How To

Mothers Polishes.Waxes.Cleaners - Allow Craig Burnett to teach you how!

The Lead Chemist at Mothers Polishes.Waxes.Cleaners Craig Burnett is the expert when it comes to product design, correct use and best results. Watch this series of videos to make you car - the best ride in your street.

The First Video teaches Metal Polishing - with a hint of OH&S - Enjoy!

The task of keeping the bare, polishable metal components of your vehicle looking great is a task that is made much easier, and goes much quicker, if you use Mothers® PowerBall® or Mothers® PowerCone®.

It's important to remember, that when using power tools, always wear the proper safety equipment and eye protection to avoid injury.

Let's be sure that the metal substrate that your working on is in fact really a polishable metal. It's a very simple test.

Take a little bit of polish on a rag, and rub it on the wheel. If you get a black residue, then you know you can continue. If you don';t, please stop, it could be a coated wheel.

The Real Car Wash

One of the easiest things a car owner can do to protect his or her investment, is a weekly car wash at home using high quality products.

Here, I'll be using Mothers® California Gold® Car Wash — now keep the dish soap in the kitchen, it will remove your wax.

You're also going to need a bucket, a wash mitt and some soft microfiber or terry cloth drying towels.

It's always a good idea to use a spray nozzle to conserve water. Try not to wash the car in the hot sun. Wash the wheels and tires first using a quality wheel and tire cleaner.

With a clean bucket of suds and the wash mitt ready, give the car a quick spray from top to bottom to loosen light soil.

Waxing by Hand?

In paint care, having a high quality product is very important, but knowing how to use that product is equally as important.

Take your wax for an example — here I'm using FX SynWax® from Mothers®.

Begin by applying a small amount of wax onto a soft microfiber towel, terry cloth, or in this case, the supplied foam applicator pad.

Massage thoroughly onto the surface — working in two to three square foot sections at a time.

Allow the wax to dry to a haze, then remove with a soft, clean microfiber or terry cloth towel.

Remember to turn the towel frequently for best buffing action.

Mothers Clay Bar - How do you use it?

Regardless of where you live, your paints finish is subject to a variety of damaging contaminants.

Acid rain, bird droppings, metal particles, brake dust. All of these present a danger to the integrity of your paint.

You may not necessarily see them, but you can definitely feel them.

Mothers® Clay Bar is a great product for getting rid of paint fouling grime.

Cleaning your tyres and wheels

The road is not a forgiving place, so the best strategy for keeping your wheels and tires looking great, is regular maintenance with Mothers® wheel and tire care products.

It's better to clean the tires and wheels before washing the rest of the vehicle, so you take care of the dirtiest areas first.

Headlights not so clear? Ever considered Mothers Headlight Restoration Kit?

Regardless of where you live, your cars headlights are subjected to a variety of contaminants that will damage them. They can oxidize, turn yellow and cloudy.

Not only is this an unsightly problem, but the reduced light output is a serious safety concern.

Purchasing a high quality restoration kit can be well worth your time and money, especially when you consider that one lens may cost hundreds of dollars.

Mothers Polish - Interior Rubber & Vinyl Care

It's just as important to maintain the interior of your vehicle as it is the exterior. The proper use of a high quality product can maintain the original appearance of your dashboard, your door panels, soft plastic materials and other vinyl surfaces.

Simply spray on a soft microfiber or terry cloth towel, and gently massage onto the surface.

Allow the proctectant to penetrate for a few minutes.

Remove any excess product by buffing lightly with a soft microfiber or terry cloth towel.

A protectant is also great to maintain exterior rubber, as well as window and door seals.

Preserves and protects for 30 days! Mothers® Protectant is a penetrating UV blocker, effective on rubber, vinyl, plastic and fiberglass. Constructed to recondition and maintain the original condition and appearance of dashboards, bumpers, trim, tires and more. Protectant isn't an oily surface-coating film. It's an ozone and smog resisting, UV shielding penetrant — a preservation agent that works on just about any uncoated plastic or rubber.

Mothers Polish - Polishing Metal by Hand

Whether you have a little bit of polishable metal on your vehicle, or a whole lot — you want it to look great.

And to keep it looking great, we suggest you use a great metal polish and a microfiber towel, and a little bit of elbow grease — and you'll come up with a great looking wheel.

It's a really simple process too.

And Mothers® has a variety of polishes for you to use on your wheels and polishable metal. Today we're going to be using Mothers® Billet Polish.

You just put a little bit on your microfiber towel. Go to the substrate and begin rubbing back and forth. Not in circular motions, back and forth on metal.

And always check to be sure you get that black residue.

If you're getting that then you should continue, that's a good thing.

So rub till you feel you've done a good job. And remember, remove while wet.

A little elbow grease, a good polish — you have a shiny wheel.

Mothers® Billet Metal Polish takes our world famous metal polish technology to a whole new level. State of the art cleaners and cutting edge formulation give your billet, forged and finely cast aluminum, brass and other polishable metals the absolute finest finish available—guaranteed. If you've spent big bucks on quality metal accessories, step up to a polish worthy of your investment.

Mothers Polish - Cleaning Glass

Keeping the exterior glass and interior glass of your vehicle clean is easy if you know a few simple tricks.

Here I'm going to use Mothers® Glass Cleaner.

Mist a little glass cleaner on the surface in a sweeping motion.

Then simply wipe with a towel, spreading the glass cleaner across the surface.

Then flip the towel to a dry side for a final wipe.

For interior glass, or hard-to-reach areas, it's better to spray the glass cleaner on the towel to avoid overspray on adjacent surfaces. Larger windows may need to be cleaned in sections.

If your outside glass is marred with water deposits, Mothers® Chrome Polish can help remove them. This formula is safe for exterior automotive glass.

Even if you've just cleaned the exterior glass, remember the interior glass could be dirty due to "outgassing" from plastics such as your dashboard or door panels.

Road film, oily deposits and grime don't stand a chance against Mothers® Glass Cleaner. Great on all automotive glass, headlight lenses, mirrors and even chrome, this glass cleaner doesn't leave streaks. Our professional strength formula is safe and ammonia-free, so it won't harm your tinted window film.

Mothers Polish - Removing Scratches

Surface scratches can be safely and effectively removed with a good scratch removing product. Even deeper scratches can be vastly improved.

Now before you do anything, make sure you have washed and dried the area to be treated.

Pour a small amount of product onto a foam applicator, soft microfiber or terry cloth towel.

Removing scratches requires light polishing action from a variety of angles within the scratched area.

Wipe off any excess with a soft microfiber or terry cloth towel.

If necessary, repeat the process.

Since a scratch remover will remove wax, apply a fresh coat of wax onto the affected areas.

There are areas of your paint's finish that see more abuse than others: on the edge of doors and the trunk lid, around the door handles, keyholes, at the hood latch, etc. What you need is a scratch remover. Mothers® Scratch Remover works on any sort of paint, any sort of finish, to help restore high mileage paint and remove surface scratches. This is a true polish—be sure to chase it with the standard regiment of waxing to properly seal and protect.

Mothers Polish - Exterior Trim Restoration

Proper car care means maintaining and cleaning all aspects of your vehicle, including this exterior trim. These trim pieces can get unsightly with age, and remember they're very expensive to replace.

Mothers® Naturally Black® is a great example of a formula created to restore all sorts of exterior trim.

First of all, make sure you are working with a clean, dry and cool surface.

Pour the product onto a soft, dry microfiber towel or terry cloth towel, and apply liberally — massaging the product thoroughly onto the surface.

Allow the product to dry, and then buff with a soft microfiber or terry cloth towel.

To avoid the dreaded wax residue on trim, apply Mothers® Naturally Black® before waxing.

Should any streaking occur, some additional buffing, or another application may be required.

As your ride's exterior ages, rubber, plastic and vinyl exterior hardware of all colors will dry, crack, flake and deteriorate. This oxidation can be stopped and reversed with Mothers® Naturally Black®, our favorite auto-care concoction. This trim treatment is great for all sorts of exterior hardware in all colors — bumpers, molding, louvers, window trim, vents, seals, skirts, door handles, wiper arms — anything that's plastic, rubber or vinyl. Apply Naturally Black® to sun-burnt plastic, rubber and vinyl to revive the factory-new sheen, then re-treat that exterior hardware regularly.