Sylvania Headlight Restoration Kit
CUSTOMER REVIEW
I bought the Sylvania Headlight Restoration Kit after reading a positive review in Consumer Reports. I am amazed how clear the headlights on my 10 year old Honda look after using it. A co-worker said they looked nearly brand new!
They better look almost brand new after all the elbow grease it took to use the kit! Your arms are going to be sore from all the sanding you'll be doing BY HAND.
Here are a couple of hints I wish I'd gotten before trying this:
1. Don't wash your car BEFORE using the kit. The sanding will create quite a mess on your front bumper.
2. Have about 1-2 hours available to complete the process. One review says it only took them 35 minutes to complete both headlights. I don't see how this is possible! The instructions recommend taking your time on the first sand, then 15 more minutes of sanding and polishing PER LENS! You'll also spend some time wiping the drying the lens. It took me almost 2 hours to complete, though I'm sure I could shave a little time off the process if I did it again.
3. Make sure you have a chair/stool to sit on. I made the mistake of doing this while sitting on the garage floor. After about 10 minutes of sanding, you're going to wish you had a chair to sit on.
4. Have plenty of water available. The wet process sanding and rinsing will use quite a bit of water. I used 1 larger spray bottle per lens.
5. Towels too! You'll be asked to dry the lens a few times. While a few paper towels are included in the kit, you'll need more than that. If nothing else, you'll be able to wipe off some of the white residue you'll create in the sanding process.
6. Cut the sand paper in half. I wish I'd done this. I found myself getting confused on which side I'd used while sanding the second lens. The paper will also tend to roll on you while sanding, which starts to get a little annoying.
7. Take your time on the first sanding. It is the most important of the 3 sanding steps. Make sure you get all the lens. I would recommend rinsing once or twice during the first sanding to clean off the residue and help you gauge your progress.
8. Don't be alarmed how hazy the lens looks before putting on the UV Clear Coat.
9. REALLY, REALLY TAKE YOUR TIME APPLYING THE UV CLEAR COAT! This is especially true on a car that may not be totally smooth across the whole lens (there's a raised area on my highlights for the parking lights). The clear coat seemed to collect a little unevenly around the raised area.
We'll see how long my headlights stay clear. Even if the product only lasts a year, the results are still pretty good for the price!