[Review] Mother's Powerball

[MaxHarvard]

Admittedly, I am as lazy as the next man. So when i heard that there was a product that could clean and polish aluminum wheels in a fraction of the time, i was intrigued. Always wary of big claims made by companies i aquired a powerball and decided to do my own test of the product. I followed each of the directions as carefully as i could so as to get the maximum effect. I used the recommended aluminum polish with and without the powerball.

Tools needed to complete the job.
http://anti-rice.com/me/DSC01380.jpg


The 'before' wheel. To be fair, the rims are not that old, only 2 years. Also, i dont tend to drive more than 500 miles a year.
http://anti-rice.com/me/DSC01379.jpg

I was worried when i didnt get a lot of 'black stuff' as the directions said, so after doing a small part of the wheel with the powerball, i decided to pit 4 other aluminum/metal polish compounds to the test.
http://anti-rice.com/me/DSC01382.jpg

To my surprise, i couldn't tell the difference between the 5 methods. Perhaps i dont have the discerning eye that many do, but i was equally pleased by all products used. Here is an after shot, each 5 receiving a different part of the wheel.
http://anti-rice.com/me/DSC01381.jpg

In my brief and highly scientific test, the power ball equally matched all the products and took much less time doing it. My only complaint was that the recommended polish was almost gone after only one wheel, the ball apparent soaks up a considerable amount of it.

If you like hand polishing your wheels, then you'll receive similar results as I did with the powerball.

Overall rating - 8/10
Pro's - Quick, easy to use, simply hand tools, fairly inexpensive
Con's - Use a lot of compound, $25 for the ball and $8 for each bottle of compound, dirty wheels may scratch the surface, hard to get into tight spaces.

[Steve1968LS2]

Glad to see you put that thing to good use :)

They make a smaller "ball" that I would think works better for all but the largest/flatest pieces. Also, if you use a thicker polishing compond on the ball it tends to not soak it up as much (ie. you use less). I actually used the stuff in the tub on my powerball.

It's a useful gadget that works good but not quite as good as a marketing department would make it sound. Anything is better than spending more time than necessary polishing wheels.. lol

[Stuart Adams]

Cool post, kind I like. Clear facts and pics from a customer and not the company spokesperson. Thanks.

[Speedster]

Thanks for the post. Very informative, real world. Not marketing hype.

[zbugger]

Hmmm... Now I really have to find my camera. My wheel was quite a bit worse than yourse, so my results were pretty impressive. I used the mini-ball on mine. Much easier to use, especially on wheels.

[Jay Hilliard]

I have the mini power ball and It works great. I think the smaller ball is the way to go.

[Ummgawa]

Excellent job. Strait to the point, great pix. :thumbsup:

[69rs]

I have been wondering about the powerball. I may have to try the small one.
Thanks!

[Steve1968LS2]

I have been wondering about the powerball. I may have to try the small one.
Thanks!

Since the smaller one spins faster I would imagine it would do a better/faster job.. the bigger ball is better for larger areas.. like diamond plate running boards or wheel hoops..

I have a small powerball but no car to try it out on yet.. :(

[markss28]

I try to clean the surface as best as I can first then I apply the compound to the actual area first and a little on the ball. This is to make sure that all areas are covered plus not allowing the ball to soak all the compound up. After using the power ball I still take a clean cloth and wipe down the surface.