he shedded down to his tail...

perfectly and he just has a little bit there. like maybe an inch. will it come off soon? or should I take a wash rag and run it under warm water than let him go through it?

You can try to wipe it off. If that doesn't work, you can put him in a wet pillowcase for around 30 minutes, or so. He should be able to get it off by himself while roaming around the pillowcase. If you do use the pillowcase, make sure to use luke warm water.

gently rub it off, it'll come off easily, and won't hurt the animal.

soaking for that small a spot should be completely unnecessary.

i had one go bad for me yesterday; he rubbed his head, pulled the skin down about 3'', then "went to bed", content with his pretty head and nice warm hide. a 5 minute rub down fixed him up nice and new :).