Admittedly I am somewhat OCD but as a detailer (not day job anymore, but once upon a time) here we go:
Anyway, firstly, professional detailing products command some respect, so wear gloves and safety glasses, long pants etc and follow the instructions. Secondly, work on a cool vehicle in the shade and don't allow any of these products to dry.
1) Most dirty areas - wheels, wheel arches etc - pressure wash to knock off large debris, apply correct cleaner (Personally, Meguars D143 for tyres @2:1, D101 for arches @10:1 and D140 wheel brightener on wheels @4:1 (Or Nextzett colourtec if you want to stay away from acid cleaners. which aren't dangerous if used correctly) Why all 3? An alkaline cleaner is far more efficient at attacking organic grime such as bugs etc, and far more effective at stripping 'browning' and old dressings on tyres. An acid cleaner attacks inorganic soils such as brake dust - in my experience a non-acid wheel cleaner doesn't do a lot on heavy brake dust. After the initial clean, I would use an agressive product like this once a month at the max. If the door jambs etc are dirty, attend to them at this stage.
2) Hit front and lower parts of the vehicle with the 10:1 APC and then coat entire vehicle in snow foam
3) Use a small detail brush to agitate around emblems, grille etc to dislodge things that you'll miss with a wash mit
4) Pressure wash entire vehicle - you want to remove as much dirt as possible before you touch it with a mitt
5) Dilute a good quality car shampoo as per instructions in 1 bucket and a second plain water bucket. Use a microfibre mitt to wash the entire body from top-down.. I tend to section the car off, ie drivers side windows, top half of drivers side doors etc. In between sections, dunk the mitt in the plain water, wring out and then reload with soap. No dish soap, brushes or anything like that at this point, just a shampoo and a good mitt
6) Rinse car from top to bottom
7) If you want to make sure everything is off, hit the paint and wheels with an iron remover (Meguiars D180) and when it starts to 'bleed' pressure wash the entire vehicle
8) Use a tar-remover to attend to any tar spots and pressure wash again
9) Clay entire vehicle and pressure wash yet again (You get the idea, any time we might leave some chemical or disloged contaminants on the surface, we want it gone)
10) Dry entire vehicle, using a separate towel for wheels and separate again for door jambs. I'm not a fan of chamois, microfibre towels here.
11) Wipe paint off with an Isopropyl Alcohol and water mix, approx 10% - don't apply to fresh paint or undiluted. We want all waxes, silicones etc gone.
12) Polish and correct paint as required - Meguiars and Simoniz fan here but most brands will provide a system that works.
13) Following thorough buff off to remove all polish residue, apply a good quality wax in a light coating. I like Collinite for a natural wax, or you could try a ceramic coating from Gyeon or the likes for a longer term protection. If you use a wax, I wait for it to haze then apply a second layer. If using a ceramic coating, follow the instructions.
14) Buff wax off, apply tyre shine if you like it and stand back and admire.
Yes, this is long and drawn out, but yes you'll get the most durable protection you can get because you will apply it to the paint directly, not the contaminants on top. Twice a year is more than sufficient for a treatment like this if you wash regularly in-between with a good quality shampoo - foam, rinse, contact wash with good shampoo, rinse, dry, and you get the just detailed look again with something like Meguiars D156.
Lastly, no I don't work for Meguiars, but have found their detailer product lines to be good value and effective. Personally, for wash, tyre shine etc - Meguars, and Simoniz for polishes, wax etc.
