Can't Always Trust Your Mother's!
 

I just tried the new Mother's Foaming wheel cleaner, which is supposed to be spray-on and wash-off. NOT!!

First application (per the directions) took off no more than 10-20% of normal between-car wash brake dust accumulation. Second application had no additional benefit. Scrubbing with brush finally got the wheels as clean as one application of my usual Adam's wheel cleaner with brush.

I am going to try to return, but it's not worth paying the return shipping cost. Now, I don't believe ANY of Mother's advertising any more!

I finally settled on Turtle Wax Rim Cleaner. It is not one of the fancy, new age, boutique brands but it works very well, leaves a great no brake dust sticking finish and costs about $3 at Wal-Mart....what's not to love? For many years, I stayed away from the "old man's" brands, like Turtle Wax, like they were the plague.
After 20+ years of trial and error, I even use thier Wax As You Dry product and it keeps my finish perfect. I had a eight year old black Mazda Millenia with a buttery smooth perfect finish and it never once saw a clay bar or buffer.
Maybe they should market the brand as "Vintage" and watch the sales roll in...lol

Yeah, I didn't like Mother's wheel cleaner as well. Found a bottle of it for like $2 at Big Lots and gave it a shot. Sticking with my P21S.

Sportstick -- I've actually found the new Foaming All Wheel & Tire Cleaner to work quite well on my factory finish wheels. It does need to be on a cool, dry wheel to work right, and you do need a strong spray from the hose. And yes, sometimes a little agitation may be required if there is severe buildup, but you probably would find that it's loose and just needs a quick wipe to break its "static" cling from the surface. Don't let it set much more than 30 seconds. I'm not sure how the Adam's is any easier to use if you have to use a brush with that, too.

C300 Sport -- haven't tried the TW cleaner -- may have to check it out next time.

Azn C300 -- The stuff they had at Big Lots a while back was their old wheel mist formula (with the yellow car on the bottle), which was fairly mild as wheel cleaners go and worked good in most cases. I used to use P21S and nowadays I prefer the Mothers Foaming All Wheel & Tire partly because it also cleans crud off tires really well and it's easy to find and costs less.

Original factory E Class wheels were cool and dry....first thing in the morning.
Hose was on strongest "jet" setting on nozzle
Washed 30-45 seconds after a good soaking of cleaner
A little top coat of dust washed off, vast majority remained.
(Like shampoo) Repeat process.
No improvement.
Brushing cleaned wheel.

Adam's does not claim to be "spray on/wash off", so it honestly lives up to its' promise. For the $7 I paid for Mother's, I will finish using this bottle with one app and then brushing, just like any other product. But, as it did not live up to its' claim, it is a disappointing product. Using the same process, Adam's is not easier, but I feel more supportive of an honestly presented product.

I have yet to find a "spray and rinse" wheel cleaner that all you actually have to do is spray and rinse. All of the ones i have tried require some scrubbing to get all the dirt/brake dust off...even when the rims are only SLIGHTLY dirty

P21S and Sonax are the only ones that have been spray and rinse for light to moderately dirty wheels from my experience. Dirtier will require some minor agitation.

Mother's and my brand new 2010 C300
 

Hey all! Just traded off my '08 Civic LX coupe and drove home in my C300 sport 6 spd. $29,996 purchase price. Massive, no kidding, improvement in everything but gas mileage. The steel gray metallic is really nice. The only option other than metallic paint is an iPod adapter so it is utilitarian for a Benz.

As for Mother's: Wheel/Tire foam on fire trucks sucked so not surprised that is has poor reviews. I don't care for their cleaner wax either. It doesn't seem to leave that "just waxed" feel to the paint surface. Or maybe that was Nu Finish I am thinking about. Yea, I think it is. Oh well, it is my first post.:newbie:

I kinda think that if it was strong enough to spray on/rinse off for medium dirt, then it'd be too strong to be using around your car.

Beside, I just use my car wash soap and a couple of different brushes. I've got the twin 7 spoke OEM wheels on a 08 C300. Just found the perfect brush for those wheels (narrow slot between spokes)at Walmart.

+1

I agree. I tried the Mother's Foaming wheel & tire cleaner too. I had to brush them to actually get them clean. When I first applied it and rinsed it barely removed any brake dust. They left the tires with a nice matte sheen but they disappointed me on the wheels. At least with the Meguiar's stuff I had been using, I could spray it on and rinse it off, then simply wipe it down to remove the rest. Mother's just didn't remove enough to make that practical.

PLUS - when I was done spraying down the wheels and tires (wheels 2x) I had used 3/4 of the bottle. I think they designed the spray nozzle to be inefficient in an attempt to get us to consume more...