It’s an issue many of us will face when it comes to our cars, especially older models — foggy headlights.
It not only ruins the look of the car, but it’s dangerous, affecting visibility for drivers like Angela Bell-Deems when the headlights are in use.
“I was driving at night and my headlights just weren’t shining through like they were before and so I felt like it was dangerous and I wanted to get it fixed but I couldn’t afford someone professionally doing it and I tried the headlight cleaners online and they didn’t work that great so I was looking for another option,” said Bell-Deems.
Bell-Deems brought her car to an auto mechanic for repairs unrelated to her foggy headlights.
“I mentioned that I tried to clear my foggy headlights and he said, ‘try bug repellent.’ I thought he was crazy, but it works,” said Bell-Deems.
She said you don’t have to pay a lot of money or buy any expensive bug repellent. You can use whatever repellent you may already have in your home. She said she’s even tried dollar store bug repellent and it did the trick, as long as it has some deet in it. She said she used it on her car, her husband’s car and even several of her friends’ cars and they all ended up looking like new.
So who came up with this hack? Bell-Deems has a theory.
“I’m thinking it was someone from Florida, maybe spraying themselves to try to keep the mosquitos away and then it got on their light and they realized it cleared the fog from the headlight cover,” said Bell-Deems.
We invited Bell-Deems to the News 6 station in Orlando to test out the household hack with News 6 Anchor and Insider Guide Crystal Moyer.
We first used Repel 100 Insect Repellent with 98.11% deet. We sprayed the outer headlight cover of an older model Ford sedan. The spray was only on the headlight cover for seconds before being wiped off and it worked. The headlight appeared to be clearer, and removed much of the fogginess.
We took it a step further and tried a bug repellent with only 25% deet and the results were extraordinary. OFF! Deep Woods Insect Repellent with 25% deet cleared the fogginess much better than the repellent with nearly 100% deet, making the car look like new.
After the headlights were wiped off, we also rinsed them with water to make sure the bug spray didn’t sit on the material.
How long does it last?
“After a few months, it will probably start fogging again, but I assume it would naturally happen anyway,” said Bell-Deems.
BEFORE YOU TRY THIS HACK AT HOME — We advise you test a small spot before covering your headlights in bug repellent. Depending on the make of your car and the ingredients in different bug repellents, this hack may very well damage the paint or headlight exterior.
Do you have a tip, trick or household hack that’s made your life easier? Share it with us by filling out the form below. We may put it to the test and feature it on News 6.