Polishing tail light lens - with toothpaste

For this, you'll need: small pieces of 400, 600, and 1500 grit wet-or-dry sandpaper, a clean rag, some elbow grease and toothpaste.

Yup, toothpaste!

So, I was taking my bike (Honda CB600F, a.k.a. Hornet) apart to paint the tank, headlight mask, and fenders, and in the process, I had to remove the tail light. It's been sitting on my work bench, staring at me with its hazy lens as if to say: 'What about me?'

The lens was not only hazy, it was also covered in yellow freckles - three summers ago, I immortalized myself in Newfoundland (that's a story for another time ...) by going over a freshly painted yellow line with the Hornet. Road paint is pretty darn persistent - surprise, surprise.

Anyway, the lens looked pretty bad, even after I thoroughly cleaned it. Exhaust fumes, road paint, dirt, and living outside had definitely taken a toll on the lens' shine. It's an after-market led light with a smoked lens, but the process for refinishing it is the same on the OEM light.

After I cleaned the lens with soap and water, I began wet-sanding the lens with 400 grit sandpaper. If you do this, make sure to use masking tape on any parts that you don't want to sand.

I sanded it by hand in a circular motion (not sure it matters) for about five minutes, until the yellow paint dots and the grey haziness were gone. The lens looked kind of "frosted".

I continued to wet-sand the lens with 600 grit (another 5 minutes) and then with 1500 grit. It started to look pretty nice, less "frosted", but not very shiny. I rinsed the lens under water to wash off the wet-sanding residue, and then wiped it down with rubbing alcohol.

I took a clean rag, put a pea-sized amount of toothpaste on it and started polishing the lens with it. (Not sure what would happen with whitening toothpaste that has baking soda or abrasive particles in it - I'd stay away from it for this purpose.) I polished the lens until the toothpaste was entirely gone. Wiped the lens down with a clean part of the rag - done! (It feels good to know that my tail light is now not only shiny but also protected from cavity!)

If you want to hear more about the trip from DC to Newfoundland, you can find it on my blog: A story of motorcycles, nordic wilderness, and icebergs