It's very dusty out here in AZ, and suprisingly been raining a lot. Is it harmful to paint to rinse off car with pressure spay just to get dirt/dust off? I'm sick of washing my car every week!

 

I often stop by the wand car wash and if the car is not very dirty (which is usually) I spray the body once with soap and rinse it well before driving home three blocks where I dry it with a cotton towel. Keeps the car looking good with 15 minutes effort.

 

If you mean using high pressure wash at the local car wash...no way! Don't use that! But if you mean a casual hosing off at home? Sure, I don't see a problem.

But since you mentioned dust being the culprit, you should head to the local auto parts house for the California Car Duster. It works beautifully. I have had one for about 5 years and it works great...!

 

If it's just dust and you do a real good job rinsing it, I wouldn't think it would be a problem.

If you miss some and dry it with something like a chamois, you could cause swirl marks.

 

[QUOTE]But since you mentioned dust being the culprit, you should head to the local auto parts house for the California Car Duster.

 

It depends on the mineral content of your water. We have very hard water here in San Diego.

My car was outside at work when we had a brief shower early in the week. It was just enough to wet everything and the light dirt and dust on the car had little droplet marks and it looked awful.

I couldn't stand the way it looked and I couldn't wash it until the weekend, so I just hosed it off and drove it to work the next day. I got to work and the car was covered in white water spots. It looked just as bad as before, plus the water spots are harder to get out.

I would never just rinse it and dry it. You could end up scratching the paint.

I recommend the California Duster for light dust on the car. I have one and it works great. It won't get rid of splash marks around the wheel wells, but it will make the top surfaces look much better.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by gregstevens:
[B]If you mean using high pressure wash at the local car wash...no way!

 

I, too, use the high pressure car wash (well, kinda). I just never squeeze the trigger...it takes a while longer, but I think it is worth it. Purpose being to get the car wet - I end up washing the car by hand...

 

I RECOMMEND NOT USING CALIFORNIA DUSTER WITH GRITTY DUST. It just drags the dust across your paint. I live near a lot of farms, and there is a lot of heavy gritty dust here. I use to use the Calif. Duster, but I noticed a lot of "spider webbing" after each use. I stopped using it, and problem is gone (after a once-over with Meguires Swirl Remover). My S2K is black (worst color for swirl marks).

PS to KidS2K: Are you the red that I see in the Raytheon Rita Road lot?

 

I have not used soap on my car yet. I wash with plain water and a cotton hand towel. I do one panel at a time. I wash the panel and dry the panel then move to the next. My car doesn't get too dirty so this is an effective technique.