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Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Washin' the car

This morning was a rainy day in LA and as a result, I decided to wash the car. Now at first, washing the car in the rain may seem a bit strange, but in reality it makes perfect sense. You don't need to wet down the car, and you don't need to worry about the soap drying, so you can take your time and really clean it. The whole operation used a small bucket of water for rinsing the rag, and about a 2 minute rinse with the hose, which was on low (it was just misting at that point). Of course, you're going to end up with some water spots, but not too bad.

For suds I like to use Simple Green as it is non-toxic, biodegradable, and works really well (it smells cool too). We buy it in bulk, dilute it in a spray bottle, and use it forever. It's great stuff.

I don't wash my car too often but because I show it to school kids I don't like it to get too dirty either. When it's summertime, I try to wash it early in the AM or later in the evening, and I pull the car up on the lawn so the water ends up being used rather than heading down the street as run off.

And on top of saving water and feeding the lawns, both of these activities get a few weird looks from the neighbors, so the way I figure it, it's all good!

Dave

2 comments:

Sandra Hamlett said...

This is such a great idea Dave. I don't like the idea of using up our precious well water to wash the car. I generally drive it out when it rains and wash the windows occasionally with a mixture of water and vinegar. But I never thought of washing it when it rains. The next time we have a good rain shower and it's warm enough I'll get the kids into it. This is one chore they'll enjoy.

Dave said...

Right on. And let us know what your neighbors think too?