What about Mother's products?

mwoolfso

mwoolfso

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Been a member for about 2 weeks now and have read hundreds of posts; picking up lots of bits and pieces everywhere. In all my travels the Mother's product line is hardly ever mentioned at all; from wash to polish to wax. Meguiars is mentioned a lot and of course with all of the premium brands like Pinnacle, Optimum, DP, etc...

So..... are Mother's products worth their weight or are they just about 3M and Turtle Wax?
 
Mothers makes some very fine products. I actually wish they offered more of their products over the counter. But alas, I can usually only find their clay bar kit, some chrome polish, a wheel cleaner, and a quick detailer. To some, Mothers is synonymous with being a cheap, over the counter product you can find at Wal-Mart. While some of that statement is true, they do offer a nice product line. I'm of the opinion that Autogeek would not offer so many of their products if they weren't so highly regarded. I personally love my 3 piece wheel and tire brush set I have of theirs.

I'll be honest, though; if one of the boutique products are in a similar price category as the Mothers item, I'm more likely to try out the boutique item. I'm still somewhat of a beginner to the high end detailing, so I'm having fun trying out product lines I was previously never exposed to.
 
Well Welcome and stick around.A few years ago I was going through the OTC products before I learned detailing was a process,not just washing and waxing a car,I tryed Mothers and a few others and found there where better products out there.The premium brands are fine if thats what you want(some have better durability,some nicer shine),I have some and use them,however beside them there are some lower priced quality products available.Megs does have some nice things especially in their pro line,also you have Collinites and Duragloss,which IMO seem to be much better than Mothers.Now on the flip side I know a professional who does awesome prep work and loves Mothers Carnaba,its all he uses.So you may want to search these threads look at some of the reviews and try a few things to see how well they work for you.And lastly,there may be a reason ppl dont mention much about Mothers,but there are threads on the Forum,check them out.
 
Mothers products are priced well and in general work very well for the price. Most of their brushes are awesome also.
 
I've used very few Mother's products...But I like most of what I've used. Those I didn't care for are the Powerball mini and the All wheel and tire cleaner. But my favorite product from the line is their Mag and Alluminum polish; absolutely outstanding for the money.

I tend to like Meg's line more. More widely available, and great for you money.
 
I have tried Back to Black, Chrome Polish, and Mag and Aluminum Polish.

Back to Black is completely worthless, but the Chrome Polish is decent. Mag & Aluminum cleans nicely, but is not as aggressive as I would like.
 
aerogt01 said:
I have tried Back to Black, Chrome Polish, and Mag and Aluminum Polish.

Back to Black is completely worthless, but the Chrome Polish is decent. Mag & Aluminum cleans nicely, but is not as aggressive as I would like.
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Has very little leveling ability, but man, it does make some dull aluminum shine like a mofo!:dblthumb2:
 
I feel the same way. I think James actually uses Mothers Pro line exclusively for his business but other than that...

We do talk about the wheel/fender/tire brush tho, which seems to be the crowd fav. Another forum fav is the Mothers Soft foam core WW Drying towel.

Other than that its kind of quiet.
 
This is a very interesting topic and something I've wondered about myself.

Mothers is a very old name in detailing products.

If memory serves me correctly Mothers began back in the early to mid 70's. They were the rage then and because of success and acceptance have never looked back.

Mothers has quite a variety of products targeting many venues.

Mothers.jpg


I've tried their products through the years and have never been disappointed. I'm not sure if I agree with their marketing strategies but they must feel it's working for them. From what I've seen it their products are all over the place in stores everywhere but not ones have I seen their complete line either consumer or professional.

Bottom line is Mothers offers some great products at reasonable prices.
 
Mothers makes some nice products. I think ease of application as one of their key characteristics.

There are some staples like Mothers clay, Chrome Polish, towels, and brushes but some notable Mothers products not mentioned as often:

  • Mothers Reflections Tire Care - matte finish
  • Mothers FX Spray Wax - adds gloss, slickness, plus some durability for the price of many detailers
  • Mothers VLR - an interior cleaner with a light leather scent
  • Mothers All Wheel and Tire Cleaner - good stuff, seems to be equal to Optimum on tire brown.
 
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BobbyG,

The only place I have seen the complete line of the Pro products was at a body/paint supply house that had been arround here something like 40 years. They are no longer in business but they seems to have everything that was available at the time, gallon jugs were the norm along with the large bottles. My uncle used to love the stuff and used it on everything back in the 80s and early 90s.

Recently I have been using some of the Mothers OTC wheel cleaners to clean tires, I think its the foaming wheel/tire cleaner and I like that a lot for cleaning the rubber of the tire.
 
mwoolfso said:
In all my travels the Mother's product line is hardly ever mentioned at all; from wash to polish to wax.
So..... are Mother's products worth their weight or are they just about 3M and Turtle Wax?
Click to expand...

Off the top of my head...Mother's has many products worth their weight. Several line-ups are: California Gold, Reflections, and FX. They also have a Professional-Reconditioning System. The Mag & Aluminum Wheel Polish is excellent, along with their brushes and other accessories.
Forest@Mother's is a member of this forum and can/will supply any info about the Mother's products. Besides his postings, I believe he wouldn't mind if you shoot off a PM or email him.

IMO, nothing wrong with some of 3M or Turtle Wax products.

3M has some compounds and polishes that will make many clearcoats cry for mercy...3M Ultrafina (Ultrafine) is highly regarded as a rival to Menzerna's 85rd. Their Perfect II products are among the best. They have excellent pads and other accessories as well.Might as well throw 3M adhesive remover into the mix as well.

After all these years, I still use Turtle Wax Chrome Polish and you'll find that many use Turtle Wax CD2 for underhood applications. Turtle Wax, as a company, is one of the world's largest car care products suppliers. Not saying that all of their products are the best, though. That goes for anybody's products, also, as far as I'm concerned.

As I see it, there is no reason to universally dismiss a certain product line......they all have their place, some more than others, in taking care of vehicles.

All car care products companies, and their blenders/chemists, are continually seeking ways to keep up with today's demand for their products to be more "compatible" with the everchanging paint systems and other materials the OEMs throw at them, and us as well.

Some of the above product lines can be bought at AGO and other on-line ecommerce, as well as OTC. The price/cost range, of course, may vary. :)

Bob
 
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Very well written Bob.

My experience with the few Mothers products that I have used has been that they are just as capable as any other products. Having said that I'll tell you that I have never really used their over the counter products. My experience has been with their professional refinishing products such as their Professional Rubbing Compound, Machine Glaze and Foam Pad Polish. These products are a bit more liquid than most other compounds, glazes and polishes which some may prefer, they have a nice working time as they don't flash quickly like some other compounds do and are definitely easy to wipe back off after fully worked in. I suspect that there may be a good amount of fillers in their machine glaze, a quality that I like for doing production work.

Here is a car that I did half of it using Mothers products and the other half using Meguiars products except that the LSP was AutoGlym HD Wax.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum...a-miata-paint-correction-megs-vs-mothers.html

Here's a Range Rover that I clayed then polished out using their Foam Pad Polish.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/show-n-shine/31207-range-rover-sport-quick-detail.html

In the end, I like the Mothers Professional lineup of products and will buy them again when my current supply is diminished. I don't use them on many jobs but do when i have time to do my research and development as I call it. "Trying different stuff and developing my technique to get the best from that particular product on a particular paint system." One thing that I really like about Mothers Pro Line is that in the extreme heat of summer while the products are locked up inside my mobile rig, the Mothers products do not get all separated and runny.
 
As others have mentioned for otc products and price they do very well.

some of their products I currently use on regular basis:

Foaming tire and wheel cleaner
Chrome polish
Mag and aluminum polish
Clay
Brushes
Drying towel
pro series compounds and polishes


I may have missed something but these products work well for me.
 
tuscarora dave said:
Very well written Bob.

My experience with the few Mothers products that I have used has been that they are just as capable as any other products. Having said that I'll tell you that I have never really used their over the counter products. My experience has been with their professional refinishing products such as their Professional Rubbing Compound, Machine Glaze and Foam Pad Polish. These products are a bit more liquid than most other compounds, glazes and polishes which some may prefer, they have a nice working time as they don't flash quickly like some other compounds do and are definitely easy to wipe back off after fully worked in. I suspect that there may be a good amount of fillers in their machine glaze, a quality that I like for doing production work.

Here is a car that I did half of it using Mothers products and the other half using Meguiars products except that the LSP was AutoGlym HD Wax.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum...a-miata-paint-correction-megs-vs-mothers.html

Here's a Range Rover that I clayed then polished out using their Foam Pad Polish.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/show-n-shine/31207-range-rover-sport-quick-detail.html

In the end, I like the Mothers Professional lineup of products and will buy them again when my current supply is diminished. I don't use them on many jobs but do when i have time to do my research and development as I call it. "Trying different stuff and developing my technique to get the best from that particular product on a particular paint system." One thing that I really like about Mothers Pro Line is that in the extreme heat of summer while the products are locked up inside my mobile rig, the Mothers products do not get all separated and runny.
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^^^Very well written and some great points yourself. You do excellent work on your Detailing projects!

Over the years, many car-care-products supply/manufacturing companies have strayed somewhat from offering Professional Grade products...more profit in the consumer offerings, IMO. I'm glad some are either finding their way back into the fold, or improving upon their existing products...Mother's and Meguiar's, for example, are two such companies.

Bob
 
Over the years I have used Mother's products with great results. From a consumer point of view Mother's, Meguiars, Turtle Wax, Simonize, Blue Coral, etc. have all fought it out in the tough do it yourself market.

These products are usually found at auto parts stores like Auto Zone, Advanced Auto, Pep Boys, etc. Some of these companies also produce professional quality products for body shops and detailing centers.

While I have not used any of the Mother's professional machine polishes or waxes, I have no doubt that they would work as well as the products I currently use, namely Griot's Garage products.

Much of a products success is the perception the company portrays. For instance, I see a lot of TV commercials for Mother's products, especially their Power Ball System presented by their spokesman, Chip Foose.

If I use a product that works for me I'll continue to use it until I find something that works better. I have a garage full of Meguiars, Mother's, Turtle Wax and other quality products that each fulfill a need for me.

I'm also building up my inventory of Griot's Garage products as well however I would not hesitate to use one of the other products I have if I need it as they have all proven their worth to me.

Midnight Blue
 
I really like Mother's Reflections wax & topcoat.
But your question is valid, and somewhere in the archives of this massive forum is a similar conversation. I wonder how many of us could really tell the difference between the waxes. If we had a Coke outside the closed doors of AutoGeek while Mike & company waxed 5 cars w/ Megs, Mothers, Pinnacle, Wolfgang, and brand X, how may of us would be able to tell the difference?
I always thought that durability was the key; "how does the car look in 4 weeks"? But since there are so many variables (in washing, claying, polishing, technique, towels used, etc.) I'm not sure even that applies.
Mike often quotes some guy (whose name escapes me), "Find something you like and use it often."- or something to that affect.
 
Dr Oldz said:
Mothers products are priced well and in general work very well for the price. Most of their brushes are awesome also.
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Agree on brushes and they make a foam core MFWW that is my all time favorite drying towel.
 
I use the Mother's Reflections Spray Wax. It gives extra depth to a black car. I love the way it looks. The only problem that I have with it, is that it's very picky about how it's applied. You have to work on one panel at a time and use two towels. You have to buff it out with a dry towel or it leaves nasty streaks. It's alot of work for something that doesn't last that long. I get almost as good a look from some QD's that I have for much less effort.
 
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