I managed to walk into my coffee table twice, tripped over my cat, AND violently underestimated where the wall was and caught my shoulder while walking around the corner in my hallway. I did this ALL BEFORE 8 AM. I was wearing my glasses and everything, but clearly, I need to get a new prescription. When I got to work, one of my coworkers said that there was a rather large smudge on my glasses. Upon further inspection, I realize the smudge went across both lenses. Once I cleaned off my glasses, I swear it was a whole new world out there, friends. I COULD SEE! …Well, better. I still need those glasses.

Now as I think about my terribly smudged lenses, I started to wonder about my headlights. I’ve noticed lately that they are a bit cloudy, maybe even opaque? I can’t really even remember if my headlights were once brighter or if this is how they have always been so I wondered if I cleaned off my headlights if it would make as much of a difference for my vehicle as cleaning off my glasses did for me.

As it turns out cloudy headlights provide significantly less illumination and cause light to scatter rather than being focused on the road, which also creates glare for oncoming drivers. Most modern headlight lenses are made of clear, and nearly unbreakable, polycarbonate plastic or a similar material. The lenses are treated at the factory with a special coating that protects them from the ultraviolet (UV) rays in sunlight, vehicle exhaust fumes and other environmental contaminants.

I’ve seen a number of home remedies to clean off your headlights, but honestly, those will only help for a short while and can even damage your headlights, rather than help them. You can find lens treatments that, when applied regularly, can significantly extend the life of the factory protective coating. You can even find such treatments at Destination Kia! Think of it as sunscreen for your headlights.

Auto parts stores sell inexpensive do-it-yourself headlight refinishing kits, just be sure to select one that includes a final protective coating or the lenses will become cloudy again in a matter of months. You can also have headlight restoration done professionally by your friends at Destination Kia!

You wouldn’t want to walk around with smudged glasses all day. Even if you think that you can see through them just fine, you can’t see nearly as well as with clean glasses and are more likely to run into things, miss details, or in my case…step on the cat. In the same way, you wouldn’t want to drive around with headlights that are cloudy. Driving in the dark is hard enough, let’s not make it harder. Take care of your headlights and visit us at Destination Kia today.