The 4 best techniques to renovate your car headlights

AGM Vision may offer the best LEDs on the market, but if you order them from our online store and install them on dirty, damaged headlights, you’ll lose out on performance and the “wow” factor.

Most motorists think that a quick clean of their headlights at the car wash is enough. That may be true for a new car, but over time, about every two or three months, you need to go further and move from simple cleaning to headlight restoration, for safety reasons and, possibly, for aesthetic reasons. How do you restore your car headlights? We’ll explain our tips and, first of all, why your headlights deteriorate so quickly.

Looking for the equipment right away? Check out our headlight restoration kits and our polymerization restorers.

Headlight restoration: safety and aesthetics

Yellowed or scratched headlights have a direct impact on lighting quality and therefore on your safety. Those of us who are older remember when headlights were made of glass, but, for safety, durability, and cost reasons, manufacturers switched to polycarbonate in the 80s. This extremely strong plastic does have its advantages. Its drawback: it tends to deteriorate quickly, because the plastic film on its surface is very sensitive to ultraviolet rays and the elements. In addition, it scratches easily during cleaning and everyday use.

➡️ A yellowed headlight can lead to a loss of efficiency of 50 % to 80 %.

Car headlight to be restored for optimal clarity

Should you remove your headlights to restore them?

It is always preferable to remove your headlights for cleaning. This allows you to restore the entire headlight, especially the most inaccessible areas. For example, cleaning between the fender and the headlight or around the front bumper can be tricky, depending on the vehicle. Don’t get too adventurous, because it’s always easier to take things apart than to put them back together. If your headlights cannot be removed easily, all headlight restoration techniques can be used on a headlight in place, provided you properly protect the area around the work area with masking tape. Ideally, apply this protection before each sanding and polishing step.

How do you restore your headlights? An overview of the different professional techniques

From the best-known technique to the most durable, here you’ll find how to restore your headlights according to their condition, particularly with our headlight restoration kits.

1 • The polishing technique: the best-known of them all

⭐ This polishing technique without sanding is intended only for headlight lenses that are not yet too yellowed or scratched.

To start, you need to work on a clean surface. The headlight must be meticulously cleaned and dried. Get a restoration kit consisting of several foam pads with a diameter of Ø100 mm, in different hardnesses, as well as a drill or polisher (preferably orbital) fitted with a small-diameter backing plate, from Ø75 to 100 mm. This will be easier to use and will make it easier to reach the corners of the headlight lens. Don’t forget polishing products (polish), with varying levels of abrasiveness.

1. Clean your headlights with an all-purpose cleaner. At AGM Vision, we really like using our AGM Vision Active Foam Aerosol, which is highly effective against long-stuck-on mosquitoes and dirt in general.
2. To start, choose a Medium or Hard foam pad (yellow or blue in the Rupes range).
3. Apply Hard V32 polish to it if your headlight is very cloudy and yellow. Otherwise, choose Medium V36 polish if your headlight is not too damaged.
4. Then, simply reduce the aggressiveness of the polishes and pads gradually to achieve the best transparency. Moisten the foam pads fairly regularly with a “Pad Conditioner” (Chemical Guys) so that the polish is distributed better and works as effectively as possible.
5. Finally, for a perfect finish, we recommend finishing the polishing with a Medium or Light foam pad, paired with a finishing polish or a special headlight polish. The latter is very useful, as it provides a very good finish and better UV protection.

Active Foam Aerosol

2 • The sanding + polishing technique

⭐ Compared with the previous technique, this one is more professional.

Long used in many garages and body shops, this technique is very effective and can restore very cloudy, yellowed, or even scratched headlights.

Nowadays, it is evolving and gradually being replaced by the gas restoration technique, which is faster and provides a clearer, more spectacular result.

To make sanding easier, equip yourself with a complete headlight restoration kit: a sander preferably fitted with a small-diameter backing plate, sanding discs with different levels of abrasiveness, and don’t forget the foam interface between the machine’s backing plate and the abrasive disc, so that the sanding paper conforms perfectly to the shape of the headlight. This allows for more even sanding and limits hot spots.

1. Clean the headlight with a degreasing cleaner and a drying microfiber cloth. Remember to protect the bodywork around the headlight with masking tape. Don’t hesitate to double or triple the thickness to avoid any risk.
2. For the best finish and transparency, ideally start with highly abrasive sanding discs, then gradually move to finer grits to refine the work. In the following steps, we combine dry headlight sanding and wet sanding. Start with dry sanding discs, which are the most effective for getting started. Use P180 or P240 abrasive discs if your headlight has a thick yellowish layer or is very scratched. The aim of this first step is to achieve a completely white, uniform surface, with no scratches or varnish residue. It should be as clean as possible so that the other steps go well and the result is optimal.
3. Use a P320 dry sanding disc. Practical tip: use the crosshatch technique to clearly see the sanding pattern each time you change grit. Then continue, gradually reducing the abrasiveness of the sanding discs: P500, then P800. Sanding with P800 grit is a key step for greatly reducing and removing all the sanding marks created during the previous steps. For a good result, take your time with this step.
4. Next, move on to P1000 dry sanding paper. The transparency starts to become more noticeable.
5. At this stage, wet sanding can be very useful because, as you may have noticed, dry sanding discs clog very quickly due to the fine particles. That’s why wet sanding is a very good choice for finishing! By spraying water onto the headlight and sanding disc with a spray bottle, you prevent the abrasive discs from clogging thanks to the water’s highly effective cleaning action. For the final sanding step, go over it again with a P1000 abrasive disc, but this time wet, then continue with P2000, or even P3000, still wet. Remember to clean the headlight as you sand with a microfiber cloth. It takes a while, but Rome wasn’t built in a day.
6. Once sanding is complete, you can move on to polishing the headlight. To do this, read the previous paragraph to learn about this technique: “ The polishing technique: the best-known of them all ”. Your headlight is ready to be polished, so you won’t need to use a blue “ Hard ” foam pad or “ Hard ” polish. You can start directly with a yellow “ Medium ” foam pad, paired with Medium or Light V36 polish.
7. After several quick passes with the polisher, keep the yellow “ Medium ” foam pad and apply “ Special Headlight ” polish to it. Make several passes, then switch to a white “ Light ” foam pad, still coated with “ Special Headlight ” polish. Set the machine to its maximum speed and admire the result! Your headlight is clear and protected against UV rays for a while.

3 • The steam restoration technique

⭐ The headlight restoration technique using steam is very effective for headlights that are badly damaged, yellowed, or very scratched.

Also known as “ gas headlight restoration ” or “ headlight restoration by polymerization ”, this new generation of restoration works through a chemical reaction called “ polymerization ”. This process involves small molecules reacting with one another to form molecules with higher molar masses. To carry out the polymerization process optimally, simply sand the headlight, then apply the steam produced by the product in the heated stainless steel container. The result is stunning and the clarity incredible. It is the quickest service to perform compared with all the others.

Of course, AGM Vision offers its own solution to show you how to restore your headlights. Suffice it to say that, if our business is designing LEDs for vehicles, the headlight is their showcase! When our customers come to our workshop to have LEDs installed, it would be absolutely unacceptable to return a vehicle to them without carefully restored headlights. Here again, we of course started by testing competing products, but the results were not up to standard, nor durable enough for our liking, and the equipment fell a little short of our requirements. So we designed our own steam restoration solution using “ polymerization ”, which we believe is one of the best alternatives on the market. We exclusively offer in France a more effective and durable polymerization product than those usually found on the market. Our secret lies mainly in the product’s composition, formulated with purer agents and no residue, as you’ll see from its transparent color. Using this product allows for better steam distribution and, as a result, a better outcome. Using a 5H formulation makes the result much more durable than that achieved with conventional blue polymerization products, which are less refined and more sensitive to external damage.

NEW Premium 5H steam headlight restoration kit ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

VIEW PRODUCT

Introducing our Premium steam headlight restoration kit: the high-end package designed using the best of our expertise

It includes:

• 1 glossy black Premium heating container, with chrome trim, heat protection for your fingers, and an on/off button  
• 1 curved-spout lid for optimal steam distribution over the headlight
• 1 lid with a hose for reaching the hard-to-access corners of the headlight
• 2 replacement seals
• 1 200 cm power cord
• 1 refill of high-quality Premium liquid + 5H ceramic for a very durable result, clear liquid, 600 ml capacity
• 6 sheets of wet-and-dry sandpaper (P180-P280-P360-P600-P800-P1200)
• 1 hand sanding block
• 1 masking tape

➡️ Find our steam headlight restoration kits in our store, available in an entry-level version (laboratory quality) or a Premium version for an impeccable finish.

Our recommendation? The Premium steam headlight restoration kit, a best-seller acclaimed by automotive enthusiasts and professionals.

It is ideal for anyone looking for a durable result with no compromises: before a track day, a competition, a car show, a concours d’élégance or, quite simply, to regain optimal lighting quality without having to repeat the restoration a few months later.

How do you use the steam or polymerization headlight restoration kit?

1. Start by thoroughly cleaning the headlight with a degreasing cleaner and a drying microfiber cloth. Remember to protect the bodywork around the headlight with masking tape. Don’t hesitate to double or triple the thickness to avoid any risk.
2. Next, you’ll need to sand the headlight. Warning: for polymerization to work perfectly, the sanding must be flawless. Don’t leave any varnish residue and make sure the sanding is complete and uniform, as any defect can have harmful consequences. For optimal sanding, read the previous paragraph “ The sanding + polishing technique ”. Only sand; do not polish your headlight, otherwise the polymerization step will not work properly. We recommend sanding the headlight to an abrasive grit of 1500 or 2000.
3. Once sanding is complete, simply fill the stainless steel container with the supplied liquid refill. Fill it to one quarter of its capacity. Put the lid in place, then plug in the stainless steel heating container. Don’t forget to switch the button to “On”, then wait about 5-10 minutes for the heated liquid to turn into steam.
4. At this stage, the magic happens. The result is instant and incredible. To apply the steam, simply tilt the device slightly, taking care not to let any liquid run onto the headlight. Once you’ve taken the necessary precautions and the device has reached the right temperature, apply the steam to the previously sanded headlight. Stand very close to the headlight and make several crosshatch passes to cover its entire surface thoroughly. Now admire the result: the headlight is at its clearest and is now like new.

4 • The old-school technique: sanding + bodywork clear coat

⭐ This headlight restoration technique is the most durable and produces very good results, but in return, it requires much more expertise than all the others: professional equipment, a dedicated environment, and time, taking into account the drying time of the clear coat.

1. Clean the headlight with a degreasing cleaner and a drying microfiber cloth. Remember to protect the bodywork around the headlight with masking tape. Don’t hesitate to double or triple the thickness to avoid any risk.
2. Sand your headlights following the instructions in the previous paragraph “ The sanding + polishing technique ”. Only sand; do not polish your headlight, otherwise the clear-coating step will not be possible.
3. Apply clear coat to your headlight using a paint gun or an aerosol clear-coat spray if you are not a professional. We recommend doing this in a dust-free environment, ideally in a paint booth. Full curing can take several hours.

Latest developments in headlight restoration

Were you wondering how to restore your car headlights? Now you have the answer! Visit our social media regularly: YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, as well as our website. This way, you can learn about the latest developments and AGM VISION devices for effective headlight restoration, depending, of course, on your requirements and budget.