Foggy or cloudy headlights can affect your night vision when you’re driving your car, and, to be completely honest, they affect the overall aesthetic of your automobile. Clark’s Car Care explains below why some car, truck, and utility vehicle’s headlights fog up. The reasons why might not be what you think they are. The good news is, we can defog your headlights for good.
Why Are My Headlights Cloudy?
If you drive an older automobile, chemicals and dirt could be the reason why your headlights seem hazy. As the years go by, chemicals and dirt stick to the headlights and create a thin layer that is opaque, i.e. not translucent. This layer dims your headlights and makes them appear cloudy.
Flying road debris can also affect the outer layer of your headlights. As dirt, gravel, and road salt gets kicked up by drivers in front of you and flies into the front of your car, this debris can scratch your headlights and also put pits in them that makes them look cloudy or foggy.
Oxidation is another problem with headlights. If your headlight lenses are acrylic, they have a clear topcoat to prevent them from turning yellow. Unfortunately, over time and after years of the sun’s ultra-violet rays, the acrylic headlight lens turns yellow, which makes it look foggy.
Finally, headlights have watertight seals when they are first put on an automobile but the seals can break over time. Consequently, condensation builds up inside the headlights fog up and you cannot get it dried. What’s left are foggy headlights that affect your nighttime driving.
What Does Professional Restoration Do?
Professional restoration is the best way to go when it comes to clearing up your foggy headlights. You can use some DIY tips to take of the problem, but the results are short-lived – usually about a month. When you bring your automobile into our shop, we’ll restore your headlights by
- Sanding the lenses to remove all oxidation
- Polishing the headlights to clear up scratches
- Sealing the headlights from condensation
- Adding a clear coat to protect against yellowing
- Ensuring both headlights have a water-tight seal
Basically, the steps we take replace the headlights without replacing them, which leaves them in like-new condition. This removes all grime, scratches, and yellowing from the headlights and also prevents them from clouding up in the future.
Clark’s Car Care in Naperville, IL, would be happy to discuss our headlight restoration services with you. Give us a call today to schedule an appointment.