I just tried something ridiculous and it works awesome! Strange as it sounds, give it a try, you will love the results!
My plastic headlight lenses were cloudy and somewhat yellowed from age. They looked bad! So before I ran out to find new ones I used some 180 grit sandpaper and lightly sanded them by hand. They turned completely white similar to frosted glass. Then I wiped them down to make sure all the sanding dust was gone and sprayed them with a clear gloss lacquer.
They look brand new! The total time spent was about 10 minutes! It is amazing how it improved the performance too.

 

I worked at a autobody shop a couple yrs back and we always used extra cut buffing compound and it worked real quick and cleaned up real nice never thought of doing what you did not a bad idea -Scot-

 

Perhaps buffing compound w/ clear coat would be even better. I'll try that next time. I'm sure happy with the results! I hope others are able to use this.

 

they have kit at walmart for 10.00 that works good it has everything

 

Meguiars sells a product called PLASTX which removes the yellowing from lamps. Tube toothpaste will do the same job.