For polishing, use special abrasive polishing pastes for old or weathered paintwork. If you use non-abrasive pastes, the polishing effect of which is based on filling micro-scratches with natural and synthetic waxes or polyurethane, the effect will be very short-lived. After one to three months, wax and its analogues will wash out of the micro scratches and the headlight caps will become cloudy again.
Polishing can be done either manually or using a polishing machine or a drill with a polishing wheel. The drill must have a speed controller.
Sequence of execution
1. Wash the headlights (see above).
2. To avoid damaging the paintwork during polishing, seal the body parts around the headlights with masking tape.
3. Apply polish to a special napkin or clean cloth...
...and evenly, without pressing hard, apply the polish to the headlight cap using circular motions.
4. After the applied composition has completely dried, use a special polishing cloth or a clean soft cloth folded in several layers to polish the surface in a circular motion until the polish is completely used up and the surface becomes shiny.
Headlight caps are made of durable, wear-resistant material and manually polishing heavily scratched headlights will require a lot of effort and time. Therefore, it is advisable to use a polishing machine or drill for polishing.
Note: Scratches on the surface of the headlight cap are removed with a polishing disc installed in a drill chuck at a low rotation speed of no more than 800 min⁻¹ and adding water. At the same time, you need to be prepared for splashes to fly in all directions. Anything that can get dirty should be covered and the car should be washed after polishing is complete.
To clean the plastic rear light lenses, also use special cleaning and polishing agents. But since these lights are made of a much softer plastic, it makes sense to polish them by hand.
Recommendation. When using a power tool to polish tail lights, to avoid overheating and damaging the soft plastic, use a lower speed, do not press the wheel too hard, and add more water.