Rainy day, wash the car . . .

I'm pretty sure the neighbors think I'm nuts when they see me out in the rain, in my duster, washing the car . . .



The only time I ever wash the car is in the rain. The thing is, the only time any one else washes their cars is on sunny days, because I guess they like to wash it, and shine it, and admire it, and maybe drive around in the shiny car.

I have however noticed that I have what I think is called "hard water", which has a lot of minerals in it, and wherever it air-dries it leaves behind a white residue. This residue builds up on certain of our plumbing fixtures and, even with the chemicals that are supposed to remove it, is nearly impossible to remove.  So exactly what would this residue, or the chemicals, or the required compounding, do to a relatively fragile surface like the paint on a car?

I could spend a lot of time on this but I won't, because the easy answer is - - - I wash the car in the rain.  Then the rainwater washes away the hard municipal water.  And it looks fine.  And I never have to worry about whether it's going to rain after I wash the car.  Makes perfect sense to me.