Mother's Polishing Ball

LS WON · 09-25-2006, 03:06 AM

How good are those Mother's Polishing Balls for cleaning off wheels for brake dust? This item costs 18.00 at Walmart and is like a red ball sponge. You attach it to your drill to make it spin.

BostonJoel · 09-25-2006, 08:34 AM

I bought the small one at a car show recently. Waste of Money. I can polish the Corvette chromies just a well manually. The ball does not get into all the corners as advertised...you still have to use your polishing cloth...so why bother with it. I tried to clean it using hot water...but the dirt would not come off.

JoshVette · 09-25-2006, 09:51 AM

I just bought one also and am not impressed with it.

It is perfect however for cleaning up exhaust.

It is good if you have some HRE's for getting around and inbetween those little nuts that go around the perimiter of the rims.

gmblack3 · 09-25-2006, 10:47 AM

Brake dust should be cleaned off, not polished.

The mothers or any other "powerball" is going to work best on uncoated wheels.

I am sure your chrome wheels are coated.

Crusher · 09-25-2006, 12:22 PM

I believe the power ball was mad to POLISH non-clear coated wheels using an abrasive cleaner. I used it on my aluminum wheels and it made them look like chrome. Each wheel took me about 5 minutes. I couldn't be happier with the results.

Wish I had taken before and after pictures because the difference was extremely noticeable.

If you had used the search function you would have found several previous threads about the power ball.....here is one...http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...ght=power+ball

agentf1 · 09-25-2006, 01:46 PM

Yes, I use my mini power ball all the time to polish my 76 Stingray wheels and even use it on my Lightning's exhaust. They work awesome for all your "polishing" needs.

LS WON · 09-25-2006, 03:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by agentf1

Yes, I use my mini power ball all the time to polish my 76 Stingray wheels and even use it on my Lightning's exhaust. They work awesome for all your "polishing" needs.

How do you keep this Powerball clean when only using it for brake dust removal as these chemicals are pretty hard to get off because usually whatever I clean the brake dust off with like a rag I throw it away. Don't want to be throwing away Powerballs.

LS WON · 09-25-2006, 03:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gmblack3

Brake dust should be cleaned off, not polished.

The mothers or any other "powerball" is going to work best on uncoated wheels.

I am sure your chrome wheels are coated.

No chrome for me I have whatever came factory stock on a 2005 Corvette. Am I better off with rags as won't the brake dust eventually destroy the powerball? How do you keep powerball clean from brake dust?

LS WON · 09-25-2006, 03:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crusher

I believe the power ball was mad to POLISH non-clear coated wheels using an abrasive cleaner. I used it on my aluminum wheels and it made them look like chrome. Each wheel took me about 5 minutes. I couldn't be happier with the results.

Wish I had taken before and after pictures because the difference was extremely noticeable.

If you had used the search function you would have found several previous threads about the power ball.....here is one...http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...ght=power+ball

This thread was more positive about the powerball.

Stickman81 · 09-25-2006, 06:20 PM

I bought the larger PowerBall specifically to do the inner portions of my Z06 Chromies, which is not clearcoated.

After washing the wheels, I used "Blue Magic Metal Polish" applied with a cloth to the barrel portion of the wheels. I ran the Powerball around a few times and it cleaned the wheels right up.

I just cleaned up the Powerball with soap and water.

Right side wheel is polished, left wheel is already washed, just not polished.

Click for the bigger pic.

slolane · 09-25-2006, 07:09 PM

I have the small one and I wrap a fine scotchbrite around it to clean and shine the inside of my Borla tips works great

LS WON · 09-25-2006, 07:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by slolane

I have the small one and I wrap a fine scotchbrite around it to clean and shine the inside of my Borla tips works great

How do you know if you have the large mother's powerball or the small powerball. I paid about $18.00 for mine at Walmart probably is the large powerball?

easyrider13 · 09-25-2006, 08:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LS WON

How do you know if you have the large mother's powerball or the small powerball. I paid about $18.00 for mine at Walmart probably is the large powerball?

Probably is the large Powerball. Walmart has lots of the big Mothers at $18 (a good price). I haven't seen the minis there.

mrosa65 · 09-25-2006, 08:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by easyrider13

Probably is the large Powerball. Walmart has lots of the big Mothers at $18 (a good price). I haven't seen the minis there.

I bought mine at wallyworld also for $18 and it was the larger sized PB. I hope they get the mini PB sometime soon.

Edit-

I did a quick search and found the PB mini at advance auto for under 20 dollars which is a pretty good price.

Stickman81 · 09-25-2006, 09:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LS WON

How do you know if you have the large mother's powerball or the small powerball. I paid about $18.00 for mine at Walmart probably is the large powerball?

The large Powerball is about six inches in diameter.

bugman · 09-26-2006, 06:24 AM

For anyone reading this - probably you do NOT want to buy the powerball that you'll find in kmart, walmart etc. -- this will always be the LARGE powerball, which is just too big to be used in the complicated patterns of many wheels. It is about 6" diameter. Just too big for any use on my motorcycle at all, which was what I bought it for.

Look for the mini- powerball. You'll get much better use out of this. I ordered from on on-line vendor - not hard to find with google.

LS WON · 09-26-2006, 02:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bugman

For anyone reading this - probably you do NOT want to buy the powerball that you'll find in kmart, walmart etc. -- this will always be the LARGE powerball, which is just too big to be used in the complicated patterns of many wheels. It is about 6" diameter. Just too big for any use on my motorcycle at all, which was what I bought it for.

Look for the mini- powerball. You'll get much better use out of this. I ordered from on on-line vendor - not hard to find with google.

Then what is the large powerball used for?

JoshVette · 09-26-2006, 03:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bugman

Look for the mini- powerball. You'll get much better use out of this. I ordered from on on-line vendor - not hard to find with google.

Got mine at Pepboys, they had a big selection of the large and small powerballs.

Each were about $25.00 bucks though.......

LS WON · 09-26-2006, 04:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoshVette

Got mine at Pepboys, they had a big selection of the large and small powerballs.

Each were about $25.00 bucks though.......

Did you find them effective to clean whatever you use them for?

2k2C5 · 09-26-2006, 07:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bugman

For anyone reading this - probably you do NOT want to buy the powerball that you'll find in kmart, walmart etc. -- this will always be the LARGE powerball, which is just too big to be used in the complicated patterns of many wheels. It is about 6" diameter. Just too big for any use on my motorcycle at all, which was what I bought it for.

Look for the mini- powerball. You'll get much better use out of this. I ordered from on on-line vendor - not hard to find with google.

Autozone carries the large and small versions.