# It's raining, so I washed my car

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-raining-so-i-washed-my-car/272579>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [November 2, 2004, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-raining-so-i-washed-my-car/272579 "2004-11-02T18:09:51Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Vlad\_Igor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Vlad\_Igor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vlad_Igor)\
**Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-raining-so-i-washed-my-car/272579/1 "2004-11-02T18:09:51Z")

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No, really! I went out and washed my car in the rain this morning. I have the day off (thanks to the wisdom of the university I work for), and voted early, and I’ve thought about doing this for some time now. Why waste all of that free water that rinses from top to bottom?

Vlad/Igor

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**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\
**Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-raining-so-i-washed-my-car/272579/2 "2004-11-02T21:12:45Z")

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Because…um…when you go through any mud puddles that happen to be laying around after the rain, it’ll just get dirty again?

Other than that, I can’t see anything wrong with it.

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**Author:** ![Vlad\_Igor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Vlad\_Igor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vlad_Igor)\
**Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-raining-so-i-washed-my-car/272579/3 "2004-11-02T22:12:44Z")

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Well, yeah, but I mean, they’re not **that** dirty. My car needed to be cleaned, as the maple tree I park under dropped something (sap? pollen?) on the car, and it was looking pretty grungy.

Vlad/Igor

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**Author:** ![Archergal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Archergal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Archergal)\
**Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-raining-so-i-washed-my-car/272579/4 "2004-11-02T23:33:44Z")

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I’ve always wanted to do that! It seems like such a perfect time to wash a car\*\*\*, especially if you don’t have to drive off right away.

\*\*\*But only if there’s no lightning!

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**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\
**Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-raining-so-i-washed-my-car/272579/5 "2004-11-03T01:53:49Z")

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I worked as a lot boy at a car dealer when I was in high school. The first time I had to wash cars in the rain I thought I would let the rain rinse the cars off. The cars all looked shiny and clean and I saved myself some time.

It didn’t rain the next day. Every car I washed the day before had a white residue from the soap because the rain did a lousy job of rinsing off the soap. And the residue was a PITA to wash off. Learned a lesson the hard way.