Wash Car - Zymol Clear Car Wash
Dry Car - Bath towels (+ water blade)
Claybar - Griot's Clay Bar or Meguair's (yellow line) Clay Bar
Applicators - cotton stitched foam applicators or terry applicators
Swirl Mark Remover - 3M or Zaino Swirl Mark Remover
Polish - Zaino Z-2 or Zymol car polish + microfiber
Wax - Meguiars Hi Tech Yellow Wax #26 or Zymol wax + microfiber
Dust-off's - 3M, Zaino Z6, or Meguiar's Quik Detailer

...if you can afford it all.

and here's some readup material...
http://www.zainobros.com
http://www.zymol.com
http://www.griotsgarage.com
http://www.meguiars.com

testimonial:
picture 1
picture 2
picture 3

 

Wash car - use dishwashing soap (yes, dishwashing soap.......it will remove all previous wax/polish for a nice clean start). Dawn is rumored to be the best for this

Dry car - 100% terry towels

Clean car - havent tried clay, I hear its a major PITA........look into Meguiars Clear Coat Scrub. Use all over the car if you want, or concentrate on the stubborn spots (tar, bugs, etc). Use another terry towel to rub crap off with, then a clean terry towel to wipe of excess cleaner

Polish car - 3M Imperial Hand Glaze. Rub on with a terry sponge applicator, wipe off with a terry towel, then polish with a nice flannel rag

Wax car - I use Meguiars Gold Class. One Grand Blitz wax is supposed to be very good for a daily driver. I think Zymol is pretty overpriced, but dont get cheap and use Nu-Finish. Use the included closed cell foam applicator, or buy extras and use those

By hand is the best!!! As much as Id love to use a machine to make this go faster, I never seem to entrust my paint to one. It hurts our arms, but looking at the car afterward is definitely worth it. I just did mine yesterday, took a while, but my car looks soaking wet just sitting there all nice and dry

-Chris

 

I agree w/Chris saying that clay bars are a PITA. If the surface isn't lubricated enough, it's hard removing the clay. But it def. does its job.

 

While we're on the subject, anyone know a good way to get rid of "orange peel" and make my paint look perfectly smooth? (it feels nice and smooth now, but you can see the orange-peelish peaks and valleys if you look at it the right way).

Thanks!!!
-Chris