All about headlight repair, restoration and cleaning

Why is it that everywhere I go I see yellow, hazy, cloudy and basically worn out and ineffective plastic headlights?  What is it that causes them all to discolor and become opaque?  It’s not just reserved for older cars as I have seen many newer models with these same clouded up headlight lenses.  So what causes these cloudy headlights  and are they expensive to fix or replace?  Is this cloudy condition unsafe for night time driving?  We will answer all these questions and more in this article. 

According to numerous police departments, The National Traffic and Safety Foundation, AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, and the Department of Transportation (DOT), dirty, cloudy and basically ineffective headlight lenses have become an increasingly virulent and dangerous epidemic quickly surpassing drunk driving (DUI) as the number one factor behind night time accidents.  The worst part of this is that they are avoidable with a little attention and care to the vehicles in question. 

First let’s see why these lenses become cloudy and worn.  In the last 15 years all automotive manufacturers have moved to plastic composite headlight lenses.  The reasons are chiefly durability (they don’t break in lighter impacts like glass headlights did) and appearance.  Since the first cars with plastic headlights were introduced in the late 80’s and 90’s customers have demanded that this be standard on all cars across the board.  You do have to admit, plastic headlight lenses do look a whole lot better than boxy glass, one piece headlight bulbs from the 70’s.  Clear plastic headlights are definitely here to stay and have evolved to become bigger parts of a cars unique and modern appearance like the Cadillac Escalade.

Restore yellow, cloudy, hazy, worn and ugly headlights to new again with the New Lite headlight repair, restoration and cleaning kit from MDWholesale.com. Guaranteed and proven highly effective in greatly improving appearance and night time driving safety!

Now the problem is that plastic headlights are much more susceptible to harsh UV rays or sun exposure, the environment (acid rain), scratches and road debris, etc…  Basically what the automotive manufacturers did not know when the plastic headlight lens was first introduced was that they would basically only have at most a safe 3 year average life span.  After this the lenses degrade similar to a cancer and become cloudy, yellowed and ineffective.  The breakdown in the plastic starts in the outermost layers and as it progresses it moves inward.  After only a few layers are involved the lenses can become completely opaque shutting out more than 95% of the light emitted.  

Acid rain can also have a tremendous impact on the plastic lenses by causing a distinctive wear pattern or line that will be etched into the plastic and become deep fairly quickly.  Regardless of the thin UV protective coating that some manufacturers have applied to the exterior of the lens, all it takes is a few scratches or some acid rain and the headlight lenses will start to degrade very quickly.  Ever see a car with dim lights at night?  They are hard to see aren’t they?  And not only is it hard for you to see them, but it is equally as hard for their driver to see anything at night – this is a very dangerous situation as your field of vision is already much more limited at night and is a leading cause of serious night time accidents.