If you prefer doing things the old-fashioned way, which requires some sweat equity, the SYLVANIA Headlight Restoration Kit ($25) comes with everything you need. This kit is ideal for folks who prefer to do projects by hand and see their headlights return to their former glory. It’s also the best kit to get the job done.

Inside the box you’ll find sandpaper, plastic gloves, and two types of paper towels. There’s a surface activator that quickly removes the top layer of oxidation. You’ll also see a polishing compound, masking tape, and a protective clear coating compound. Following the instructions will restore your headlights to a clear finish with lasting UV protection.

The restoration process begins by spraying the surface activator onto the headlight to soften the plastic. This step is followed by progressively sanding and polishing out the haziness and scratches on the headlight lens.

The last step is the application of the UV blocker coating, which will achieve clarity and make the lenses look almost new. Since this coating offers long-lasting UV protection, SYLVANIA guarantees a polished appearance for the vehicle’s lifetime.

After enduring 15 Idaho summers and winters, our tester’s 2008 Honda Ridgeline headlights were heavily oxidized and cloudy. Following 90 minutes of manual labor, which included sanding and polishing, we applied the UV blocker.

The clear coat brilliantly restored the clarity of the headlight to like-new condition in addition to protecting the lens from future oxidation. The SYLVANIA Headlight Restoration Kit only provides enough materials for one set of headlights, but the warranty lasts as long as the vehicle’s life.

This Ultra Headlight Restoration Kit from 3M ($19) includes almost everything you need to remove years of haze. The only things you need from your garage are a cordless drill (or DA orbital) plus an hour of your time.

We removed years of oxidation from a 2012 Mazda3 typically garaged at home. The owner had the headlight lenses cleaned up by the local dealership about 5 years prior, but the unforgiving sun brought back the cloudiness. 

Since this is a kit put together by 3M, they include a couple of indispensable materials: a small roll of their green automotive performance masking tape and a Trizact sanding disc. The remaining contents of the kit include several types of sanding discs (P200, P500, and P800), a disc pad holder drill attachment, a nitrile glove, and 3M Quick Headlight Clear Coat wipes.

What makes the Trizact disc special is its 3D-patterned, precise mineral structure, which delivers a fast cut and consistent finish. Equivalent to a 3000-grit sanding disc, it’s used in the final step of polishing to remove abrasive marks and super-fine scratches.

The green automotive performance masking tape will stick even if it gets wet during the sanding process and doesn’t leave behind a sticky residue. It also helps prevent accidental damage, so we always mask the area surrounding the headlights as standard practice. Yes, it takes extra time, but it’s the first line of defense if the spinning disc pad holder happens to touch the paint. 

During our process, the Mazda3’s lenses were sanded and polished until smooth but left with a cloudy haze. Two coats of the 3M Quick Headlight Clear Coat were needed to restore clarity and achieve the best results. Bubbling of the liquid will occur if you apply too much with each swipe. Allow the first coat to dry before applying the second coat. Don’t get disappointed if the first coat doesn’t look brilliant, as the second pass will clean things up and restore the clarity to almost new.

The Ultra Headlight Restoration Kit from 3M gave us professional-grade results and is easy enough for first-timers to use. Restoring a set of heavily oxidized lenses requires a little less effort than the Sylvania kit, which was the most labor-intensive of the kits tested. Thankfully, we won’t have to repeat the process down the road if the warranty is an indication of how long the coating will last.

Taking full advantage of nanoceramic technology is the Cerakote Ceramic Headlight Restoration Kit ($18), which makes the formulation durable and lasts much longer than other protective coatings. No power tools are required, but a cordless drill makes the restoration process much easier. The instructions outline three general steps for restoring your headlight’s clarity to like-new condition. And Cerakote is willing to back up the ceramic coating’s effectiveness as long as the purchaser owns the vehicle.

What sets Cerakote apart from other headlight restoration kits is a professional-grade ceramic coating that bonds to the polycarbonate headlight lenses and lasts for years. Nanoceramic formulations are used in ceramic coatings for automotive paint protection and ceramic window tints. These compounds are powerful and long-lasting because of their hardness properties, chemical inertness, and ability to block harmful UV rays. In the biomedical field, ceramic nanoparticles are considered excellent carriers for drugs, genes, proteins, and imaging agents.

Don’t be fooled by the three steps outlined on the box. A badly oxidized headlight lens requires progressively removing the layers of oxidation and smoothing the surface using P500 and P800 grit sanding discs. The ceramic coating wipes will eliminate the cloudiness. Those wipes also layer on a protective UV-blocking ceramic coating.

We restored the headlight lenses on a 2008 Honda Pilot parked outside full-time, unprotected from harsh Idaho winters and blazing summer heat. The oxidation wipes effectively removed the yellow layer that built up over the years of sun exposure.

Dry sanding using the P500 and P800 grit discs removed the imperfections and smoothed the surface, making it ready for the clear coat. Results were remarkable, and a 6-month checkup barely showed any signs of yellowing.

The Cerakote Ceramic Headlight Restoration Kit includes four pairs of plastic gloves to protect your skin from touching the chemicals. The bundle also has eight Oxidation Remover wipes, one ergonomic surface prep pad, and four surface prep discs. There are two pre-moistened Ceramic Headlight Restoration Wipes designed to restore and protect the clarity of your headlights.

Observant shoppers will notice that Griot’s Garage sells a similar product that produces the same results as Cerakote. The headlight restoration kit sold by Griot’s is a rebranded Cerakote kit with a slightly better warranty that covers the vehicle’s lifetime.

Meguiar’s Two Step Headlight Restoration Kit ($22) comes from one of the top brands in automotive care and maintenance. The products are specifically formulated to return your cloudy, scratched, oxidized, and yellowed headlights to like-new clarity.

Here, the magic lies in Meguiar’s Headlight Coating. After the polishing step, the coating will transform the cloudy lens into a clear one by filling in the micro-scratches. Since applying the clear coat involves spraying, it’s best to prep the headlight lens by cleaning it and then masking the area around the headlight.

Step one is to smear a glob of Meguiar’s Cleaning Solution, about the size of a quarter, on the abrasive pad. Dab the cleaner on the lens a few times before starting the drill. Move the abrasive pad back and forth across the lens to remove the layers of oxidation. Repeat the process and add more cleaner until the lens has an even foggy appearance. 

Step two calls for spraying on the headlight coating — preferably not on a windy day. Wipe the lens clean before applying the headlight coating. Do two overlapping horizontal passes. Wait about 5 minutes for the first coating to dry, and repeat.

As the headlight coating dries, it fills the micro-scratches, leaving a clear and brilliant lens. A vital piece of advice is to avoid layering on too thick of a coat, otherwise runoff and drips will occur. If you see drippings, you will have to go back to the cleaning step to remove them. 

Clear as day, the results are amazing. We were especially satisfied when watching the lens transform from cloudy to almost new clarity within a minute of spraying on the first layer of headlight coating. Nonetheless, the coating provided by Meguiar’s Two Step Headlight Restoration Kit will wear off. The lenses will require a repeat cleanup after a year or so, depending on environmental conditions.

Mothers is a brand synonymous with automotive detailing. Thus, the Mothers NuLens Headlight Renewal Kit ($33) fits perfectly in its wheelhouse of polishes and cleaners. While it costs a few dollars more than most kits, it is a complete headlight restoration solution. 

The Mothers NuLens kit contains sanding discs to remove heavy oxidation and a padded drill attachment to quickly swap the abrasive discs. Inside the box, you’ll also pull out a bottle of PowerPlastic 4Lights and the PowerBall 4Lights foam ball polishing tool. We provided the cordless drill and masking tape.

For our first time using the Mothers kit, we picked a 2006 Subaru Outback with headlight lenses that were heavily oxidized. After washing the headlights, we wet-sanded the lenses with the provided sanding discs (P800, P1500, and 3000) before hitting them with the PowerPlastic 4Lights polishing compound.

After an hour of sanding and polishing, clarity was restored to the lenses, and they looked pretty close to new. The PowerPlastic 4Lights formula contains a UV-blocking polymer that will slow down the rate of oxidation. Just the same, Mothers recommends frequent cleaning using the polishing compound to maintain lens clarity.

The 8 ounces of PowerPlastic 4Lights polishing compound are enough to restore lens clarity, with plenty left over for repeated clean-ups when the lenses begin to oxidize again.

Unmistakably, the Mothers NuLens Headlight Renewal Kit can produce great results. It just happens to be the priciest of the lot and requires repeated polishing to stave off future hazing. However, touchups are quick and easy if you remember to polish the headlight lens a few times a year.

We’re happy to report that the Rain-X Headlight Restoration Kit ($20) readily removes oxidation and discoloration that’s built up on polycarbonate headlights. That’s important because a headlight’s haziness can progressively reduce the light’s effectiveness and potentially become a safety hazard.

The Rain-X kit contains all the products required for each step of your restoration from sanding the surface to polishing and sealing it. Inside the box is a packet of Rain-X Buffing Polish, a Rain-X Headlight Sealant Protectant wipe, a foam polishing pad, and a drill attachment to hold the sanding discs and foam pad.

There’s also a collection of sanding discs to progressively remove oxidation and imperfections and smooth the surface. The user supplies a power drill or DA orbital and masking tape.

Overall, Rain-X will achieve excellent results if you follow the instructions carefully. It’s essential to use the polishing pads in successive order, as each one is specifically designed for use at a particular stage. When the instructions specify which sanding disc to use in a specific order, do not mix up the order in which they’re used. Allow the sealant to dry fully before it gets rained on or goes through a car wash, which is critical to success. Otherwise, the sealant won’t cure correctly and protect your hard work.

Our findings showed that the Rain-X Buffing Polish is effective, but we got better results with the Mothers PowerPlastic 4Lights polishing compound. One bothersome thing was Rain-X’s choice to package the buffing polish in a single-use packet. The packaging means dispensing the desired amount on the foam pad is challenging, and it’s not resealable for future use. Since the Rain-X products don’t include a UV-blocking agent, expect to touch up the lenses in six to twelve months.

Bear in mind that not all headlights are created equal. Some are difficult to restore, while others take less than an hour to work on. The lenses on this 2004 GMC Sierra daily driver were badly oxidized on the outside and inside.

We spent 2 hours masking, sanding, and polishing the front lenses. But the clarity on the driver’s side was unrecoverable, because a lot of the hazing was inside the housing and inaccessible. Regardless, the Rain-X Headlight Restoration Kit is still a great choice for auto maintenance.