Blasted Rain!!

S

StevenH72

Veteran
So I was all ready to give my car a good clean, clay and wax at the weekend (ready for Sunday's meet), weather seemed to be shaping for the end of the week, but now.......

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Anyway, my question:

Obviously I will only Wax if I look like getting a couple of dry hours.

But, can I wash and clay whilst it is raining? Or will the "dirt" in the rain cause any problems. Is there much 'grit' in rain?

I will re-wash after the rain, to give a nice clean, dry surface on which to apply the wax.

Ugh, maybe I'll have to wait. :x
 
umm thats something i never thought about....

I'd imagine it depends where you live.. i woudlnt want to do this in London with the rain containing the pollutants which you then try claying into the paintwork.

My uncle often washes his car in the rain (but then he does it for ease - as oppose to detailing!) He applies the shampoo in his garage.. and then when its raining drives it out of the garage and lets the rain rinse it off!!
 
Arguably rain is purer than the stuff you get out your tap, which is full of minerals and whatever it's treated with in the water system. I washed my car in the rain the other day - fortunately there were breaks that allowed me to get it mostly dry, then I could finish it off, polish and wax it in the garage.

If you don't move the car between washing and the rain stopping then you could just use a quick detailer to get rid of small amounts of grit and water marks, lots less hassle than washing it all over again.
 
Bing said:
Arguably rain is purer than the stuff you get out your tap, which is full of minerals and whatever it's treated with in the water system. I washed my car in the rain the other day - fortunately there were breaks that allowed me to get it mostly dry, then I could finish it off, polish and wax it in the garage.

If you don't move the car between washing and the rain stopping then you could just use a quick detailer to get rid of small amounts of grit and water marks, lots less hassle than washing it all over again.
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It is, but then I wouldn't want to apply the sealant on top of the QD. If I can get away with it, I don't mind washing/ claying in the rain, but would need a clean base for which to apply the sealant.

Carol M said:
You better be careful as the rain can bring down a lot of dust with it. Personally I wouldn't risk it.
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This is what I'm worried about. Especially when using the clay, the last thing I want to do is scratch the paintwork.

Maybe a quick wash/ QD will have to do for this weekend.

Wait for a dry day to clay and wax.
 
Hah i was thinking about doing this for Sunday - though i suspect it'l just come 'dirty'.

We should look for a large empty warehouse with water supply and power that we could rent, i know a few people that'd be keen to chip in.
 
Don't do anything unless the weather is good. 1) There can be grit in rain that will do far more damage as you rub it into the paintwork. 2) You can't see what you're doing.
 
jimmybell said:
Hah i was thinking about doing this for Sunday - though i suspect it'l just come 'dirty'.

We should look for a large empty warehouse with water supply and power that we could rent, i know a few people that'd be keen to chip in.
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Jimmy, if you can find somewhere, in or around London I'd be more than happy to chip in and use for a day.
 
I have been known to wash the cars in the rain. Neighbours think I'm a little nuts. :cry:

Normally not much dust in with it in the winter. But in the late summer there can be a lot of dust and sand carried up from North Africa. :o

Claying removes the crap so I would not worry about that and as you can't apply polish in the rain. I wouldn't worry about that either. I would and do always wash the car with clean tap water, then thoroughly dry it, before applying any type of polish. :thumbsup:
 
We've had biblical levels of rain here all day and no end in sight until the early hours of tomorrow, when we get a few hours respite before it all starts again! :headbang:
 
Cheers again guys.

It looks like any rain (light showers forecast) will hold off until 2 - 3 pm tomorrow afternoon.

I plan to start at 7:30 - 8am, wash, clay, wash, glaze and seal before 1pm. Hopefully then I'll avoid all of the rain related decisions anyway.
 
StevenH72 said:
Cheers again guys.

It looks like any rain (light showers forecast) will hold off until 2 - 3 pm tomorrow afternoon.

I plan to start at 7:30 - 8am, wash, clay, wash, glaze and seal before 1pm. Hopefully then I'll avoid all of the rain related decisions anyway.
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Good luck-I hope weather behaves for you :thumbsup:
 
Is there no shopping centre with undercover free parking close by ? Give it a wash then drive over there , you usually get a few hours with every purchase so a coffee & a supersize muffin should cover that :)
 
I'm in London and every time it rains my car is left covered in crap, so I'd say rain water is not good for washing. After it rains I tend to pour a couple of buckets of tap water over it to get all the grit off. This is currently happening at least once a day, I can't remember the last time 24 hours passed without rain! :thumbsdown:
 
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