Wiping Down a Car After the Rain

[hybride]

My wife's car was detailed the other day. After that, she went out and ran errands. It started raining when she was on the way home. Once she got home, she wiped the car dry. I suggested that this was a bad idea. Regardless of "no mud," there is road grime, and whatever else other cars kick up. Am I wrong?

[conman1395]

You are 100% correct.

[custmsprty]

It depends on how and what you wipe it down with. If it's just wet and freshly detailed like you posted I see no issue. I have done that a number of times on my Black GC. I use waffle weaves, waterless wash where needed and plush microfiber towels. No ill effects. I did just this past Saturday.

[conman1395]

It depends on how and what you wipe it down with. If it's just wet and freshly detailed like you posted I see no issue. I have done that a number of times on my Black GC. I use waffle weaves, waterless wash where needed and plush microfiber towels. No ill effects. I did just this past Saturday.

If I just drove my car while it rained, I wouldn't risk drying it off with using a waterless wash.

If I just washed my car and finished while it rained, I'll pull it in and wipe off rain water.

Just like I wouldn't ever dry my car after a touchless without using a waterless wash. Road film and other contaminants could be present and latch onto my towel.

[RedXray]

Y'all drive in the rain

[Mizzoutiger]

You are correct.

More from Pro-detailer Ivan Rajic on what causes swirl marks:

DRYING
"From my experience, next to washing, drying is the second most responsible for creating swirl marks. In fact, washing is in a way the most important part of drying because if a vehicle isn’t properly washed and cleaned, the drying process will surely result in quite a few swirl marks by dragging around left over dirt. Assuming proper washing is done, the right products and techniques are a must when drying in order to keep the paint as swirl free as possible. Cheaper towels of lesser quality tend to get hard after only a few washes, which leads to bad absorption and possible swirling. Pressure and technique are also greatly important. Pressure should be extremely light or none at all, simply enough to hold the towel on the paint to let it do its job. As for technique, the only way to all but completely eliminate possibility of swirl marks is to use to blotting method. Otherwise, wiping the paint even with little to no pressure can create swirl marks if something gets caught under the towel. Whenever I’m working on a car, I like to use Microfiber Waffle Weave Drying Towel and prefer to use the blotting method."

DUSTING
"Dusting is a touchy topic with many car owners out there. There are a few dusters that are highly recommended and work great for everyone and there are some that just drag dust around. I personally only recommend cleaning the car with a mitt while washing and I will leave it at that. Reason being, dusting can definitely cause swirl marks because you are dragging a duster across the paint finish trying to pick up dust particles. If you must use a duster, I would advise the obvious like keeping the duster clean and using it as delicately as possible."

QUICK DETAILER WIPE-DOWNS
"This is one of the most poorly advertised processes and products within the detail industry. There are numerous quick detailers sold by a few different manufacturers that encourage car owners to simply spray on and wipe off for a great shine and some protection. What they don’t tell you is that along with the shine and protection come some swirl marks and scratches. Similarly to, but much worse than dusting, doing a quick detailer wipe down is a process where dirt and dust is basically pushed along and into the paint with a towel. As you can imagine, if there is a good amount of dust on the paint, especially if the paint is soft, one wipe with the quick detailer and towel will easily cause swirl marks. This is regularly done at car shows and concours events, so ironically the cars are being damaged while at the same time being displayed as great pieces of machinery. To avoid this I would simply recommend avoiding any quick detail wipe downs unless it’s just after a thorough wash or wax application, so basically after the paint is thoroughly cleaned. Otherwise, swirl marks are just about guaranteed during this process.

If you must do the quick detailer wipe-downs, I would highly advise first using Optimum No Rinse (ONR) as a quick detailer to clean the paint before using other quick detailers to get the extra shine and gloss. This recommendation is based on my experience with an old client, who had to do 4-5 of these wipe-downs on his black limousine every day! He did so in order to have a clean, shiny car for each client, but as you can imagine it resulted in polishing every couple months. Every time I saw the car it was covered with swirl marks as expected, so I recommended he switch from the product he was using to ONR. Next time I saw the car, after about 1.5 months of daily ONR wipe-downs, the amount of swirl marks was only about 50-60% of how it was originally when he wiped it down with the other product, so it definitely worked very, very well."

[custmsprty]

Y'all drive in the rain

Only caught in the rain 3 times in 3-1/2 years in my GC.

We had all this rain in the past week and I came in a different entrance on the way home Saturday morning and it was flooded out. Got my rocker panels.

My flooded out back yard today, this has only happened 3 times in the 22 years I've lived in the house.

[RedXray]

Only caught in the rain 3 times in 3-1/2 years in my GC.

I hear ya

Last week me and a buddy were cruising down the hwy about 55 or 60. They just opened a new development and were watering their grass at the entrance and a stream of water about 12' wide ran across the hwy. I checked my mirror, hit the brakes HARD bringing the truck to a crawl so it wouldn't splash. My buddies hands on the dash "WHAT HAPPENED"! I just didn't want to splash my clean truck. He looked at me like I was a nut basket case

Back on topic... Sometimes I'll blast the dust off with the hose then dry with ONRWW or a spray wax. The few times I do get caught in the rain it gets a total wash only.

[parshooter]

If you must do the quick detailer wipe-downs, I would highly advise first using Optimum No Rinse (ONR) as a quick detailer to clean the paint before using other quick detailers to get the extra shine and gloss."

Please explain how you would do this. I tried this once by adding just a little ONR to water, in a spray bottle. Used it on my "clean car" when I got to a car show. Then hit it with the quick detailer.

[Don M]

I agree that: Clean, sitting through a rain, it's OK to use a QD or something similar to "clean off" the paint.

BUT, if my car has been driven <especially> in the rain, no matter how short of a distance, it's time for a full wash. I won't even take the car for a quick spin to help dry it off after a wash.