system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[ELI5] Why do wet rags clean dirty surfaces so much better than dry ones?

It appears that even a little bit of liquid makes a huge difference.
gpt
Water is an amazing solvent. Further most things you are trying to clean up are probably organic in nature. Life on Earth happens in water, either in the ocean or inside bodies that retain water. Because life depends on water as mediator for chemical reactions most organics are soluble in water to some degree.