I started detailing cars on the side about 4 years ago and it took me about a year and a half to discover the clay bar. I had guys on my main forum at the time tell me about it and I was very reluctant to try it for some reason. Once I tried it though, there was NO looking back! If you've never clayed before its a MUST IMO. What your doing after you wash and wax your car is applying wax to an unclean surface that has small particles of "grit" in the paint, thus not letting you get the best job you can do. Here's what I'd do to a car that has never been clayed before to get the best results:

- wash the car real good.
- clay bar the car.
- apply a paint cleaner as this product goes below the surface.
- apply polish as this brings out the color of your car.
- apply a "finishing wax" to protect everything you just did previously.

Griots and Meguiars has everything you need, especially with the finishing wax, they both have several choices. www.meguiars.com www.griotsgarage.com