Have a look at AmmoNYC on youtube its really not hard, the difficult bit is diagnosing and using the correct steps.
Its a great idea to get clued up and you will probably enjoy it.
Get some snow foam. This lifts contaminants off the paint then you can spray them away using a hose rather than rubbing the dirt and abrasives into the paint as you wash. Sponges are pretty bad, stones abrasives get stuck in the sponge and you basically rub that all over the body work... Microfibres pick up dirt but release when you rinse in water.
Buy a microfibre mitt and two buckets, shampoo in one, water in another, go over the body in small sections and after a pass of a panel drop the mitt into the water bucket which will remove the contaminants the mitt has pulled off the body then do the same process over the whole body.
Once you have cleaned the car dry it with a mircofibre towel and dry will show all the issues with the clear coat. You might think that cleaning the car has got rid of everything... but there is loads of dirt deep. Buy a clay bar and use water or a product like quick wax/quick detailer to go over the whole body this will remove all the tar, bugs, sap, difficult to remove contaminants. It will also get the body work back to the clear coat by removing all the wax and other products.
This will leave the clear coat and you can look around the car to see what areas need work, scratched, dull paint marks etc
Clear coat is amazing, essentially dull paint is due to light refraction on the clear coat which means it is not smooth and if you imagine looking at the clear coat from a side profile would look like this
When you have small scratches and abrasions the paint looks dull. Essentially what you are trying to do is smooth out the clear coat which will then make the car shine. Over time the clear coat dulls with scratches and contaminants but its not the end of the world you can use abrasives that will smooth that area then you polish to remove small scratches and restore the shine and then protect with sealant and wax.
Products like Maguires ultimate compound work wonders to restore dull clear coat, you can use it by hand with decent results to remove scratches or contaminants like the leaf marks. Once you have used ultimate compound you then polish the car to create the deep shine this is hard work and much easier with a machine but you can do it by hand just takes time.
One you have polished you need to clean the car again to remove all the residue, or you can use quick wax but better off washing it. Next thing to do is seal the paint, this essentially add a layer to the paint to protect the work you have done. Contaminants will stick to the sealant rather than the clear coat and is far easier to remove. There are two types of waxs: man made sealant and natural carnuba wax. Natural waxes last between a month and 3 months depending on how often you wash the car. Sealants can last 12 months and you top up with natural wax.
With the effort so far I would add a sealant first which will add a longer lasting protection then use a natural wax like a Carnauba.
Thats it really. Snowfoam, wash, dry, claybar, address issues, polish, seal and then wax.
Next you come to clean the car it will be a breeze contaminants come off so easily in comparison. Most car shampoos have a wax built in which will top up the wax layer a tiny bit. To keep on top everytime you wash use quick wax all over the car, this will add a littel extra protection because when you wash the car it removes a little of the carnuba. The carnuba like said will last 1-3 months so its worth topping it up. If you wash your car every week then add a layer of carnuba once a month.
This is a ritual for me once or twice a year. I like to get the car ready for the winter months as this is hard on the car and maybe again ready for the summer. Tbh if you do it properly it can easily last a year. It can take 2-3 days of work by hand to do the above with a machine you can easily do it in a day.
Many people use an abrasive like T-Cut which is pretty old school by todays measure. It was designed for deep scratches and can make a right mess of the paint as they have a higher abrasive contents. Polishing out those scratches is almost impossible without a dual action polisher so I would leave that product well alone. I like the maguires stuff because its available in a lot of places, isnt crazy expensive, its easy to use compared to more advanced product and it works well. Its not the best but you can spend a fortune and really get similar results.
Also if you ever use an abrasive to remove scratches or blemishes, sap or tar remover etc it does the same as the clay - removes all the sealant and wax. These areas then have no protection so its always a good idea to go over those areas again with wax to protect.
Once you get comfortable a Dual action polisher is a good investment. Its very difficult to do damage to the paint with the DAs and its so much faster to polish and wax the car. Obviously its a learning curve to use the DA but its not just the pros that can use this stuff nowadays.
Hope that helps.
