Well, I thought it would be a great idea to use a pressure washer to get the bugs off my headlights...

So, what can I do to fix this?

 

you burned into the plastic and any clear coat on the surface. You need to get one of those headlight polishing kits and get it polished up. There are a number of kits out there that you can find in any auto parts store - 3M, Megs, etc.

 

Thanks. I'll do that right away.

 

Careful with those pressure washers! I used one at a car wash and noticed it was starting to remove the paint from the inside lip of the rear fender!

 

What seems to have happened to your headlights is, your UV protective coating was "shaved" off with the pressure washer. Unfortunately the only way to get that clarity back is by wet sanding with 1000-1500-2000 grit. Then compound and finally polish. (Megs M105 and M205 will do.) Once you're done, your UV coating will be completely gone and they will haze again in a matter of weeks or months, because of that you'll need to continue applying sealant to your headlights and continue to polish them a few times a year. The only permanent solution (which I've done) is to go to the body shop and see if they have ClearCoat for plastics with UV protection. Have them re-clear your headlights with that solution. It was pure luck on my part that my bodyshop had such product.

 

Look up headlight restoration on youtube by ChrisFix.

 

This.

Basically sanding with progressively finer grits, then clear coat to prevent oxidation

 

I have followed chris fix's youtube channel to reclear your headlight .... I did not use any UV clear coat or respray clear coat. my headlight is still nice and clear after 6 months and its parked outside in direct sunlight. It is possible 2-3 years down the road it might get alittle yellow and cloudy .. but a little polish will make it shine again. Highly recommend doing the wetsand procedure. it is like magic!


I have polished my friend's headlight with a random orbiter 2 years ago and it look fine after 2 years. Recent recently a quick hand buff with some polish brought it back to crystal shine.

 

worth to wetsand

 

Use1500, 2500, 3500 sanding bar, compound, polish with 4" foam pad, coat. 20 minutes. Use this process on all of my customers headlights.