How bad is rain?

[wong600]

Hey Guys,

Do you think its imperative to wash your car ASAP after rain?.. specifically:

1) Does the dry residue harm your paint even if you don't touch it?

2) Have you ever noticed that rain residue is highly abrasive?

..I ask this because someone brushed against the deck of my trunk with either their hand or a sleeve and wham! there were terrible micro-scratches (like running a comb through sand)! ..also, I just barely touched my paint to check a scratch and wham! the same kind of micro-scratches right where my finger was.. I can't believe! this never happens with dust.. I just barely smudged the paint, and moreover, you can't see the residue!

FYI: I haven't been able to wash after a couple hours of rain one week ago.

Thanks.

[Murr1525]

Re: How bad is rain?

1) Depends what is in the rain.... I will wash in the rain on occasion, but that is pollen in the east.

2) Rain can pull dust from the 'sky', but also make the light dust on the surface into more of a mud.

3) How sensitive your paint may be is another factor... what paint is it, what make, model, etc.

[Blueline]

Re: How bad is rain?

I don't think rain is bad at all, unless of course you have just finished many hours of detailing, and you want to go for a ride and it rains.
Sometimes, if my car is mildly dirty, I will pull the car out of the garage when it rains, just for a free car wash. (Sometimes I am lazy)
I have never heard of rain being bad as in bad getting cement spray all over it.

[TimG]

Re: How bad is rain?

Depends where you are located. Here, the rain is not that good for paint. It stains and sometimes etch into the paint due to frequent change in temperature; it gets hot then suddenly rains then back to being hot again within the same day.

[RGP]

Re: How bad is rain?

Rain is Nature's way of cleansing our air. The spectrum can run from what I suspect is innocuous pollen up to caustic industrial contaminants and also run the gamut in abrasiveness.

The urgency for washing and also the touching guidelines should be obvious.

[ClearlyCoated]

Re: How bad is rain?

As others have said, depends upon what's in the rain. Rain will typically not have the mineral content of tap water, or water from sprinklers. It's the mineralization and impurities in the water that starts to etch the paint. Sprinkler water dries white because of it's mineral content. Rain water (at least here in SoCal) dries without leaving residue.

[boiler7904]

Re: How bad is rain?

If it didn't rain, my brother's minivan and car would never get washed. Don't get me started on the food and kid stuff all over the inside of them.

[Alexandre]

Re: How bad is rain?

I hate rains, sometimes we have acid rain, so I don' t like to risk.