Cleaning foggy headlights (looks like tiny scratches)

[nobb]

My headlight covers look clear, but when I turn on the lights there appears to be glaze. Up close, it is as if the the headlight cover has a lot of tiny scratches which diffuse light making it look glazy. This doesnt look like the typical headlight fog from oxidation. Ive tried polishing and rubbing compound on the inside and outside and it doesnt do anything.

Anyone have experience with this?

[funkedelic2]

Yeah i did before, tried everything to make it better, it just ended up making it look worse. I would just get new headlights, it will save you the hassle and for most cars their not very expensive.

[adidas]

Gotta use sand paper...400,600,800,1000

Take ur time with it as if you rush it ur gonna need to do it all over again!

Use soapy water and lots of it(wet sanding)!

Then use plastic polishing compund and scratch x

[89s1]

might not want to start as low as 400, and might want to go higher than 1000 too.

I finish most jobs with 2000 before compounding.

[RZRSHARP_SVX]

I have had good luck with FLITZ its really does make a difference

[Automotivelover]

Yup i have the same experience.

[rc2002]

If you have a power polisher, I've found that those work quite well in polishing surface scratches out of plastic.

But if they're deep pits then it would probably be easier just to get new headlights.

[schocker]

Yes, you could always try wetsanding them. This is a good guide I have read before, havnt tried it myself though, but the results look excellent.
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=227804

[nobb]

Thanks for the tips.

The thing is...this dont look like the typical headlight fog/glaze. It looks like a million little tiny scratches. At the edges they are perfectly clear. Ill try wetsanding later when I have time. I wonder if anyone else has had this before? Ive attached pics below to help describe this (thats not dust btw):

http://img75.imageshack.us/img75/3175/img0188eh7.th.jpg (http://img75.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0188eh7.jpg)http://img75.imageshack.us/images/thpix.gif (http://g.imageshack.us/thpix.php)

http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/1945/img0189re0.th.jpg (http://img89.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0189re0.jpg)http://img89.imageshack.us/images/thpix.gif (http://g.imageshack.us/thpix.php)

http://img110.imageshack.us/img110/538/img0190em8.th.jpg (http://img110.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0190em8.jpg)http://img110.imageshack.us/images/thpix.gif (http://g.imageshack.us/thpix.php)

[BlackArcher101]

I had exactly the same thing. Small deep pitting and scratches.

The key is to use sanding then compound. Start with 400 grit and wet sand like a mother f'er. If you start to see the water coming off the headlight turn milky, then you're doing it right. Graduallly move to the next finer grit each time (I usually take 3-5 minutes per headlight per grit). Once you complete the 2000 grit (I do 4 steps from 400 to 2000), the pitting and scratches should be gone and all you are left with is a hazy lens. Then use the plastic polish compound on it with a bit of elbow grease.