Mother's Reflections

V

Vadar

New member
WOW!!



I tried this stuff today for the first time on my wife's black 2001 Saab 9-3. Talk about easy, plus great results.



This car is my wife's daily driver, and and is not washed frequently (maybe once a month). Due to my lack of time, I did only a wash, followed by Mother's Reflections.



After washing, I applied Reflections with my PC and white TOL pad (7.5"). Did the entire car, then wiped it all off using WallMart microfibers. I was amazed by how good it looked, and how easy it went on and off. Considering there was absolutely no prep beforehand, I am amazed by the results.



Questions for Forrest:



1) How long does it last? Since it is a synthetic, I assume it should last much longer than a caranuba.



2) Are there any swirl-removal or hiding properties. I could swear that the car has fewer swirls now, even though I did not do any polishing step. Is it just hiding the swirls, or did it actually do some minor removal?





I will probably maintain this car between washes with Mother's showtime quickdetailer. May also try EO wax as you dry for the periodic wash.



I will be using this on my other cars (Alfa, Ferrari), with maybe S100 as a topper (Since I understand that it loses its slickness after a while). It is great stuff.



Dom
 

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I used Reflections on my airplane, then on my '99 Saturn. Both looked absolutely dripping wet. I tried it on my Miata and wasn't thrilled at all with it. I have a feeling it might be another product that works great on some paints, not great on others - but well worth a try.
 
Dom - it's more durable than a carnauba, but keep in mind it's a resin based synthetic (versus a polymer), and resins are soft, so the paint will lost it's slickness afer a couple of weeks.



It has very light cleaners in it, so the reduced marring you're noticing is a result of hiding/filling, not removal.



I do my daily driver (Contour SVT) with it by hand, start to finish in about 20 minutes. It's great for quick and easy.



vulturetec - one of the guys at work has a 2001 MPV, and he doesn't like the way it looks on it, either. Must be that Mazda paint......



Go figure. What color/year is your Miata?
 
Forrest -- the Miata is an Emerald Green 2003 (dark green). I had other issues with the paint anyway.



I dawned, clayed, rewashed, 3M Imperial Hand Glazed, then tried reflections on it. It looked shiny, but looked kind of dry and not impressive. I redawned it and went to Zaino for three coats and had the same impressions. Rather than continue with another 2-3 coats of Z2 I decided to just top it with Meg.#26 -- the #26 did the trick and really made the paint glow. (see the picture below)



mx5g.jpg
 
vulture - the only difficulty I can see might be the 3M Hand Glaze before before the Reflections.



I've not tried that particular sequence to see if there are unintended effects.
 
Thanks Forrest. So how often should I reapply? Just because it loses its slickness doesn't mean it's not there, right? I imagine it should last a couple months at least?



Re: Hand vs machine. It seems like it should go on pretty easily by hand. Since it is a liquid, I used the PC. Don't know if it made it any easier than using it by hand. I may have overapplied with the PC, though. I put some on the pad at each new panel. But, I suspect that I probably didn't need to put it on that often.



Theveed: That's a great description. An exactly what I was hoping for when I tried it on my wifes car. I think when I do my car, I will use it as a base. Then apply Mother's Sealer and Glaze, and top it with S100.



Dom
 
I'd apply every 4-6 weeks. I do it by hand with a small round foam pad, and buff off with a MF.



Tis isone of those products that you'll waste alot of if you use a PC.
 
How does Reflection compare to Gold Class Meg.#6 and Mothers cleaner wax in terms of gloss and depth? Since its resin base is it like Autoglym ?
 
forrest said:
vulture - the only difficulty I can see might be the 3M Hand Glaze before before the Reflections.



I've not tried that particular sequence to see if there are unintended effects.
Click to expand...



Agreed.



As I said, I used it directly on the airplane without any prep (even washing) and the results were absolutely awesome.



When I get a chance I'll try to take some decent pictures.
 
Dom said:


I think when I do my car, I will use it as a base. Then apply Mother's Sealer and Glaze, and top it with S100.



Dom
Click to expand...
I'm not sure you can use S&G (or any glaze really) on top of anything else without having it strip it off....
 
I just did a search, and could not find anything on whether mothers sealer and glaze can be used on top of reflections.



I definately saw the post that it can not be used on top of AIO.



Maybe forrest would know?



Dom
 
I'm willing to bet "no". Even different products tend to be similar in what dissolves them and what doesn't because they're not that dissimilar...
 
After a fair amount of experimentation in this area, I have concluded there is a fair amount of degrading of any synthetic base products (Klasse etc) but it will still offer more protection compared to wax alone.
 
Reflections was developed as a replacement for Sealer and Glaze. When we found how well it worked (and lasted), it became a standalone product.



Glazes need to put on a properly prepped surface, not over the top of another product for best results IMO.
 
I've used a similar product.... Mother's Hot Wheels Premium Wax with pretty good results. The shine is great and as with the majority of Mother's products, it is very easy to use. Slickness seems to holding up ok.....I think this is a very good wax for someone looking for an easy-to-use one-step product. The more I use Mother's products, the more I like them.....
 
Intermezzo,



I've got to agree- the more I use Mother's products, the more I like them.



It's really making me think that all of the money I have spent on alternatives (from Zaino - Zymol) has been wasted. I had some good stuff in front of me the whole time, and just didn't realize it. Wanted something "special" that nobody else had. What I've learned is that paint prep is most important in how the car looks. Once the paint is properly prepped, it seems that just about any decent product you put on is going to look good.



Mothers?



1) Easy to put on and wipe off,

2) looks great (again, paint prep is the key)

3) lasts a long time (anyway, we are autopians and like to detail frequently.

4) cheap (relatively).



What else could you want in a wax?



Maybe when I run out of my current stuff, I'll try the hot wheels wax.



I'm also interested in trying their caranuba wax (without cleaners)- could that be a cheaper/better alternative to S100??

If it goes on easy, and looks good...



Maybe mother's should hire me as a spokesman?? Well, OK, maybe not, but do you have need for a toxicologist??? :)



Dom

(My list of Mother's Products: Clay, Sealer and Glaze, Reflections, Showtime quick detailer, Mag Polish)
 
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