Well! Where to begin!?
LF, Is the car you have a dark blue? Dark colours shine up well, but are notoriously difficult to keep clean looking as dust shows up as much as dirt.
Whatever you have, it will be a labour of love; I can happily spend an entire weekend cleaning the car. It is rewarding but it can become darned addictive
Pressure washing alone is not quite enough, so don't think you will get the car gleaming with just a pressure washer although it softens up the grime, and knocks a good deal of the dirt off it needs some help. The help comes in the shape of a snow-foam lance - a bottle that feeds snow-foam into the jet and puts a thick blanket of foam over the car.
The action of the bubbles bursting and the heavy foam slowly falling from the car draws dirt off the surface.
This is then followed by the two-bucket method hand wash described earlier - I use Meguiars Gold Class shampoo, but it's all trial and error. Finally it's back to the pressure washer to rinse it all down. Then the car should be towel dried using microfibre drying towels I use a couple of
THESE. (I also keep a couple in the boot of my convertible to dry the roof off so it isn't folded up wet)
Different polishes work in different ways and again are trial and error, and down to personal preference - one of my favourites is Auto Glym Super Resin Polish (AGSRP) this is a good polish as it helps fill minute scratches and gives a small amount of protection, so if you already have AGSRP then you're onto a good start!
I have tried a lot of different waxes from Poorboys to Dodo Juice, but
Meguiars NXT Generation Tech Wax 2.0 was easily available in Halfords, but for that really super wet finish I have now stuck with
Collinite 845 Insulator Wax. The beauty of Collinite is it leaves very little residue. If I have time, I will wax the car leaving it for a good 45 mins before buffing it off with a handful of inexpensive
microfibre cloths - cheap ones will do nicely providing that the edge stitching is soft. If I have time I'll give it two coats of wax - again with another 45mins dwell time.
Periodically I will remove wheels and wash them on both sides, but for finish I use
Planet Polish Wheel Seal & Shine - this stuff seems to help keep brake dust from bonding itself into the paint. Finally a tyre dressing - I use Meguiars Hot Shine applied with a Meguiars tyre dressing applicator pad (Keeps it off your hands and puts an even coating on the tyre) Both easily available in Halfords. Again though this is all personal choice.
Do's and Dont's - try not polish and wax in bright sun. Sometimes unavoidable but I set a gazebo up over the car if its really hot and sunny.
Don't drop the mitt or cloth on the ground and carry on using it - chances are its full of grit that you can't see.
On windy days mind where the snowfoam drifts to
All this sounds like a huge amount of work ...And we haven't even looked at the interior or glass yet! But its rewarding and somewhat addictive and even therapeutic to some degree
Snowfoaming Link
Detailing World A huge source of info on car cleaning!