Seasonal Prep – MY MOTHERS, YOUR CAR

Seasonal Prep

MY MOTHERS, YOUR CAR

Unless you inhabit the Panhandle, as Texans we really don’t know winter. But we do know summer – especially after this summer. Dry days and high temps can ravage a car almost as easily as freezing temps and salt-encrusted roadways can ravage a car. Happily, for all of that there is Mothers Polish and the company’s helpful website. 

Mothers Polish was born more than 50 years ago with a can of Mag & Aluminum Polish, devised by the owner of a tire shop and his chemist. Initially the products were marketed within car-centric California at car events and swap meets from a 6’X8’ booth…today the company has two tractor-trailers traversing the North American continent, from Lake Mothers in the north to the Gulf of Mothers (this is if company execs had their way…) in the south. In short, Mothers is a lot bigger than she was in the beginning. But then, aren’t we all?

The Mothers PR team reached out several months ago, gifting me with a bottle of both their CERAMIC SPRAY & RINSE and EXHAUST TIP CLEANER & POLISH. Regrettably, spring became summer and we’re now on the cusp of fall, but there’s no better time to consider car care than when you’re on the cusp of winter…even if not near Amarillo. 

The Ceramic Spray & Rinse is exactly how it’s described, and as you’d probably guess (if you’re a chemist…) it’s water-activated and super-hydrophobic. For small, low cars like my Miata, the manufacturer should put it in the glovebox if – of course – Mazda gave its MX-5 a glovebox. 

Its application is pretty straightforward. You wash the vehicle using – you’ve already guessed! – Mothers Car Wash, after which you rinse thoroughly. And then you sparingly mist the Ceramic Spray & Wash onto a small surface, after which you immediately rinse that same surface thoroughly. Only then do you either blow it dry (use an air blower, not the girlfriend) or a microfiber towel. And if you like the result, added layers of protection can be added with regular applications. 

The bottle of Mothers Exhaust Tip Cleaner & Polish is more focused, unless – of course – you have an old Dodge diesel with dual exhausts rising from the back of the cab. I don’t have the Dodge; I have only the aforementioned Miata with but one aftermarket exhaust tip, so this was easy. Once done with that I moved on to my wife’s Grand Cherokee, where the exhaust tip is essentially unseen from the back of the vehicle. (Maybe, thinking it was oh-so-Freudian, she had it cut off…which is what women do.) So, it was back to the Miata for more rubbing – which is also Freudian. Or given that we’re talking Mothers, it could’ve been Oedipal…

The two Mothers products I received are just a small sampling of the Mothers car care menu. Much more can be found at the company’s website – Mothers.com – or, if passing through Huntington Beach, at the company’s offices. Tell ‘em my mom sent you. Or your chemist sent you.