Found Myself Browsing DIY Guides for Detailing Cars - sad ... 2

OK.

1 
Boring Background Bit

I have been practicing/experimenting with various preparations on my VW Tiguan (2009; 125TSI; automatic; 4 Motion)

About 4 years ago, I cleaned and waxed this car (the first and only time) and it was made very shiny for a few weeks

Other than washing it at the DIY car wash, I'd done nothing more

But recently I purchased a variety of 'quick detailing' sprays to correct blemishes that formed on the paintwork after the wash

I learned that the mineral content of the water you wash the car with is the key influencing factor; more minerals, more blemishes

I thought waxes and polishes were the same thing

I thought that a wax was a wax and that a polish was a polish; that there's only one type of everything, varied only by the branding ...

WRONG!



2 
Current State of Play Bit

Steps
1. Wash car.
- I wash at the local DYI car wash place, but I don't use the foaming brush (as it may contain grit etc) or apply any post-wash wax
2. Turtle Wax Bug & Tar Remover
- to remove post-wash blemishes and other ingrained 'dirt' n bugs
- this is relatively inexpensive and easy to apply and buff off
- it is less costly than clay and less messy too
-- but clay could be better if the car is really splattered
--- and I found a clay cloth at the car markt today, which I will keep in mind, as it seems better than using lumps of clay
- you could also use a quick detailing product if there's not too much to remove e.g, Meguiar's Quick Wax
3. Meguiar's Ultimate (rubbing) Compound +/- Meguiar's Scratch X2 before
- not necessary for each wash, but good for deeper scratches and whirl marks/holograms
4. Meguiar's Ultimate Polish
5. Meguiar's Ultimate Liquid Wax
- this is not a carnauba wax product, but a 100% synthetic liquid
- I've read that carnauba wax leaves a deeper, wetter look vs synthetics; so I may change from time-to-time to evaluate this

Important note re application and buffing
- I've purchased a mechanical polisher
-- It's another Meguiar's product, but it attaches to most drills and this reduces costs significantly
--- it's very important that a mechanical polisher be what is termed dual-action
---- basically, the aim is to avoid polishing in a simple circle, as this can leave whirl marks
----- dual action refers to a wonky/elliptical rotation
-- the Meguiar's polisher has a velcro system and allows 3rd-party foam pads to be applied


PS
Not an advert for Meguiar's!
I have chosen a particular brand so that I can get familiar with its detailing products