“How to clean your car Taillight: A fun challenge with car detailing is that there are so many different levels you have to keep in mind. There are metal panels, glass windows, and plastic light pods, all with different properties that require different cleaning methods. When it comes to detailing the taillights, the procedure is surprisingly simple. Just follow these steps and you’ll be good to go.”
What Will You Need?
- Painter’s Tape
- Microfiber Cloths
- Magnetic Flashlight
- Polishing Compound
- Safety Glasses
How To Clean Your Car Taillight
Step 1: Your Tools
Depending on how rugged your taillights are, it’s important to gather the proper tools before diving in. If the plastic has some dull swirling or fading properties, all you need is a polishing compound and a few microfiber cloths. For deep grooves or fogging, consider getting a compact random orbital polishing kit.
Step 2: Clean Off Taillight Assemblies
To make sure that dirt or grime already on the plastic surface doesn’t create additional scratches, give it a quick wipe with some water and a microfiber cloth.
Step 3: Tape Off the Area
This is an important step that’s easy to skip, but don’t. Take some painter’s tape and carefully cover the painted surfaces around the tail light housing. This can protect your precious paint from stray shocks from the polishing compound or polisher.
Step 4: Apply Compound to Towel
Keep in mind that you actually need less mixture than you think. To start, apply a quarter-sized blob to a clean microfiber towel. You can always add more if needed.
Step 5: Begin Polishing
Start by rubbing the towel with the polishing compound on your taillights. Try to use even pressure and even movements (side-to-side or circular) until the entire surface is covered. You don’t want to overdo it, so try polishing for five minutes, and then wipe off any excess with a taillight. Do a quick inspection with a flashlight. Look for leftover wandering or fading, and repeat as needed. When you’re satisfied with the results, apply one final wipe with a clean, dry piece of cloth, remove the tape, and you’re good to go!
Step 6: For Heavy Cleaning, Gather Additional Tools
As in step one, you’ll want to gather polishing compound, a microfiber cloth, and tape, but this time, add a compact random orbital polisher and pad to the mix. Clean the taillights, tape all the surfaces around the houses, and start the next step.
Step 7: Apply Compound to Pad
Combine the polisher with the appropriate pad. You don’t want anything too aggressive for this project, so start with a foam polishing pad and work your way up if you need a deeper polish. Apply a small glob of polishing compound to the pad (in a zigzag pattern if you really want to work like a pro) and get started.
Step 8: Polish
Thankfully, applying polish to plastic taillight housings is much more forgiving than paint. Don’t let the machine scare you. Apply even pressure and slowly work back and forth across the entire surface of the taillight. Clean and inspect your work occasionally – you can always re-polish if needed.
Step 9: Wipe Clean and Remove Tape
Wipe everything clean with a dry microfiber cloth and remove the painter’s tape, then take a good look with a flashlight. If the results are what you want, congratulations — you just polished your car’s taillights!
Conclusion
So, here’s a step-by-step guide on how to clean your car taillights to bring them back to their original shine. You can be proud that you tried to make them shine again!
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