Plastic headlight cleaning..Now done for a total of 40p

[boneybradley]

I need to clean my headlights and there bloody plastic (and have years of crap on them, I have given them t-cut,meg's cleaner,tar remover and house hold stuff!)
they have a thick layer of crap in places and the above products have reduced this it's still thick in places! (is it traffic film?) is there any product that will take all the crap off or is it best to wet and dry with some 1200 and then use some cleaner and wax?
Opinions and advice please!

[Conker]

You can wet and sand them, but you'll prob need a machine buffer to re-polish.

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=64916&highlight=sand+headlights

[Guy]

as conks said... wet n dry followed by a good buffing should see you right 

[boneybradley]

as conks said... wet n dry followed by a good buffing should see you right 

good job I got me kestral    although I ain't going as anal as the detail world thread!!  We will see tommorrow!!

[Guy]

if a job is worth doing then it is worth doing properly

I would say that the DW thread isn't too anal... straightforward really... just take your time over it and work your way down through the grades to as fine as possible

plastx is a good product and you can usually get it from halfrauds

btw - i love the disclaimer in the linked to thread where he says that you should always practice on a scrap headlight first... and then he says... I used my brothers focus! 

[boneybradley]

Well being from yorkshire i decided to have a go wihtout spending money and failed as i didnt have any 1500 wet and dry  So a trip to halfords and 40p later i started..

first take 1 set of badly scratched and dull lights


then rub down with 1500 wet and dry (halfords) using lots of water (this took me 10 minutes a side and I contiued until they felt smooth) This can be quite messy, and you'll need to wash them well after this and leave to dry!! At this point they will look cloudy...
like this


Then I used some meguires stage 2 paint cleaner (Its similar to most basic cleaners and t-cut will do the same job, if not better?) I applied this with my machine polisher with a medium sponge (A drill with a similar sponge would do the same) and ran over them for a few minutes using 2 speeds.
and this gave me


and to make them shine i used meguires stage 3 carbuna wax (something i had lying round the house!)
and i now have


Total cost 40p for the wet and dry...everything else is basic polishes that most people will have lying around? 
No O.C.D round here cleaner boys!!