Why not Mother's?

C

Cheetah

New member
I'm a newbie to detailing and so far I've been using Mother's products. I've been going over this board every day for months now and I rarely see people talking about Mother's. Why is that? Is there something that Mother's is lacking compared to Zaino, Meg's and all the other heavy hitters? Is it the level of protection? The cost? The durability? The marketing? Is it because this board is a hangout for zaino fans?



I love the look of Mother's however I don't have enough experience to compare to other makers yet. A lot of people on this board have been detailing for decades but I seldom see

one who raves about Mother's. Many people here debate the merits of several brands but there are relatively few long Mother's threads.



Someone help me out here please.
 
Lol, i was wondering the exact same queston just an hour ago while working with my megs stuff. Interested in the reply.
 
I use Meguiar's products for the following reasons:



The company has been around since 1901.



They work with OEM manufacturers in developing products for new types of paint.



Their products are used by auto manufacturers.



They have a complete line of products. If they don't make it, I probably don't need it.



Since the line is complete, I don't have to think about products from two or more manufacturers working together.



Meguiar's has an active forum. Mike Phillips is an expert detailer who administers it. He is available to answer questions. He posts his cell number in his signature. If he can't answer a question, he asks the chemists at Meguiar's. (Heck, I've called Mike at home with questions.)



Mike's detailed thousands of cars, including hundreds of high profile vehicles. He knows what he's doing.



Mike holds free detailing classes at Meguiar's HQ and at various locations around the country.



Meguiar's products work for me.



Meguiar's products are consistantly used by most of the class winners at the Pebble Beach Concour d'Elegance.



(I lost alot of respect for Chip Foose (Mother's spokesman) at last year's Barret-Jackson auction in Scottsdale. When talking about the first Foose '69 Camaro, he hyped it to the bidders by saying it was a well built car, not an Overhaulin' car. Also, the black converitble that was overhauled for Lance Armstrong had holigrams that were visible during the show when it was given back to Lance.)
 
Mothers is afflicted with an image problem. They are perceived as grandpa's wax. I know what you will say, "Meguiars has been around the longest; why not them?". Well, that's where Meg's has excelled. I am sure they saw it coming a long time ago and reacted. Look at the sheer breadth of their product line compared to Mothers'. Case in point; the NXT line. It's very reason for existence is to appeal to the "hip crowd" and jump on the polymer bandwagon for the masses by selling it OTC and marketing it very, VERY well. In the world of marketing, we refer to it as a rebranding effort, i.e. a product is introduced by a familiar company, but positioned to an entirely different segment with intent to satisfy some members of the overlapping segments as well (Toyota's Scion and Lexus marquees are two great examples of the same concept).



Mothers on the other hand, has just recently awakened to that, hence the rushed redesigning of their packaging and new product introductions. Put simply, every manufacturer succeeds or fails due to the strength and/or variety of their product line. Zaino, Poorboys World, ClearKote and the like are successful because they have found the niche of highly-dedicated detail enthusiasts willing to pay a hefty premium and are doing everything they can to satisfy this tiny segment's every whim. Since they do it well, we all talk about them, make them even more popular, and the snowball keeps growing bigger.
 
Thanks for the excellent replies guys. The info you gave was very helpful and exactly what I was looking for.



Happy holidays.
 
Mother's gets discussed. There's 380 pages if you search by title and 500 pages if you search by posts. It's also generally well-regarded here. They are undoubtedly one of the best over-the-counter brands, and yes underrated. I think most Autopians recognize though that Mother's is a quality line, particularly their Reflections and FX series. But there are just so many products out there, and not every one can prompt a 10-page thread. Meg's is mentioned regularly just because it's so widely used and because of its enormous range of products.



I also have to disagree that this board is a hangout for Zaino fans. Try roadfly and you'll definitely see the difference. One of the best things about this board is precisely the fact that there is such a variety of different products that are talked about. Seems to me that most Zaino threads here end up pretty divisive to put it mildly.



Anyway, don't fret..Mother's is as they say "autopian-grade." I think a good comparison would be with 1Z--not really mentioned with the highest frequency, kinda old-school (not necessarily a bad thing), but still known to be high-quality.
 
i think mothers stuff is under rated , ive been happy with everything ive tried from them



if you're happy with the look and ease of use carry on!! nothing wrong or bad about mothers stuff at all
 
Mothers makes some great products (Powerpolish, their "100%" carnauba) and some not so good products. Since they are mostly OTC, they don't get the attention here that some of the more boutique stuff does.
 
The Reflection line is a very good line. I have used and tested it against many Boutique lines and it faired very well. Mother's Carnuaba is also another very under-rated product. IF you have access to these or any other Mother's products you will have a very good product line that will protect and put a very good shine on your vehicle.
 
The only Mother's product I tried was chrome polish, I was not impressed. OK, that doesn't mean the whole line bites. Personally, I think as far as OTC goes, DuraGloss is the most underrated line there is.
 
Mothers makes some very nice products. Mothers powerpolish and FX are both nice products. Reflections is a better product than NXT. Duragloss is more durable than Mothers or Megs. Zaino is in a class of it's own.
 
Their Reflections wax and topcoat are one of the BEST products I've used. Period.



I've layered the topcoat on Griot's carnauba wax, Natty's (white), #16, (will layer it on NXT soon), and I've always gotten compliments on the "pop" of my paint. I just wish the topcoat was more readily available. Pepboys is the only brick and mortar store that carries the Reflections line, but it doesn't carry the topcoat!?!? Go figure.



Happy Holidays,

Mike
 
I used to love the Mother's rock chip repair kit, but now they stopped making it! I though it was better for the consumer becasuse your everyday Joe doesn't know what Langka is.
 
I have been told in the past that the mothers line of products is more for the consumer, as meg's is more for the pro's, with that I never have used mothers always used meg's till now im on the Menzenrna bandwangon and klasse, and s100 you ge the idea... I'll pay that tad extra to make myself feel better... :)
 
I personally love the smell of their products, but since that doesn't make a producto good or excelent, I don't follow that code. I used mothers for a long time before I had to move and say goodbye to a covered place to keep my car. Like every product around(not just detailing) there's something that will not do as good as the competiror X thing. If it works for you, keep using it. Nobody can tell you what to use or what not to use. And look at it this way also, using OTC products, you save on shipping! :woot2:



Joey:welcome
 
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