What to Do About Foggy Headlights

Cloudy, grimy, or yellowed headlights aren’t just unattractive — they’re downright dangerous. 

According to AAA, foggy headlights can reduce visibility by up to 80%. Considering that a vehicle traveling 60 miles per hour covers about 88 feet per second, even a slight interference with your ability to see and react to roadway hazards increases your risk of a collision. 

Clear, bright headlights are essential to the safety of you and your passengers, but not all solutions produce lasting results. Learn more about how to fight the fog and prevent nighttime driving accidents. 

What Causes Foggy Headlights?

Even if your paint is glossy and pristine, foggy headlights will age your car. That cloudy look comes on gradually and many drivers don’t include headlight maintenance in their regular detailing routine until they become an eyesore. 

The cause of the clouding can vary based on your local climate and how you use and garage your vehicle, but these are the likely culprits: 

• Oxidation. Over time, UV exposure can oxidize the plastic covering over your headlights, giving them a frosted-over appearance. 

• Dirt and debris. Highway grit and acidic grime like bug splatter and bird droppings can accumulate to form a surface layer that can’t be easily wiped away.

• Moisture. If the seal around your headlights fails, condensation can build up inside the plastic cover and interfere with visibility. 

• Wear and tear. Scuffs and scratches that rough up your headlights’ exterior will dim their brightness. 

Ceramic Coating for Headlight Restoration

The same ceramic polymer that coats your vehicle’s paint in a protective shine can also bring your headlights back to life. 

While no headlight fog solution is completely permanent, ceramic coating is by far the longest lasting. When professionally applied over a properly-corrected surface, ceramic coating offers up to two years of excellent brightness and visibility. 

Benefits of Ceramic

Just as it does for paint, ceramic coating chemically bonds to the surface of your headlights, forming a very hard, glass-like outer layer. Because ceramic is both hydrophobic and UV resistant, it effectively addresses the most common sources of damage and slows down the aging process.

Drivers can expect the upfront cost of professionally-applied ceramic to be higher than popular DIY solutions, but its staying power will create a savings over time. 

Temporary Solutions for Cloudy Headlights

A quick internet search will offer up a long list of home remedies for foggy headlights, some of which are more creative than effective. 

Toothpaste

The toothpaste method is a popular inexpensive “quick fix” for lightly fogged headlights. Toothpaste is applied to the plastic headlight cover, rubbed in circles with a cloth, and then rinsed away. 

While it’s true that the abrasives in toothpaste can temporarily polish away very minimal oxidation, don’t expect the results to last. Worse yet, repeat applications with too much elbow grease may cause deep scratches that require professional correction to remove. 

Baking Soda and Vinegar

Similar to the toothpaste method, some drivers are able to temporarily reduce fog by polishing headlights with a paste of baking soda and water, and then rinsing with vinegar. 

Baking soda is mildly abrasive and its reaction with vinegar can help lift away a coating of dirt and grime. Drivers should be aware, however, that the improvement is only surface-level, and always take precautions to prevent undiluted vinegar from coming into contact with your car’s paint. 

DIY Restoration Kits

For automotive enthusiasts who want a step up from home remedies, restoration kits provide step-by-step instructions on sanding, polishing, and sealing headlights. These kits are significantly more of an investment than toothpaste and baking soda, and they will need to be reapplied every 4-6 months to keep headlights clear. 

Though they may be a good solution for drivers with an eye for detail and ample patience, accidentally applying uneven pressure during the sanding stage will give your lights a patchy appearance that is very difficult to correct. 

Don’t Risk Your Night Vision

On any given night, clear headlights could make a life-or-death difference for you and your family. Because deterioration comes on gradually, headlight maintenance is unfortunately easy to neglect. 

Don’t wait for fog to interfere with your nighttime driving visibility. Reach out to your local automotive detailing professional to learn more about how to make headlight care a regular part of your car care routine.