Are you wondering how true it is to clean car headlights with coca cola? Well, it’s real and oh yes! It’s the same coca cola you consume at noon with your favourite fries! Clean headlights DIY are becoming popular as a lot of people try to get rid of foggy headlights themselves. Although this development is good and saves lots of money, different techniques and tips are being discovered daily and today, we will be looking at how to clean car headlights with Coca Cola. However, before we dive in, it’s important that you know that with all shortcuts in life, there is a small catch. The truth is, fixing foggy headlights using basic home remedy will usually only produce temporary results and sooner or later you will crave for a more durable solution like usings Headlight restoration kit or going for a replacement.
Your headlights are the eyes of your vehicle and your second eyes during the night or cloudy weather. like the human eyes, they could develop problems such as being yellowish discolored or look hazy due to constant exposure to UV rays, debris, dirts, and would need to be treated. The only tried and tested way to restore the clarity of oxidized plastic headlights for at least another 500 hours is to use a headlight restoration kit.
But then again, not all headlight restoration kits are the same. While some cleaning kits will require additional efforts and professional experience like taping your headlights, sanding, buffing, or removing the headlight lens others, on the other hand, come with pre-mixed liquid solution and requires no experience and no extra effort – just apply the cleaning solution with a microfiber clothes or restoration wipes to clear-up headlights.
In my opinion, the best DIY headlight restoration kits should be easy to use, require no professional experience, and should be able to fix foggy headlights. If you use this type of kit, it can permanently remove hazing, cloudiness, and oxidation to restore the like-new condition of the headlight. That being said, let’s take a quick look at why we can use Coca Cola and how to clean headlights with Coke.
What makes coca-cola drink such a choice for cleaning headlights?
Coca-Cola is carbonated and contains a sufficient amount of acidity which allows it to dissolve oxidation and eat away build-ups on a variety of surfaces such as metal, tiles, alloys, and even plastics. The Citric acid found in Coke makes it effective in cleaning stains while the Phosphorus acid gives it a rust-busting power. Though, compared to a Headlight restoration DIY with home remedies such as vinegar and the toothpaste, Coca-Cola works more slowly. But, it could be a good choice if you’re looking for a cheaper alternative.
Using coca-cola to remove oxidation from headlights: Step-by-step
Ready to get to work on cleaning your headlight with coke? Here are the things you will need:
Coca-Cola: You can grab a can or a bottle of Coke from your local store. Try not to shake it and make sure it’s a little flat before you use it, so it doesn’t immediately start fizzing. Diet Coca-Cola is less sticky, so you’ll spend less time cleaning the residue from the sugar.
Sponge or Microfiber Towel: Gather a few clean microfiber towels or sponge, as well as soap and water. The sponge or microfiber towel is gentler on the surface and helps in cleaning the Coke remains from your car body.
Once you have everything you’ll need, follow these steps:
Cleaning car headlights with coca cola
First things first, start the cleaning process by wiping away the dirt from your headlight lens with a clean towel or a microfiber cloth. You can also decide to give your car headlights a thorough wash with an automotive soap and sponge to ensure you have a clean and dry surface to work on.
Once you are done, open a can of Coca Cola drink and apply it on your headlight lens. (Be careful not to let it stain your car paint job). You can turn the Coca Cola drink into a spray bottle or soak a sponge or a towel with the Coca Cola drink and apply it on your foggy looking headlights.
Leave it for about 10 minutes and wipe your headlights with a clean towel. If you still have some sticky Coca Cola stains on your headlight lens, you can wash your headlights with automotive soap and warm water. If after washing the Coca Cola off and your headlights still look foggy, you might want to try repeating the process as many times as you can to get your desired results.
But then, this could be a waste of good soda! Honesty, how many cans of Coca Cola drink are you willing to waste within a year or a month or per weekend. Headlight lenses are expensive! Have you priced a replacement? If you have and know the cost, you wouldn’t want to tamper with it using home remedies intended for other domestic use. So what’s the best alternative? Restoring headlight lens with WD-40? Not really! The answer is to buy a headlight restoration kit. Headlight restoration kits are cheaper compared to a replacement. You can buy a good restoration kit for as low as $15.
Pros of using coca-cola as a headlight restoration tool
- It’s easily accessible
- It’s multi versatile and can be used to clean other surfaces like metals, tiles, and alloy.
- It can be used to remove rusts
- It can be consumed
Cons of using coca-cola as a headlight restoration tool
- It can damage your plastic headlights.
- It could be difficult to wash off due to its sugar content.
- It can damage the lens of the cat headlights due to its acidic content.
- It’s not produced with the intention to clean your headlights.
Final thoughts
In spite of all the wisdom you can find on the internet, Coke may clean some things like your toilet, and ceramics but on a polycarbonate plastic like your car headlights, I am not sure you should try them. However, when your headlights become foggy or hazy and you are in a bit of a bind and need to clean to fix your foggy headlights, I recommend you get a headlight restoration kit. You can get as many headlight restoration kits as you want in case of emergencies. Some restoration kits come in sets and you can purchase about 5 sets of headlight restoration kits to be used at your convenience anytime your headlight lens looks foggy.
