Which is worse for your car paint? Rain water or Ground water?

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rivaladversary

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My car sometimes is parked outside so it will sit in the rain. What do you guys do when this happens? Do you let the rain water dry on your car or do you hose the rain water off and then go for a drive to "dry" the car?
 
Depends on where you live. If you have acid rain, it's probably worse than the ground water. If you have hard water, it's probably worse than the rain. Either way, it's a good idea to wash your car or give it a good wipedown with QD after a rain. Rain still has dirt particles in it. That's how it forms.
 
is it safe for the car paint if i use QD? what if i didn't wash the car for a week?
 
Post-rain wipedowns are fraught with danger, IMO. Usually there is a lot of road film, or even driveway/road splash if you were parked, that is on the car after rain. If you're sure the car is clean, QD is ok. If not, do an ONR wash or similar...it's almost as fast as drying or QD'ing, anyway.
 
The idea behind a QD is to assist in removing light dust, dirt, films, fingerprints, etc. Even ONR is questionable on a heavily soiled car. The only thing ONR has over detail sprays is that it has proprietary polymer technology to encapsulate the dirt. A QD wipe down after rain is safe as long as you aren't rubbing the paint. The blotting technique for drying is a good way to capture the water and dirt into the fibers of a MF and mitigate scratches. Shacking the towel out instead of wringing it out mitigates dirt getting trapped in the fibers as well. The key to any spray-on car wash, QD wipe down, or even ONR wash/wipe down is to use plenty of the liquid product to create a barrier b/w the dirt and paint surface. Always start from the top-down, and check the towel for dirt accumulating on it and switch sides or towels to prevent from rubbing that dirt into the paint. If your goals is just to just remove the water then you could just blow the water off w/ a portable Metro Vac or something similar or drive it if you really want/need to. In general ground water/tap water is more detrimental to the clear coat than rain; assuming it's not acid rain, or your car isn't really dirt which mixed with water in the sun could cause etching. I have used GG spray-on car wash for years and as long as you use a clean, plush MF on a cool surface it is safe IMO. It's all about your comfort level and experience with the products you use, and if you notice swirls/scratches from the methods/products you are using, then change something.:)
 
thanks for asking this question a forum search lead me here.
Am i understanding correctly that rain water does not have minerals that cause water spots if let to dry ? That makes sense to me as mineral do not evaporate with the water that produce rain.
Off course acid rain is different but worse if you have it.

I would disagree with several posts that said to drive your car. if you mix oil with water, the oil will come on top. Then if you splash that oil/water mix on your car, after the water evaporates you have a film of dried oil. Every roads are covered in engine oil, it's that dark black band in the middle of the lanes. So it's a bad idea to drive on wet roads if you want to keep the car clean. Water will also dissolve road dirt which ends up sprayed on your car. My conclusion is that if you car was parked and it started to rain (non acid rain) and you did not drive it subsequently on wet roads and it was not parked on the roadside where passing cars will spray it even so lightly, then either doing nothing or using a QD is fine. Driving your car on wet roads with other cars is what will put road contaminants on your paint.
 
In not sure what you mean by "ground water", but tap water is worse than rain by far. Tap water will likely leave water spots, rain not so much if at all. I don't believe there is much minerals in rain water.
 
swanicyouth said:
In not sure what you mean by "ground water", but tap water is worse than rain by far. Tap water will likely leave water spots, rain not so much if at all. I don't believe there is much minerals in rain water.
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yes, but the pb with rain water it catches air pollution and acids and can etch your clearcoat. Especially if there is sunshine after the rain the dropplets will act like magnifiers for the sunrays, accelerating the effect. But i believe in 99% of cases the rain is pure but the dirty car has dry contaminants which dissolve in the water with the sun and cause the etching. If I am right then a just washed car in the rain should be very safe.
 
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