I have done my fair share of detailing too. I owned a Black, non clear coat, Mustang in college and that was my main test bed. I could wax that car ten times and each time would look a little bit deeper, so it was always worth the effort. Now, with two kids, a wife, a large house, and a full time job, I don't have five hours a week for appearance maintenance on my vehicles, so some processes have been created for longer life:
1. Wash: I use Meguiars Gold Class wash. You can buy it by the gallon from Meguiars for only 1 dollar more than the quart of regular stuff costs you at your local Autozone. This stuff goes on like it is lubricated and lifts off everything that gets in its way. I use a spun gold wash mitt to wash with. As I am only 5'6" tall I have to use a milk crate to reach the top of the 5.
2. Washing the wheels. I use a tool from Griots garage that looks like an elongated paint brush that allows me to scrub the inside of the wheels through the openings. I use a different wash glove with green springy things , yea technical term, to wash the rim itself with just the regular gold class car wash, no wheel cleaner products.
3. I dry the outside of the vehicle with newer towels that are only for car washing. When I wash these towels in the washing machine I do not use fabric softener because fabric softener will remove wax when rubbed on the surface of the car. When I dry the door jams, I use older towels and will spray the jams with Meguiars instant detailer product to loosen any debris that collects in the jams. I also spray the wheel wells with the instant detailer and use it to remove any buildup in the wheel wells. I hate looking at really great wheels only to see the wheel wells coated in gunk.
4. Following washing I clean the inside of the car using Meguiars quik interior detailer. It leaves no shine and simply lifts off dust and dirt. It is so easy to use and smells great.
5. Sweeping carpets, floor mats etc....
6. One quick coat of Meguiars instant detailer over the outside surfaces to provide a little extra protection.
WAXING
1. Wash the car!!!!
2. Clay the vehicle. Detailing clay will remove any "stuck on" contaminents from the vehicles surface. Griots garage offers the best clay.
3. Meguiars machine polish the vehicles surface. I use a Porter Cable random orbital buffer to accomplish this with pads that Meguiars provides for polishing. The Porter Cable buffer is offered by both Meguiars and Griots at an outrageous mark up. Go to your local hardware dealer, or the web and you can find it much more reasonably priced and it is the best random orbital I have ever used, but I am not a pro, so that doesn't mean much.
4. I hand apply a coata of Zymol Carbon wax to the suface of the vehicle. Zymol carbon has various elements that help "re-liquify" the paint in order to keep it flexible. The wax is simply rubbed on the surface of the car and then rubbed "in" while removing the excess. To do this I use Griots wax removal towels that are 100% cotton, even the binding thread is cotton so that it will not scratch.
5. Two coats of Meguiars NXT generation car wax. This is applied by machine and is very easy to apply. I once again use Griots wax removal towels to get the excess off about 2 minutes after applying the wax. I never let the wax fully "dry" on the surface, I always rub it in.
Using this process usually results in at least one years service from the wax, to the point the beading is only changed a tiny bit from time of application to a year later.
