How to prevent your car’s headlights from clouding up and turning yellow

Have you ever seen a car with headlights that were so cloudy and yellow that you literally couldn't see through them?

Well, that's something that happens to all plastic headlight assemblies over time, and that cloudiness makes driving the vehicle a lot more dangerous at night.

It's so dangerous in fact that most states won't allow your car to pass their annual safety inspection if the headlights are clouded over. 

Cloudy headlights prevent much of the light that's emitted from the bulbs from passing through to the outside, making it more difficult to see where you're going at night.

What's more, cloudy headlight are also dim headlights, and that makes it more difficult for other drivers to see your car at night!

This cloudiness is primarily the result of UV radiation from the sun interacting with the plastic headlight cover.

As a general rule, any car that's driven or left outside for extended periods of time will eventually end up with cloudy headlights.

In addition to UV damage, headlights can also cloud up due to road grime, dust, sand and salt coming into contact with them.

There are several products on the market for restoring cloudy headlights but I've never had great luck with any of them.

Truth be told, the only thing that ever really worked for me was vigorously buffing the headlights with Deep Woods Off with Deet bug spray!

Yes, I kid you not. Bug spray actually gave me better results than any of the headlight restoration kits I tried (and I've tried several of them at various times).

The problem is even the bug spray didn't restore my headlights to new condition.

Although it did get them clear enough for my cars to pass the annual state safety inspection, they still had that ugly "old" look to them.

If your headlights become cloudy you can try restoring them, but you're likely to end up with less-than-great results like I did.

Of course you can always replace your car's headlight assemblies with new ones, but the parts and labor costs can reach into the hundreds of dollars.

Luckily, I discovered a product that can prevent your car's headlights from clouding up in the first place.

It's called Meguiar's Clear Headlight Coating, and it works by blocking the sun's UV radiation from reaching the plastic headlights. I’ve been using it for years and it has worked wonders for me.

Think of it as "sunscreen" for your headlights.

In addition to the UV protection, it also helps prevent grime, salt and other dangerous particles from coming into contact with the plastic.

This magic elixir is very affordable and extremely easy to apply. Simply spray it onto your clear, clean headlights and they'll be protected for up to one year!

Of course you'll need to follow the directions on the package to ensure proper application, but the process is very simple and straightforward.

Bottom line: Restoring cloudy headlights is difficult to do and replacing them is very expensive, but just a few bucks spent on this amazing headlight coating can prevent your headlights from clouding over in the first place!

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