I read the other reviews and was a little skeptical. Especially the one about it scratching that guy's headlights - EEE! However, I am cheap and had already purchased the product so I figured I'd give it a shot. The results were wonderful. No scratches despite needing two applications of it. I was left with a crystal clear scratch free beauty of a headlight. Picture can be found at http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v298/amnestyastrae/eye.jpg . I hope someone finds this helpful! :D BlueMagic 725 Headlight Lens Restorer - 8 fl. oz.
I wanted to clear the headlights for my 2000 Nissan but they were not horrible, just noticeably dim. I saw this here with 2 reviews and thought it was great because of a higher price little amount theory so I bought it.
Just 1 day before this arrived in the mail I found in my garage a liquid polish/wax that had been sitting there for 4.5 years since I came to USA. I got the idea of the TV game: Before/After or right headlight vs left headlight so I thought to play it and did 1 headlight with that polish called something NU.. The headlight turned out so clear and soft that I was waiting for 1 more day for this to arrive to see if there is any better result? Speaking of Magic..
The BluMagic arrived and I did the other headlight and I was disappointed; Not only that it was not as clear as the other one, but it left light scratches in the headlight because of the rubbing compound it has in the composition. The scratches were too light that you can't notice them unless you get a couple feet close, but hey this is not good. I don't want to scratch my headlights! I redid it again with the soft polish but it didn't make it as shiny because of the scratches.
I realized that this is good for a headlight that is VERY yellow and almost blind, and there is no other means to get it clear, but if your headlights are not that bad please don't scratch them and use the softer liquid polish with a little extra hand rubbing and they WILL shine.
Another thing I found out: Since this is composed of rubbing compound for almost $8 per 8oz, you can buy a 2 or 3 bucks turtle rubbing compound (the lightest formula) and it is bigger and will do the job for 30% of the price. But again, it's not worth putting scratches on my headlights unless I am hopeless and the car is more than 20 years old in Nevada desert.
My rating is based on quantity, price, roughness, comparison to other similar available products. I hope this helps.
I have a Toyota with over 110,000 miles. About a year or more ago, my mechanic said he could clear up my headlights for $150. Since an old Camry is a bit of a money pit already, no go on that. I did a bit of research on the internet a while back and saw something that cost $25 that had a chemical name that all the reviews said would work. Never got around to it, but had doing it myself in the back of my mind.
Today at the hardware store, I saw a bottle of this for $7.99 and was like, okay what the hell. Just gave it a shot five minutes ago with a couple of paper towels and it totally worked. Obvious improvement after the first pass, better the second, a bit better the third, not much change after that. So the headlight isn't mint condition, but it's waaaaay better.
I spilled some on the paint and it didn't seem to harm it, but I noticed the paper towel picked up what may have been a little paint color-- so if you're a paint job freak, would make sense to protect it or be careful.
Only problem now is, I know my mechanic is full of crap.
Manufacturer's claim: "Restores optical clarity and eliminates haze." No it does not. Do not even follow their last resort instructions on using lightly a 2000 grit sandpaper. Any sanding will scratch the plastic lens making things worse.
The rubbing of the blue coloured cream is an exercise in futility. Avoid.
Symtech (Symtech Bright Solutions Headlamp Restoration Car Care Kit) vs BlueMagic 725 headlight restore kits comparison.
I have used both products, (the BlueMagic for over a year now) and offer these comments for you.
The BlueMagic does work, despite quite a few comments to the contrary. Have used it on several different vehicles 7-9 years old, Nissans and Hondas. Perhaps some of the plexiglass compounds on other vehicles may affect the results. For me the BlueMagic works best when applied to a cotton sock, just by tipping the bottle over the sock and getting the bottle mouth sized glob on the cloth. This amount is about right for a 5" by 5" spot. I rub it vigorously for about a minute until it dries at which point I flip the cloth over and use a clean spot to remove any residue. If all goes well (always has for me) you will see a golden yellow discolored spot on the sock. Then move on to a new area of the headlight. After the entire headlight is done, I come back to the first spot and do it again, at some point redoing the process will no longer discolor the cloth, that is when you can stop. End product is a much improved clearness and brightness. This unfortunately lasts only 6-10 weeks for me. Despite the claim that the product prevents re yellowing, the best it really does is slow it down.
When I got the chance to try out the Symtech kit, I jumped right on it. The main reason was the three part treatment. The pre treat de yellowing, the polisher, and the sealer/preservative. Hope is that the preservative will prevent the need for the frequent pretreatments. To start with, the pre treat is more aggressive here than with the BlueMagic. I went about 4 rounds with Symtech before it stopped discoloring the cloth with yellow, vs 2-3 times with BlueMagic. Second, the day after, surface skin on my fingers started to peel, so it is definitively more aggressive and you do need to wear the rubber gloves that come with the kit. The kit includes towelletes, but a sock or a old T shirt work better for me. I then did not do the optional step of sanding the lens with either the 1500 or 2000 grit , and went on with the polisher and the sealer. Altogether about 15 min of work per headlight. Comparing the BlueMagic all in one formula and the 3 times more expensive Symtech, there fortunately IS a difference to justify the price increase. While the color of both lenses was very similar (very little yellow tinge remained), the clarity of the Symtech lens was clearly superior. The BlueMagic lens had a slight opacity and milkiness to it similar to a milk bottle, while that on the Symtech had a sparkly appearance.
I have not waited the six weeks yet evaluate how well the sealer/preservative solution works on the Symtech, but wanted to write this report early to show that it starts off with an advantage. I will update the report in August.
PS. While detailing the car I noticed that Armor All rim cleaner removes a lot of yellow grime from the tires. Aha! I tried the rim cleaner on another discolored headlight lens, and it had the same yellow removing quality. The car paint was not streaked at all from the overspray, but you may want to test yours if you want to try this trick. The end result was a very clear, milky headlight, which I then polished with some polishing compound. The end result was as clear as any specially designed product, but obviously there was no sealant or any preservative in the formula. - Cleaners - Polish - Restoration - Car Care'
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