Headlight Restoration Kit 2024 Test: Which Brand Wins?

oxidation remover wipes, 1 surface prep pad, 2,000 and 3,000 grit sandpaper discs, 2 ceramic clear coating wipes, 4 application gloves

disc pad holder, six 500 grit gold sanding discs, four 800 grit white discs, one 3M Trizact refining disc, 1 oz of 3M rubbing compound; requires a drill

drill attachment, 1500/3200/4000 grade sanding discs, headlight polishing pad, headlight buffing polish, headlight protectant sealant wipe, gloves

Precision Wipe It professional lens polishing pad, a pair of nitrile gloves, one microfiber towel

four pouches for step one (oxidation removal wipes), two pouches for step two (UV sealant protection wipes)

two cleaning pads, cleaning solution, headlight coating

(transcript later garbles this as '3 M10' in the efficiency recap, read as '3M, 10 minutes', consistent with the individually stated figure)

the fastest process time of all 7 kits

attempted for 10 minutes but could not finish; narrator: 'I'm just not going to be able to remove the oxidized material on the headlight cover... definitely need a stronger abrasive'

. Narrator: 'I've tested the Cerakote plastic restoration in the past and their protective coating is amazing'

tied for 3rd place with Rain-X, described as too close to call. Narrator: 'the 3M kit does not include a protective coating, however it did a terrific job at removing the oxidation'

tied for 3rd place with 3M, described as too close to call. Narrator: 'also did a pretty good job but the protective coating really helps its appearance'

. Narrator: 'did a better job of removing the oxidation but the protective coating doesn't seem as smooth or transparent as some of the other brands'

. Narrator: 'the restoration wipes weren't able to wipe away the oxidized material, the top coat reduced the appearance of oxidation'

and last place. Narrator: 'the kit does not include anything with a strong enough abrasive to remove the badly oxidized material, the coating is like putting lipstick on a pig'

removed the damaged plastic in about 35 seconds, third fastest of the 4 brands explicitly ranked

removed the damaged polycarbonate in about 20 seconds, the fastest of all kits tested in this sub-test

cut away the damaged polycarbonate in about 30 seconds, second fastest of the 4 brands explicitly ranked

not given an explicit time figure in this sub-test; only 3M, Rain-X, Cerakote, and Sylvania are individually ranked by seconds

even after 6 minutes of scrubbing, marker/damaged material was still visible and not fully removed; not given a completion time since it did not finish. Per the safety data sheet it contains a powerful solvent, good at removing permanent marker but the narrator says unlikely to remove damaged polycarbonate

even after 6 minutes of scrubbing, the marker was still visible and not removed; not given a completion time since it did not finish. Narrator: 'not well designed for removing heavily oxidized material'

. Narrator: 'did a great job at removing the scratches and the coating is very difficult to scratch'

(not explicitly numbered in the transcript, but its ranking between Rain-X's 4th place and Cerakote's 2nd place makes it 3rd by elimination). Narrator: 'has done by far the best job yet at removing the deep scratches, a ceramic coating and the 3M would look as good as new'

. Narrator: 'some of the scratches are still visible and the coating is soft and inconsistent'

. Narrator: 'the scratches in the polycarbonate were not removed, however the coating is not as soft as the Meguiar's and the Armor All'

. Narrator: 'the damaged polycarbonate is visible and the coating is pretty soft'

and last place again. Narrator: 'the coating is helping hide the underlying damaged polycarbonate, however the coating is pretty soft'