Review: Mothers Professional Compound and Polish

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Hey AGO members, PapaSmurf here and today I'll be sharing my review and experience with Mothers Professional Rubbing Compound #08612 and Mothers Professional Polish #08712. Together Mothers calls this there Professional Paint Restoration System. The products retail at about $13.50 a piece or around $27 when bought as a kit. The Compound is designed to remove up to 1500 grit defects.


20140120_160927 by PapaSmurf315, on Flickr

The vehicle I used to test this product Is my friend Jesse's 05 Mustang GT. It is cars like this that make me LOVE detailing. This bad boy rolls on a set of Foose Nitrous rims and packs a nice punch thanks to a set of cams, full exhaust, gears and custom tune. This is undoubtedly the most well taken care of 05-09 GT I have come in contact with, but that doesnt mean there arent swirls! That is ok because that's where Mothers and I come to the rescue!

All dirty

20140120_151603 by PapaSmurf315, on Flickr

All cleaned up and back in the garage thanks to a nice waterless wash.

20140120_160052 by PapaSmurf315, on Flickr

About the Product(s) (Taken from Mothers website)
Mothers® Professional Paint Restoration System uses the same industry-proven formulas found in body shops worldwide to give you a showroom new finish, without the guesswork. Reconditioning your paint from normal wear and tear, buff fresh paint after color sanding, or even improve your factory applied paint finish, especially clearcoats.

Rubbing Compound works with your favorite buffer to quickly cut through water spots, and effortlessly remove heavy oxidation, car wash scratches and other defects.

Finishing Polish removes compounding scratches, towel marks, hazing, holograms, and other imperfections.

Designed for the professional detailer, but simple enough for anyone, Mothers® streamlines paint correction to give you brilliant color, enhanced gloss, unmatched depth, and a perfectly prepared surface, ready for waxing.

Testing

Taped up My test sections

20140120_161147 by PapaSmurf315, on Flickr

The Defects


20140120_160649 by PapaSmurf315, on Flickr


20140120_160505 by PapaSmurf315, on Flickr


20140120_161200 by PapaSmurf315, on Flickr


20140120_161200 by PapaSmurf315, on Flickr

For the Rubbing Compound I chose to use The Lake Country Cyan Hydrotech Pad. I primed the pad with 3 small drops working the product in on speed 2-3 and then increased to speed 6 with moderate pressure for a total of 4 section passes. Once the product breaks down it will turn kind of transparent. The Compound has a very nice work time and VERY LOW dusting properties.


20140120_162150 by PapaSmurf315, on Flickr

Slight haziness left from the compound but no swirls remain. You might be noticing the little dots. This hood had some sealant pop from the custom black painted portion of the hood.

20140120_162522 by PapaSmurf315, on Flickr

Polishing
For the polishing I used a Lake Country Tangerine Hydrotech pad and primed the pad with 3 small drops working the product in with light pressure on speed 2 increasing speed to between 4 and 5 making 4 section passes. This product has ZERO dusting,


20140120_163616 by PapaSmurf315, on Flickr

BAZINGA! Thanks to the Polish the paint now has clarity and depth!

20140120_163936 by PapaSmurf315, on Flickr


20140120_164815 by PapaSmurf315, on Flickr

Final Thoughts & Impressions
I am VERY satisfied by the results of these 2 products. I would say pad selection is very critical when using these products. I believe I could've gotten less haziness with the Compound alone by using a slightly less aggressive pad such as a LC orange CCS Smart pad. I could've also just used a black LC finishing pad with the Polish to even further refine the finish. The Compound is MUCH better than Meguiars M105 IMO as there is zero dusting and it cuts as good if not even better. The polish is fantastic too and the fact that there is ZERO dusting is an added benefit. Both products have a very long work time. I felt like I could work the Polish forever. Mothers doesn't disappoint and these 2 products demonstrate that. They really did there homework and delivered 2 quality products. I would encourage everyone to give them a try and not overlook them. I've been very curious about these products for sometime and now after using them I can confidently say that they work EXTREMELY WELL. I would also like to inform everyone that the Rubbing Compound #08612 is the 12 oz consumer version of Mothers #81132 32 oz. The same goes for the Polish #08712 as it is the same as the 32 oz #83432. Thank you for taking the time to read this review and I look forward to your comments :buffing:.
 
Great write up! I've been wondering about the mothers compound and polish. Are they available OTC?
 
Thank you! Yes I know some places like Pep Boys carry them.

Great, thanks! Looks like a great set of products for a very reasonable price! I'll definitely have to add them to my arsenal!

If you don't mind my asking, what tape do you use for sectioning and taping off trim? The tape I've been using lately has been leaving behind sticky residue and creating more work for me. I wonder if maybe the last few rolls I've purchased came from an older batch?
 
Outstanding review Caleb! Looks like you really went all out with this one. I like how both products create zero dusting. Their definitely an alternative to the usual Meguiars/Menzerna/Optimum lineup.

This will probably open up newbs minds when they realize "hey, I thought Mothers was just a cheap OTC brand found at local chain stores". Quite the opposite, your results speak for themselves.
 
I've had AWESOME results with Mother's Power Polish (off the shelf)!! It's been eluded to several times over the years in here that Mother's is a very underestimated product line most of the time. They have some great stuff.
 
Great, thanks! Looks like a great set of products for a very reasonable price! I'll definitely have to add them to my arsenal!

If you don't mind my asking, what tape do you use for sectioning and taping off trim? The tape I've been using lately has been leaving behind sticky residue and creating more work for me. I wonder if maybe the last few rolls I've purchased came from an older batch?

Youre welcome! I use 3m sharp edge tape (I believe its called something like that).

Outstanding review Caleb! Looks like you really went all out with this one. I like how both products create zero dusting. Their definitely an alternative to the usual Meguiars/Menzerna/Optimum lineup.

This will probably open up newbs minds when they realize "hey, I thought Mothers was just a cheap OTC brand found at local chain stores". Quite the opposite, your results speak for themselves.

Thanks Aaron! I really hope this opens some peoples eyes and changes opinions that some people have regarding OTC products. Mothers has great products and a fantastic inventory to meet every detailing need.

Great review! Great results! Great price!

Thank you, I agree! Thanks for reading my review :xyxthumbs:.

I've had AWESOME results with Mother's Power Polish (off the shelf)!! It's been eluded to several times over the years in here that Mother's is a very underestimated product line most of the time. They have some great stuff.

Indeed they do. My goal is to shed some light on what these products are capable of doing. There really is no shine like Mothers!
 
These pictures don't do justice to the results! The black on my hood is SO much deeper and looks better than it did when she rolled out of the paint booth.

I'd love to post some better outdoor shots but the "Polar Vortex precludes that at this time.
 
These pictures don't do justice to the results! The black on my hood is SO much deeper and looks better than it did when she rolled out of the paint booth.



I'd love to post some better outdoor shots but the "Polar Vortex precludes that at this time.


Was this done with Mothers Professional compounds/polishes? If so which ones?
 
Good to see another product easier to work with than M105. Great review!

Thank you :). Its a very nice compound and the polish is great too.

These pictures don't do justice to the results! The black on my hood is SO much deeper and looks better than it did when she rolled out of the paint booth.

I'd love to post some better outdoor shots but the "Polar Vortex precludes that at this time.

Thanks for chiming in and sharing your picture Jesse!

Here it is very everyone else to see a little easier.



mothersreflection by PapaSmurf315, on Flickr
 
I will be updating this thread in time with further testing with different pads. I am curious to see how this product will react with mf pads.
 
Nice review and nice results. Thanks for the info.
 
Very nice review. These along with most every product Mothers make are great performers. Just because you can buy it in a big box store doesn't mean it doesn't work or is cheaply made weak product. Here's what you can expect from the compound using a MF pad and a dual action polisher.

Not to hijack your post but to only show more results with these products the full post can be seen here.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/product-reviews/48309-mothers-professional-line-compound.html
 
awesome writeup caleb! I have always been curious about that combo myself and unfortunately I feel mothers gets overshadowed by other brands because they have essentially always been available and "otc"
 
Looks good. Great Review.

That hood looks like it has some terrible orange peel though.
 
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