Polishing headlights w/ Toothpaste and Peanut Butter

[f ê r]

The other day I was on YouTube looking at science stuff and found this guy that used toothpaste and peanut butter to polish his acrylic water tanks. So I immediately thought, lets try this shhh.. poop!

Materials:
-Toothpaste (I used Crest+Whitening. It was on sale for $0.99 :idea
-Small jar of peanut butter (I used Jif)
-Microfibre towels
-Water
-Car soap
*Wax (Mother's)

*Optional

Procedure:
1) Wash the headlights as you normally do.
2) While the headlights are still wet, put a thick toothpaste line on the lights.
3) W/ a microfibre towel, start buffing the lights w/ moderate pressure.
4) After aprox. 3 minutes of buffing, clean the headlight w/ plain water.
5) Dry it.
6) Put a small drop of peanut butter on the surface and start to spread it as if you were waxing.
7) Wash w/ car soap and dry the headlights.
*8) Put a layer of your favorite sealer/final step wax.

To my surprise, it worked GREAT! I was so amazed, that I forgot to do an instant "before & after", but, I found a pic about two weeks ago for comparison.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Not bad for a "less than $5.00 headlights repair kit" huh?!?

 

[Chrome98Cobra]

Looks great. I'll have to try this!

 

[SJ SNAKE]

Wow, you can't be serious lol!!! Gonna try this on my sister's car who's been nagging me to buff out her headlights... Thanks for sharing OP :beer:

 

[f ê r]

Looks great. I'll have to try this!

Wow, you can't be serious lol!!! Gonna try this on my sister's car who's been nagging me to buff out her headlights... Thanks for sharing OP :beer:

Give it a try! You guys will be in AWE. I swear.

The thing is that I ordered a set of smoked headlights OE spec 3 days ago. So at least this chrome set will rest for some time in style hehe :coolman:

 

[9CobraVert8]

I've used toothpaste and peanut butter to clean CD/DVDs before. Never thought of using it on headlights. You can't beat a cheap way to clean up your ride that's for sure!

 

[timspony]

What a good idea!! I'll have to try this on my truck!

Thanks!

 

[Mach1USMC]

Better seal those headlights or you'll be repeating this process every 2-3 months. HD, Opti seal, JS109. Wax won't last long at all.

Just my .02 I'd rather do it correctly and only have to do it every 18-24 months.

 

[GTpower01]

haha good thread!!!! Nice work too, very interesting.

 

[TERMINATED97]

I'll have to try this on my IS300. Looks like it turned out real good!

 

[Elwood617]

Sweet, I'm going to try it

 

[Gray_Ghost]

I know what the toothpaste was for, it provides a mild abrasive. Anybody know why peanut butter though? Just curious.

 

[04sneaky_snake]

I know what the toothpaste was for, it provides a mild abrasive. Anybody know why peanut butter though? Just curious.

Protein.

Can't have muscle car without protein to build car muscle. I put two spoonfuls of supplement in every other tank of gas....

 

[f ê r]

I know what the toothpaste was for, it provides a mild abrasive. Anybody know why peanut butter though? Just curious.

It was something about the oils on it.

Protein.

Can't have muscle car without protein to build car muscle. I put two spoonfuls of supplement in every other tank of gas....

LOL! :lol: Its so funny because I imagined just doing that at a Gas Station instead of Vp for example

 

[03Sssnake]

that is bad ass! I usually use a mild polish, light/medium cutting pad with my porter cable...However I am going to try this out for sure!

 

[Gray_Ghost]

Protein.

Can't have muscle car without protein to build car muscle. I put two spoonfuls of supplement in every other tank of gas....

:lol: :banana:

 

[black92]

It was something about the oils on it.



LOL! :lol: Its so funny because I imagined just doing that at a Gas Station instead of Vp for example

Correct about the oil. People have had great luck with smearing peanut butter on faded black plastic and after letting the oils soak in, they wash it off and the plastic is like new again.

 

[Diablo Mike]

Great find, impressive results!

 

[RussZTT]

You guys need to be careful on our headlights. If you look close, there is a thin layer of clear on them. To much scrubbing will remove that layer thus making it worse quicker down the road.

 

[f ê r]

You guys need to be careful on our headlights. If you look close, there is a thin layer of clear on them. To much scrubbing will remove that layer thus making it worse quicker down the road.

Its true. But I dont think people will do that to a brand new set of headlights. Mine are 13 years old. By the time the headlights start to oxidize and you start to polish them, its just a matter of time for new ones. After the toothpaste, you can see little scratches that are quickly "repaired" or hid by the peanut butter and the wax. Just like polishing paint. Also the abbrasives in the toothpaste are very mild, its what you use on your mouth.

 

[whitedevil95]

A set of 01+ smoked headlights would be perfect on that car!