Tony - I know you won't be able to control yourself. Just trying to have a friendly discussion with opposing viewpoints. :-)
Try my experiment with the oil/grease on your car. See if it works. See how long it takes.
If the original poster was not concerned about grease buildup, this thread would not have been started. So you should also address his concerns as well. Something like "dude, why are you degreasing your car when the rain will do a good enough job?"
Driving in the rain does not clean your undercarriage. The water contains contaminents from the road, as well as salt (when driving in the snow), dirt (when driving through mud), and leaves (when driving in the fall). Driving through a couple of puddles may 'rinse' a few parts, but it's not a clean undercarriage and to hold on to that belief, well, I don't know what to say to that. It flies in the face of logic.
"Just because you see tranny fluid on the driveway does not mean the contaminants did not flow into the ditch or stormwater inlet after it rained."
I don't know what that means. My point was that even though a lot of water has flown over my small puddle, there is STILL grease on the ground. It wasn't "washed away" by the rain as you statement indicated it should.
Look - I'm not trying to contrary here. The original poster degreased his car with dish detergent. My point is that dish detergent is not good for the plastics on the car. I also pointed out that he should spend the extra couple of dollars and get real stuff. Like real detailers clay, although his statement that it may be the same stuff as artists clay is debatable (how would you know for sure anyways?), and real car wash soap, that is gauranteed safe on all parts of his car. As well as biodegradable (read the label). Not all cleaners are good for the environment, and especially the stuff it washes off isn't good.
No - I'm not a bid fan of the driveway car wash. Too many people do it wrong, in both practice and materials, too much water is wasted, and too many chemicals go into the environment. This stuff is preventable.
