Found a cheap way to clean foggy headlights without a kit

I was about to drop $40 on one of those headlight restoration kits at AutoZone, but I tried something I saw online first. Rubbed a mix of toothpaste and baking soda on my 2008 Camry's lenses with an old rag for about 5 minutes each. Rinsed it off and the yellow haze was almost gone. Not perfect like a professional job, but good enough for under a buck. Has anyone else had luck with a homemade fix like this or is there a better method?

3 comments

3 Comments

drew_hart415d ago

My wifes 2010 Accord was exactly like what @allen.iris described - the toothpaste trick only lasted a couple weeks before looking worse than ever. What really worked for me was using some old bug spray with DEET on a microfiber cloth, it cut through the oxidation fast and I sealed it with a coat of plain car wax after. I still had to wet sand the lens myself maybe six months later to keep it clear, but the bug spray buy me time to save up for the real stuff.

brianm6614d ago

Bug spray + wax like @drew_hart4 said worked way better than toothpaste. @allen.iris probably just had deeper oxidation.

allen.iris15d ago

Gotta disagree with you here. I tried this toothpaste trick on my old Civic a few years back and it barely made a dent in the yellowing. Maybe if your lenses aren't too far gone it works okay, but mine looked better for like two weeks and then the haze came right back worse than before. I ended up spending the $15 on a proper wetsand kit with the rubbing compound and it was night and day. The toothpaste fix is a temporary bandaid at best.