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I just cleaned mine with a wet tshirt soaked in acetone going in circles from one side to the other. It cleans up beautifully. I went over it again a second day because I didn't want the plastic to get tacky. They are no longer yellow and look nearly brand new. I am interested in seeing what happens if I hit them with a little Mag and aluminum polish to see if they will get even clearer. Actually I want to make it clear it was acetone finger nail polish remover. I don't know if pure acetone will work the same.
 
Just did my headlights with Mothers Mag & Aluminum Polish, I was impressed after I did the driver's side headlight!





I will concur with other people here and advise you don't use too much polish, it does leave scratches. They aren't obvious until you turn on your lights and look at them from an angle. I'm not a perfectionist, so it's fine as it is.
 
All I did was take out the bulb, and wash the inside with water, then remove the water and re-assemble. It was coated with salt from the winters after the spongy vent thingy fell out. The outside of the lens was just fine. You guys must be driving around through sandstorms? ;)
 
I use the used car salesman method with toothpaste. Keeps 'em shining bright and I could have sworn I sensed a minty smell when i turned my headlights on!!!

Worked really well. I should have cleaned the inside of the light when I was replacing the header panel.

John
 
I use Brasso or chrome polish and they seem to work very well. I have to redo them every year though. All these polishes are pretty much the same, fine alumina in a kerosene type carrier.

When new the headlight covers appear to have a hard coating on them, like eyeglasses. Once this wears off, then the underlying softer plastic is exposed. The original hard coating lasts many years, the soft base much less.

A friend was over and showed me another trick, she had a disposable mosquito repellent cloth wipe and gave each light a few smooth wipes and they cleared up very well. We did three of the cars in the fleet before the cloth was used up. I guess the DEET or whatever was in the wipe dissolved the plastic a bit, similar to the acetone mentioned earlier.
She got the wipes at a hardware store and said they are only a dollar or two each.
I don't know the brand name unfortunately.
 
I found the 3m kit to work the best out of the store-bought sets. I use Meguiars cleaner/polisher every time I wash the car to keep a layer of UV protection. I don't think any amount of wet-sanding can get a headlight as clear as new, unless you get it sandblasted inside and out.

I was fortunate to score new, never-installed oem headlight assemblies for $50, and for that price it was well worth just replacing and keeping those lights in good shape, as opposed putting hours of labor in for a second-rate result.
 
I used "Baking soda whitening tooth paste" from Crest and an old tooth brush to clean mine yesterday. No money, 3 coats each, and an hour later I had some awesomely clear head lights. I then put a UV resistant wax on them. I felt like I could see for miles!!

Here is the YouTube video by Chrisfix


And some pictures of 1 cleaned and 1 not. TA-DA!!!
Automotive parking light Automotive tail & brake light Vehicle Car Automotive lighting
Automotive parking light Vehicle Automotive tail & brake light Window Car
 
I think mine have finally come to an end. In fact the whole car seems to be toast, except for the inside, which is like-new, after 20 years on the rust-belt. I'll have to go look at a new Fucus- the Fusions are just too damn expensive compared to a Scort.
 
I think mine have finally come to an end. In fact the whole car seems to be toast, except for the inside, which is like-new, after 20 years on the rust-belt. I'll have to go look at a new Fucus- the Fusions are just too damn expensive compared to a Scort.
I'd sell you my 2014 Focus if I wasn't so upside down on the loan.

Kinda don't really care for it that much anymore.

GREAT car, just not really worth the 6 year loan obligation.
 
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