Ever washed your car in the rain?

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It is hit or miss with washing in the rain. Some people say no way others say that rain itself is low mineral etc. That being said it is raining fairly heavily in MA today and warm so I decided to do a traditional wash and not dry it because the rain is fairly heavy and tomorrow is going to be a high of 40. That being said I know it wont be perfect but washing is better than not washing right? Opening this up for discussion...
 
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I've done this. Great way to conserve water and have a little fun. If you're looking to clean off dirt, this is a good way to do it. If you're looking for anything more than dirt removal, this probably isn't the best way to do this. This probably goes without saying, but you will not get a showroom level carwash from rain water.
 
Many times. Water restrictions abound in NM these days but Summer thundershowers can bring a good wash day.

Even my sunny day washes are "rainwater"...filtered from a 550 gallon tank under the back deck.
 
I've done it. soap the truck up in the shop and throw it outside to "rinse" in the rain. Not a show quality result because of the water spots..but it works.
 
Living in the Puget Sound region in WA state, you cannot avoid washing your car in the rain. In fact I washed and waxed the car last Sat and it rained the last ten minutes of the job. Fortunately I have a carport to pull it into.
 
I have washed cars/trucks/HD equipment in the rain (younger days) …
I will soak and power wash the black truck at the coin wash while raining and hit the highway … good to chase some mud and salt from underneath while the rainwater does not let it spot like my home water does
 
I've done it, It helps when you have a black car, it doesn't get so hot that it bakes the soap on before having to rinse it off.

I have also found as long as it rains long enough to drop any particulates out of the air, dust, pollen, and enough to rinse off the tap water, rain will not leave any water spots.
 
I do it all the time because I live in an apartment in the city and I'm cheap. I use diluted car wash soap in a spray bottle, a bucket for rinsing the rag and a couple of cat litter jugs full of water to help rinse out dirt and leaves that collect around the windows, trunk etc. I even spray on some spray wax and wipe it around if it's not raining too hard at the time.
 
No! smart enough to get out of the rain
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I haven't, but in CA is it becoming more common due to the severe drought conditions.
I used to wash the cars fairly often; now almost never...
 
I haven't actually washed my car in the rain, but when I was a kid, my Dad helped me buy a 91 GMC Sonoma. It was new, and I was so proud of it. It was raining bad and it was all muddy. So I drove it in the garage, washed it and waxed it, then put it right back out in the rain. haha.

I did that because I didn't like how the truck was "Beading". Geeze I was a skitzo haha.

Possibly still am. haha.


Jeff
 
Yup, did it in September. The Sonata was reallllly dirty outside, and it had been 100+ degrees outside for months on end. Then one night it started raining and it was so nice and cold, washed it up. Next morning it looked pretty good, but had water spots.

Was worth it.
 
I have washed it right when it is beginning to rain. I have hard water, so the rain water rinse leaves less water spots.
 
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Originally Posted By: dishdude
What's this rain thing you speak of?
You don't remember that one time we got it for about 30 minutes one evening in September?
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So as a follow up I washed traditionally and used my "flex hose" to give it a decent rinse and didn't bother with drying because....well duh. Thanksgiving morning it was sunny and cold but the traverse actually looked pretty good. Like people mentioned it doesn't look showroom clean but for a clean car on a quick pinch it worked just fine for this guy!
 
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