Some things just make a car look old.
Not getting the ceramic coating on your car’s paint job can ultimately make it look ratty and a little worn down after time. Dirty rims that have rust developing around the lug nuts? Also a pretty bad time, too.
Not cleaning it regularly or shining the windows is another surefire way to keep your whip looking pretty grimy. However, there’s one characteristic that arguably makes a ride look haggard worse than any of those oversights: Foggy headlights.
It isn’t just unsightly, either, but could be potentially dangerous too as foggy front lamps could inhibit visibility. And if you’ve got a perfectly fine Toyota or Honda that you’ve lovingly taken care of over the years, but don’t like the fact that your front headlight covers are looking like Gary Oldman’s eyes from Hannibal, you don’t need to go through the trouble and cost of swapping them out entirely.
All you need is a can of bug spray.
That’s what a TikToker named Mallory (@mallyorybolton0) is encouraging her followers to use She demonstrates exactly why in a viral TikTok that’s accrued over 2 million views as of Saturday.
@mallorybolton0 I seen this hack on fb…and they really having us put this on out skin??? Thats crazy#fyp #trending #viral #carsoftiktok #headlightsrestoration ♬ original sound – Mallory
Bug spray hack for foggy headlights
Her video, which begins with her recording the front of a silver Chevrolet with foggy headlights, sports a text overlay that reads: “Using $5 repel bug spray to take the yellow off my headlights.”
In the caption, she added that she initially spotted the “hack” on Facebook. She grabs the can of bug spray and starts spraying it on the driver’s side headlight. She starts up top and then in a descending horizontal spray stream, covers the lamp in bug spray.
“Wait for a minute,” she says after spraying and allowing the spray to rest on the cover. “It’s already eating it away, da f*ck?”
“Heard it will take off the yellow. I’m gonna sh*t myself if this works,” she adds, before finally getting a towel and then wiping the spray off of the front headlight.
After just that initial touch, it’s evident that the “hack” works exactly as advertised. She gasps audibly.
“Ain’t no f*cking way. Ain’t not f*cking way,” she sings into the camera as she continues to wipe, leaving her headlamps looking like they just came out of the showroom floor.
Does it actually work?
While the hack clearly works on her headlights, many say that the clarity from this bug spray trick is short-lived. According to this headlight restoration business, a popular chemical in bug sprays, DEET, ultimately just eats away at the headlight lens, but all it’s really doing is getting rid of some of the oxidization that’s been built up on the surface.
“The illusory cleaning of headlights with DEET occurs when the chemical melts the surface of the lens. This removes some surface oxidation while remaining oils in the spray fill small surface gaps that allow light to pass through; this provides temporary clarity” they wrote.
The company said this trick will only work if there’s a little bit of oxidization on your headlights but that drivers could ultimately ruin their headlight lenses: “When DEET melts the surface of the headlight lens, it removes any remaining UV coating. It also melts and mixes deteriorated plastic with potentially restorable plastic. While this may result in the improved appearance of the lens, this appearance is temporary. It will usually last only as long as the oil is on the lens, sometimes as little as a few days if it rains. What remains is a fully exposed, severely damaged, and unprotected lens that will deteriorate at an exponential rate.”
The auto outlet Jalopnik also cautioned against using the bug spray trick, and Redditors who responded to a post uploaded on the site’s r/lifehacks sub decried the trick too. The post features a TikTok where an older gentleman uses a can of bug spray to clear a headlight, just like Karla did in her clip. One user responded, “Don’t do this. It’s actually melting the plastic and will go back to being shit in a few days.”
The same user went on to state that resurfacing them “properly” is the best course of action for drivers to follow: “Put in the elbow grease and resurface them properly. Best $30 and 2 hours of work I’ve put into my car in a long time. Did mine a couple of years ago and they still look great.”
How to actually fix foggy headlights
Popular Mechanics shows a safer, if not more time-consuming way to properly get your headlights looking brand new. Some YouTube accounts, like Junky DIY guy, also demonstrate exactly what a “proper headlight restoration” looks like. It’s definitely a lot more of an involved process than the bug spray trick, but the content creator also shows you how to apply a protective coating to keep it from yellowing in the future.
Some replied to Mallory’s video, however, claiming the bug spray trick worked.
“I did this a few weeks ago and they are still clear, i find it crazy that it’s meant for our skin,” one said.
Others said after using the bug spray trick, you just need to wash it and apply a clear coat to prevent any damage.
“So there’s an agent in most bug repellents called deet that’s safe for human skin but actually dissolves plastic,” one commented. “What’s happening here is it’s eating through the damaged layer on the outside of your Lights. Highly recommend getting a clear coat to chuck on top of the now clean headlight to make that clearness last longer.”
When asked what the user recommended, someone else chimed in: “Any spray clearcoat will work, but make sure to mask the area around it to avoid spraying any unwanted areas.”
Others replied in kind: “Please wipe down after with soap and apply a clear coat after drying. It will keep your headlights clean and that’s just as important.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Mallory via TikTok comment.
The internet is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter here to get the best (and worst) of the internet straight into your inbox.
