough to get the car through the winter.

 

[mikeru]

Well i'll be dammed it actually works Mikeru.I dug through our summer goody bag and we still had a spray bomb of Off with 25% Deet,and all i did was spray it on the headlights of our old Regal,i didn't even wipe them,and they're probably about 95% clearer then they were.I don't know how long it'll last,but it's temporary clarity sure surprised me.I even did it outside on the driveway,and we're well below freezing here,and it still worked

Glad to hear you had good results with it. I just did the annual polishing on the Pathfinder headlights about two months ago so I wasn't planning to try the bug fix until next year anyway. Keep us posted on how long it is until you need to do it again LOL.

Your best bet it to wet sand and polish them, and then apply PPF over them. That is the only real way to fix them.

I wouldn't consider that a fix but we can agree to disagree. I've never tried the PPF, and I'm sure that would make it last longer. But the only real way to fix them IMO is to replace the headlights. I've done the sand and polish thing and it's not worth the time for how long it lasts. Maybe with the PPF it would last longer but I haven't tried that.

 

[18CrewDually]

You can not just sand and polish. You gave to seal them with a clear coat. Sand and polish alone will not last. Clearing them is key.

 

[Wild one]

You can not just sand and polish. You gave to seal them with a clear coat. Sand and polish alone will not last. Clearing them is key.

You mean like a spray on clear coat that's applied to a vehicles finish? Both the PPF and clear coat might be great ideas,but not worth the expense in my case on a 25 year old Regal,that only gets drove around my small city in the winter,the rest of the time it sits facing into the sun on the street in the summer.Hell i finally changed oil in it this fall,and it's probably been at least a 1/2 dozen years since i changed oil in it last,lol.The car has a decent set of winter tires on it,and that's about all,lol

 

[18CrewDually]

You mean like a spray on clear coat that's applied to a vehicles finish? Both the PPF and clear coat might be great ideas,but not worth the expense in my case on a 25 year old Regal,that only gets drove around my small city in the winter,the rest of the time it sits facing into the sun on the street in the summer.Hell i finally changed oil in it this fall,and it's probably been at least a 1/2 dozen years since i changed oil in it last,lol.The car has a decent set of winter tires on it,and that's about all,lol

Automotive clear because of the high UV protection is best, yes. But last year I used an $8 can of aerosol clear when I did the Taco. Maybe 15 min of work each side.

This is the before. From the top down 3/4 was fogged out & crusty.


The after is a pic I took just now, so a year later and still looks mint. Especially for 20 yrs old.

 

[Wild one]

Automotive clear because of the high UV protection is best, yes. But last year I used an $8 can of aerosol clear when I did the Taco. Maybe 15 min of work each side.

This is the before. From the top down 3/4 was fogged out & crusty.
View attachment 530877

The after is a pic I took just now, so a year later and still looks mint. Especially for 20 yrs old.
View attachment 530878

Looks good,but honestly the bug spray cleared up my foggy lights better then that. My lights were in far worse shape then yours before hand,and by the pic,turned out clearer then yours are.So far i'm a fan of the bug spray,even if it only lasts 6 months i'm way ahead of the game,as it's just a matter of a quick spray again next fall

 

[18CrewDually]

And don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to convince you. Just sharing for anyone that might want to try it. One note, if you're spraying the clear go light even coat. It will run fast. And can alligator when it dries. I might of done the passenger side headlight twice due to too heavy of a coat. So I probably got another 20 minutes into that side. Driverside though was one take.

 

[18CrewDually]

Looks good,but honestly the bug spray cleared up my foggy lights better then that. My lights were in far worse shape then yours before hand,and by the pic,turned out clearer then yours are.So far i'm a fan of the bug spray,even if it only lasts 6 months i'm way ahead of the game,as it's just a matter of a quick spray again next fall

They're clear as a sheet of glass. It's getting dark here and the flash drowns it out so that's the best I could capture. If I think of it I'll try in broad daylight tomorrow.

 

[Wild one]

This is 1 quick spray with OFF ,the headlights have internal fogging at the top,that i'm not sure how you'd fix,with-out pulling them apart.The headlights were in way worse shape then the foglights at the bottom.For a 1 minute fix,that cost virtually nothing,as you could probably do 50 sets of lights from one spray bomb of OFF bug spray,i'm totally impressed

 

[18CrewDually]

Pictures don't do'em justice. Time will tell on the anti-bug juice.