No, not my mother, she smelled fine, rest her soul. Mother's mag and aluminum polish. I polished up an old set of Nuovo Tipo hubs yesterday getting them ready to lace to some new rims and find the smell of Mother's gets stuck in my nose, I can still smell it this morning, and that can't be good. I figure it must be ammonia based. I notice no warnings on the tin saying the stuff is harmful but still, it's a bit disconcerting. I like the stuff, it seems to work very well, being a soft paste I suspect it has more volatiles suspended in it than Simichrome or Flitz. Does this bother anybody else?

Yo Momma so stinky....
...the government make her wear a Biohazard warning
...she made Right Guard call for backup.
...even the dogs won't smell her.

Thank-you! I'll be here all week!

"My dog has no nose!"

"Then how does he smell?"

"AWFUL!"

Wutch you be talkin' trash 'bout my momma fo?

a

I've never experienced this problem. Mothers mag smells (to my nose) no worse than any other product.

Were I you, I would never use the stuff again. Vintage bicycle ownership is supposed to be fun.

Not sure, if that stuff, is even any good, when seeking optimal polishing results. Never use it, or any other alloy cleaner, yet I manage to get some decent results.

Before...


After...


In the before and after pictures, only the hub was polished. The spokes were replaced, however, they could have been made to look much better, by rubbing them with, wadded up, aluminum foil. Back to the polish...

Alloy polishing is removing the high spots, to create the smoothest surface possible. This is best accomplished with abrasion, from rough to extremely fine. You can use wet sanding paper (by hand), or polishing compounds (on a polishing wheel). I use both, depending on the situation.

The product, the OP used, will remove the loosest oxidation high spots, and perhaps even some of the low spots. However, the surface will still be rough. Not by the feel standard, but by the reflective standard. So, you have to even out the entire surface, minimizing high and low spots, and no manufacturer's alloy cleaning compound, that I know of, does that.

Hat's in the ring...

I think PBlaster smells much worse...and it lingers.

Use gloves the next time you have to use Mothers.

My family complains when I polish parts in the kitchen with Simichrome. It does smell strong. So does my mother.

Neal

What, no google image for this post? C'mon Neal, your slackin'.............

Oh yeah. I use gloves when I do any sort of polishing work or work with solutions, polishes, etc. I'm tempted to wear a half mask next time I use Mother's, however. I can STILL smell the stuff, just a bit, and that aint good. Though it was, I suppose, made to be used outdoors on your car wheels. And Randyjawa, thanks. I obtained about the same level of reflection on my hubs as on your Nuovo Records, but mine were not oxidized as badly as yours. Just removing a dull haze. The stuff does work well. It is, after all, a fine sort of rubbing compound, but the action may include something chemical as well. I notice Simichrome, also stinky, and Flitz, less so, both require more rubbing to obtain the same effect.

I love the smell of Mother's in the morning....and afternoon, and evening. Means somethin's gittin' dun!

You said it all, Keith! I like my bikes to sparkle and smell of Mother's, proofhide and grease - it means I've done all the work and they are ready to ride!

My mother is definitely pre-Google!

Neal

Okay, I couldn't pass up this one:



Neal

That reminds me of an old Eddie Murphy routine, but I won't go there. "Soiled the air". Funny.
BTW, speaking of mothers.....that illustration looks remarkably like MY MOTHER!

Hey...

+1

Don't put chlorine in it.

Didn't Robert Duval use that same exact line in Apocalyse Now?

Hey, does using a soapy wet Brillo pad on tarnished alloy components make me a bad guy?

Or, how about the fact that I often clean them in the kitchen sink?

Or, how about the fact that I will spend hours of time polishing these same components with auto cleaner wax, instead of doing all the other stuff I should be doing.