Do the Toyota Camry headlight polishers actually work well?

I looked over what you posted and you have a mixture of abrasives and surfactants and a bluish coloring agent.

Blue tint is often added to plastics to make them look less yellow but does not improve brightness. Laundry detergents often contain bluing.

The polydimethylsiloxane might improve scratch resistance. It is also water repellent.

I'm a retired chemist but still do consulting and write a lot of MSDS's, now just called Safety Data Sheets, SDS's, meeting Globally Harmonized System requirements.

It is not necessary to divulge all ingredients except those mandated by the EPA but all hazards must be disclosed. The Blue Magic SDS discloses all ingredients and hazards but is outdated and not quite GHS compliant. It is not particularly hazardous and probably does not require the new hazard symbols.

I've ridden a motorcycle in my youth for tens of thousands of miles, so, I'm aware of what happens when you drive behind almost any dump truck.

I also own a sand blasting kit, so, I'm aware of the power of sand blasting.

Still, my gut feeling (but no science yet) tells me that these lenses are yellowed from sunlight alone, and not from being sandblasted. I suspect if I left a car in the sun and never drove it, that the lenses would still yellow.

I'm not saying that sand blasting can't happen - I'm just intimating (without hard science) that it's not happening. I could be wrong. (That's why I have my huckleberry friends here to advise me.)

The BlueMagic MSDS says "acrylic copolymer" as an tiny percent ingredient.

It also lists Neodol, Argilla, and Pluronic F, none of which sound familiar to me so I'll need to look them up but they're in tiny percentages also.

I think everything "gritty" will be harder than the plastic that is used on those headlight lenses. I'm thinking the Bentonite Clay that a well driller gave me is the right size (it's a powder) but if I can get a hold of aluminum oxide powder, that would be a good second bet.

The toothpaste grit is often silicon dioxide (sand) but they used those blue plastic beads for a while (I hope they stopped that by now).

The trick, of course, is to get the right grit. The good news is that the worst thing that happens is we ruin an already ruined headlight - so luckily experimentation is not risky.

Thanks for looking over the chemistry of the "blue magic" ingredients of the lens restorer and protective seal.

I, for one, do not believe in "magic" elixers, so, I suspect they all have essentially the same ingredients so looking at the Blue Magic is probably almost as good as looking at any other.

While I had never heard of these ingredients below, and while they're in minute quantities (hence, they may not be meaningful), I did look them up so I write a summary for the rest of the team to benefit from.

CI 77007 seems to be a deep blue pigment

Pluronic F seems to have a bunch of numbers after the F, as shown here where the "Pluronic" is a registered name indicated by "(R)". [quote=BASF] The Pluronic® types are block copolymers based on ethylene oxide and propylene oxide. They can function as antifoaming agents, wetting agents, dispersants, thickeners, and emulsifiers."

Argilla seems to be my old friend Bentonite, of which I have plenty that a well driller gave me years ago for poison oak.

"CAS No. 1340-68-7(Bentone)" with synonyms of arcilla blanca; argilla alba as described here The Argilla (aka Bentone) is used to thicken greases: Neodol seems to be an ALCOHOL ETHOXYLATE surfactant/emulsifier whose precise mix of chemicals depends on the number after the word. Like the "Pluronic F" stuff, there are a billion mixes made by Shell. where it's described as a short-chain (C9-C11) alcohol with 6 moles of ethylene oxide.

So those 4 mystery ingredients (admittedly in small quantities) are

1. blue pigment (CI 77007)
2. surfactants/emulsifiers (Pluronic F & Neodol)
3. thickening agent (Argilla)

Easy to repair, Get a 3M headlight kit Either remove the light units or tape around them to protect the body paint. Wet down and wash the grit off the lights. Then use the coarse paper and keep the lens wet and sand until the yellow and scratches are gone. Switch to the finer paper and sand until the larger scratches are gone, switch to the last grit and keep going until you get to the polishing step.

NOW to keep the lights looking like new for a long time, spray them with automotive 2part clear (you can buy it in a spray can or have a bo0dy shop give them a spritz).

This is how I deal with the yellowed/cruddy ones. They yellow due to the UV from the sun, it kills the protective coating on the plastic. The 2 part clear when you're done will restore that plus it will seal the plastic. I use bulk supplies but the 3M kit includes enough to do a couple sets of lights and it's good stuff. DON'T use a high speed drill with it, you can burn the surface of the light.

Since it's such a common problem, do you think the original UV protectant wasn't enough?

Thanks for that suggestion as this is the first suggestion, I think, for an automotive "2-part clear" as the protective coating.

Searching, is this what you mean?

Or maybe this? Or, maybe more likely this?

Does the irony of that statement ring true for you as it does for me?

A lot of people are voting for the 3M kit components. Fewer for Sylvania and Blue Magic.

My limited eperience is that UV protection wears out after while. I've used various outdoor finishes with UV protection and after two years it is still good aside from the uv.

The 3M kit works very well. NONE of the chemical only kit's work. I've done hundreds of headlights using the sand, polish, clear coat method.

The UV, age and other chemicals just destroy the lights. The plastics have gotten better but some brands just seem to turn to crap faster.

is a true 2 part clear in a spray can, if you don't have a spray gun. or if you have a spray gun and know how to use it would work as well.

Danny D. posted for all of us...

I really had no valid comparison. The car was 13+ years old.

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