Review: Mothers Back to Black Tire Shine

**Nick McKees37** · 01-31-2011, 11:50 AM

Yesterday I had the chance to test out Mothers' new tire dressing; Back to Black Tire Shine.

I'm very picky with what I use on the tires of my car so I decided to test it out on my grandparents' 2006 Buick Lucerne. I chose their car in particular because they just recently had new tires put on which have never had any previous tire dressing applied. I figured this would be the perfect opportunity to see if Mothers' new tire dressing really did bring back the black.

Here is the test subject next to the products being used. To spread the tire shine evenly across the surface of the tire I used a Cobra Flex Foam Applicator. I really like these because they are big and easy to hold.

Before application.

Back to Back Tire Shine comes in a 24oz spray bottle that's very comfortable to hold and the dressing itself is transparent.

I did about 6 VERY light sprays for one half of the tire.

I used the Cobra Flex Foam Applicator to spread the tire shine evenly across the surface of the tire.

Here you can see the right side of the tire has been treated with Back to Black Tire Shine while the left side has nothing on it.

I went ahead and did the rest of the tire and it turned out great. I was really impressed with the low-gloss finish and the fact that about 2 minutes after application it dried to the touch.

After doing all four tires I pulled the car out of the garage to get a picture in the sun.

Pros: Price, ease of use. It took very little product to do all four tires. It provided a very rich, low-gloss finish that dried to the touch.

Cons: Over spray. Even when held 6" from the tire using very light sprays, over spray is inevitable.

Summary: Great product for the price, but durability is yet to be determined though. I will check on how well it is holding up next weekend and report back.

Mothers Back to Black Tire Shine

**Spicy McHaggis** · 01-31-2011, 11:56 AM

Glad to see an OTC product not leave a super shiny and greasy look!

**Harleyguy** · 01-31-2011, 01:33 PM

Nice review but we would like to know after you drive the car for a few miles does the product comes off the tires and onto the fenders ??

**WRAPT C5Z06** · 01-31-2011, 01:36 PM

I spray directly onto the applicator, so over spray is never an issue for me. Nice review, but it would have been ever better if you got some direct sunlight pics.

**Nick McKees37** · 01-31-2011, 02:04 PM

Originally Posted by Harleyguy

Nice review but we would like to know after you drive the car for a few miles does the product comes off the tires and onto the fenders ??

We took the car to Lowes about 10 minutes after I was finished and there was no sling off. Like I said in the review, it dried to to the touch shortly after applying.

Originally Posted by 07 z-oh-6

I spray directly onto the applicator, so over spray is never an issue for me. Nice review, but it would have been ever better if you got some direct sunlight pics.

On one of the other tires I did spray the product directly on to the applicator and found that I had to use much more product. Although it wasn't as messy as spraying directly on to the tire, I found that I used more product than necessary. This is why I prefer a tire gel, less mess! The last picture I took was out in the sun too.

**MonoPed** · 01-31-2011, 02:36 PM

Looks like a good product! How does it compare to DP tire gel in regards to gloss?

**forrest@mothers** · 01-31-2011, 02:36 PM

Nick - the tip of the spray head pulls out for a narrow spray stream. Try that if overspray is a problem.

Those with wide sidewalls appreciate the wide spray stream, but those of us with narrower sidewalls like the narrow stream.

**Nick McKees37** · 01-31-2011, 02:39 PM

Originally Posted by MonoPed

Looks like a good product! How does it compare to DP tire gel in regards to gloss?

DP Gloss Tire Gel is actually my go to tire dressing.

Out in the sunlight, I would give a slight advantage to the DP in terms of gloss. I can't speak for the durability of the Mothers Back to Black Tire Shine just yet, but if it holds up anywhere near as well as the DP Gloss Tire Gel, then it's OK in my book.

Originally Posted by forrest@mothers

Nick - the tip of the spray head pulls out for a narrow spray stream. Try that if overspray is a problem.

Those with wide sidewalls appreciate the wide spray stream, but those of us with narrower sidewalls like the narrow stream.

Hey thanks Forrest, I'll have to give that a try. Thanks for your input.

**WRAPT C5Z06** · 01-31-2011, 02:57 PM

Originally Posted by forrest@mothers

Nick - the tip of the spray head pulls out for a narrow spray stream. Try that if overspray is a problem.

Those with wide sidewalls appreciate the wide spray stream, but those of us with narrower sidewalls like the narrow stream.

Forrest, where does this tire shine rank in in terms of shiny/gloss compared to FX and Reflections tire shine?

**MonoPed** · 01-31-2011, 04:04 PM

Originally Posted by Nick@Autogeek

DP Gloss Tire Gel is actually my go to tire dressing.

Out in the sunlight, I would give a slight advantage to the DP in terms of gloss. I can't speak for the durability of the Mothers Back to Black Tire Shine just yet, but if it holds up anywhere near as well as the DP Gloss Tire Gel, then it's OK in my book.

Thanks Nick! I prefer the low gloss look, can't stand the "ghetto shine" from most OTC products. I have a sample of DP gel on the way, if it's too glossy for my likeing, I'll give the Mother's a shot.