Mothers VLR, any experiences or Tips?

Don M

Don M

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I just picked up some Mothers VLR (vinyl, leather, rubber) cleaner-protectant as a follow up product to Meguiar's Gold Class Aloe Leather/Vinyl Cleaner to remove any residue left from cleaning some leather seats and add a bit of protection ... I gave up on getting 303 AP on time for Saturday.

Has anyone used the VLR before and what can you tell me about it? I have never used this or any other Mother's product-besides the California Gold Carnauba Paste wax w/o cleaners.
 
I don't have any experience with the Mother's vlr, but how did you like the megs aloe leather cleaner?
 
I have used the Mother's, and while I like it as a cleaner, it has a pretty strong chemical smell. The Griot's Garage Interior Cleaner isn't nearly as strong and a pretty good cleaner as well. I will probably give the cleaner to my daughter, when I had her smell it when I did her SUV she said it smelled clean to her.
 
Gearhead said:
I don't have any experience with the Mother's vlr, but how did you like the megs aloe leather cleaner?
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I did a few test spots on my wife's '03 Explorer (which I think was a good idea before tackling a Porsche that costs more than my house ;) )

To say the Explorer is well used is an understatement, I don't like detailing SUVs and hers is even worse because it has that demon trim everywhere that attracts wax and never lets go, so I don't do it often (ever). The car is a light brown with a tan-ish interior (plastic vinyl and rubber). First I tried it on the driver's inside door armrest/handle which was nearly black in places. I spritzed a little of the Megs leather/vinyl cleaner on the top of the armrest and watched as some of it ran down the sides, almost instantly causing clean streaks. Since it was so bad I decided a little bit of agitation with a soft toothbrush and a mild scrubber pad was in order. So after a few minutes of agitation with the toothbrush I wiped the slurry (the cleaner foams up a bit when scrubbed) away with a dry mf towel, I know I should have used a wet/damp cloth, but this was only a test spot.

When I wiped, the towel turned black and the armrest was tan again - even in the textured creases etc. So I moved to another area and tried again, this time with the scrubber pad on the center console. A spritz or two, a minute or so of scrubbing and ... Oh hell, now I have to do the entire interior. She's not going to let me get away with just clean one armrest and half of the center console.

As a cleaner I have to rate this a 10, because just spraying it on and letting it drip down a nasty rubber armrest and a console lid caused clean spots with no agitation at all. I'm guessing that on anything less than a surface totally covered in grunge, this is going to be a 'spray on, wipe off' product.

I WILL be buying this again. I might even try it on the ext trim that has 10 year old wax still embedded in it.
 
It's okay, on some surfaces it seemed like it made it too squeaky for me.

I really like Mother's leather cleaner a lot, I have not used their conditioner however, but I would've used those before I considered VLR.

I usually use D101, Cockpit Premium, QID, Leatherique System,or Mother's leather cleaner. The only conditioner I use is twice a year when doing the Leatherique system.
 
Don M said:
I just picked up some Mothers VLR (vinyl, leather, rubber) cleaner-protectant as a follow up product...

Has anyone used the VLR before and what can you tell me about it?
Click to expand...

Hey Don,

I own both Mothers VLR and Mothers Leather Cleaner + Conditioner. I did a comparison personally--just didn't get the review up. VLR cleans decently well, although not as well as the pure cleaner. And yes it does have a chemical smell but nothing that's going to ruin the experience of the detail. If the leather is pretty dirty, use a leather/vinyl brush. The bottle says avoid contact with plastics, but I haven't personally had an issue with overspray--over on the Mothers forums they said it's cool as long as you buff immediately. I also personally like terry cloth towels to clean leather as opposed to microfiber cloth.

VLR is a great all-in-one. As with many products, it's your technique that can make (or break) the results. If you are super worried, their leather wash/conditioner combo is available in Wal-Mart: Mothers Leather Wash Foaming Cleaner, leather cleaner for cars & Mothers Leather Cream Moisture-Rich Conditioner.
 
While doing a few test spots on my wife's Explorer, I discovered that Mother's VLR and a toothbrush or scrub pad will remove dried wax from textured plastic trim ... just a fun fact.
 
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