After driving in rain
- Thread starter goixiz
- Start date
2wheelsx2
New member
There's always QEW! I am going to try it tonight on a test mule...my wife's car! 
DETAILKING
New member
I would wash the car after driving in the rain. The dirt tends to stick to the car a bit more. I have no problems using a duster daily or quick detailer to remove surface dust or even rain spots, but if I drive in the rain I will wash always wash the car.........
After looking at rcwaldo's thread about water spots, I just remembered a tip:
If you live in an area that gets acid rain or if your car is wet and has picked up lots of dust and stuff, it's probably a good idea at the very least to hose down the car when you get home. Some acids and pollutants dissolve in water, so hopefully this will rinse some of them away instead of letting them sit (and dry) on the paint. A friend of mine has etched water spots because he had gone through several cycles of wetting, dirtying, and drying, which had concentrated all the pollutants/acids in the dirt and subsequently etched the paint. Fixing those is going to be one of my spring projects.
If you live in an area that gets acid rain or if your car is wet and has picked up lots of dust and stuff, it's probably a good idea at the very least to hose down the car when you get home. Some acids and pollutants dissolve in water, so hopefully this will rinse some of them away instead of letting them sit (and dry) on the paint. A friend of mine has etched water spots because he had gone through several cycles of wetting, dirtying, and drying, which had concentrated all the pollutants/acids in the dirt and subsequently etched the paint. Fixing those is going to be one of my spring projects.
wizardofahs
New member
if there is any kind of dirt on the car from the rain (ie if it was driven a lot with muddy streats) I would just wash it. If the rain dries and it looks like there isn't much dirt (there's a difference between dirt and dust), then you can maybe get away with using a Cali Duster on it and then going over it with a QD. Doing a QD when the surface is really dirty isn't such a good idea because it tends to marr the surface. Then again people like Scottwax seem to be able to get away with it. (look at his pictures in the Detailing section about before and after pics of klearkote's QD).
DETAILKING
New member
i wash my car once a week. It never gets that dirty, but after it rains I stop any quick detailing / duster treatments until it gets washed again.....
DK
DK
2wheelsx2
New member
iceman said:Ummm....where I am located, does that mean I have to wash the car almost every two days?
But what if it is raining for a whole week straight? How do you wash the car in the rain? You would get soaked. The neighbours will think I'm nuts!
It wouldn't be a problem. If it rains the whole week, there are two things working for you. One is that your car will probably never dry completely, and two is that any acidic rain would have fallen in the first day or so, and after that, the rain water is much cleaner. Check it out some time. Put out a bucket to catch the rain water when it first rains and you'll see the rain is full of dirt, and the pH will be low. As it rains more and more, the rain water is cleaner, and the pH moves towards neutral.
