In the past, automakers designed headlight lenses made from glass so they were miniature in the size and shape they could produce. Since then, auto manufacturers began designing cars with plastic or polycarbonate headlight lenses. This modification generally occurred due to the convert in the develop of cars---cars became lighter and more aerodynamic, plus plastic was by far less costly to yield than glass. Today this plastic material is the chosen selection because it is very light and can be transformed into unlimited sizes and shapes to satisfy new car designs.
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Polycarbonate has its advantages but also has its disadvantages---namely oxidation / discoloration. To the naked eye one cannot tell that these plastic lenses are positively a porous material that expands ever so slightly when it gets hot. Degradation of the lens occurs over time. Having your headlights on or being exposed to the heat of the day causes the pores to open allowing debris from the road to get in. Debris, together with a composition of environmental factors such as the sun (Uv rays), smog, acid rain, car exhaust, and harsh chemicals used to wash you car can cause the plastic headlight lenses to come to be oxidized.
Plastic oxidation leads to lens discoloration, which transforms new, clear, bright, shiny plastic to a dull yellow tint that appears to be foggy, hazy, or cloudy. This process (oxidation), as described above, not only becomes an eyesore but also is unsafe. Because of the degradation of the plastic lens, less light passed straight through resulting in diminished visibility during night driving. The car owner either had to deal with these cloudy yellow, oxidized headlight lenses posing serious protection issues or purchase costly transfer headlights costing hundreds or thousands of dollars.
We feel it is primary to familiarize the public so that they may know and learn how to restore, clean, polish, and clear those cloudy, yellow plastic headlight lenses on their own without putting more money into the car manufacturer's pocket. One can restore headlights to like-new condition by taking off the top layer of oxidized plastic. This can be achieved straight through polishing, wet sanding, or straight through the use of chemicals. Auto manufacturers would rather you go to them for a headlight fix (charging as much as 0) or headlight transfer (0-,000). The top layer of plastic on the headlights contains a Uv polymer that retards or slows down the aging of the plastic lens. Therefore, it is leading to use a polish (containing Uv polymers) or Uv coating to slow down the oxidation or discoloration of the lens. Parking your car in the shade or garage, or maintaining the lens by washing, waxing, and polishing a minimum of every three months, could avoid damage to the headlight lens.
There are many companies that specialize in headlight recovery and one can positively find one by naturally putting in a keyword phrase such as "cloudy foggy headlights" into any of the favorite quest engines like google, yahoo, or msn. There are two types of headlight cleaners / headlight recovery kits:
1. Basic Headlight recovery Kit (for light discoloration)
2. Advanced Headlight recovery Kit (for more severe discoloration)
Most headlight recovery kits work highly well. Choosing a kit depends on the severity of your vehicle's lenses. Most kits ready online are very easy to use and do not require the use of special tools or training. Beware of kits that offer backing plates and drill attachments. While they may save time, they may cause irreversible damage due to assorted drill speeds causing burning or swirls in the plastic lens. First-time users should avoid these kits because it takes skill and institution to control the drill from making these mistakes and maybe slipping off and ruining a perfectly fine paint job.
In some kits like an Advanced Headlight recovery Kit, they may even furnish a small roll of blue painters tape to mask your headlight to safe your paint job during the recovery process. Along with both kits, one should receive a step-by-step brochure outlining how to clean headlights appropriately to derive bright, shiny headlamps while restoring optic clarity to your lenses. Both kits should carry a satisfaction guarantee. It is also a great resource if the enterprise has tech hold for anyone that has questions while reconditioning their headlamps so trained technicians can walk you straight through the quick and easy process of headlight restoration.
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