The Exterior
Before applying a sponge to the car, you must remove any loose dust by using a high pressure water spray. If you don't do this, the sponge will simply drag grit particles all over the paint. Look at some cars and you'll see semi-circular scratch patterns where just this has occurred. Direct the spray up into the wheelarches...
... and also along the door, bonnet and boot margin (gaps), This'll dislodge dirt and cobwebs that will otherwise still be there when you're trying to chamois the car down.
With the whole car wet and surface dirt removed, use a bucket and sponge to soap the car. Enough detergent should be used that the water in the bucket feels really slippery to your hands - too little, and you're wasting your time. Too much, and you start to take off any protective wax coatings on the paint.
Include the windows in your sponging....
... and don't forget the bottom of the door sills. If there are tar spots on the sills that won't come off with the application of the soapy sponge, some Prepsol (available from crash repair shops) will take it off cleanly without damaging the paint. But you'll then have to re-apply wax where you've used the Prepsol - it takes that off as well as the marks.
After the car has been soaped, rinse it off with the high pressure water spray. Squirt off the roof, bonnet and boot first, then wash off the sides of the car, working from the top down. That way, all the soap will be more completely removed.
Direct the spray into the margins and window edges, flushing out the detergent as well as dirt and wax which otherwise might remain behind. Use the spray on the badges as well, as it will remove dirt which otherwise is very hard to get out.With the pressure of the spray reduced, do inside the petrol filler flap.
Make sure that the chamois is completely clean - that there are no residual bits of dirt and grit still in it from last time that you used it.
Lay the chamois out like this and pull it across the horizontal panels - boot, roof and bonnet. Doing it in this way more completely removes water than using the traditional circular pattern approach.
Once the excess water has been removed, the chamois can be used in the traditional manner, wiping it in a circular motion across the horizontal and vertical surfaces. Go over the windows as well - water droplets will remain but that's ok at this stage. Squeeze water out of the chamois frequently.
With the outside of the car mostly water free, open the doors, bonnet and boot and chamois all of the inside painted surfaces. This often-overlooked step is crucial in getting a good job. If you've used the high pressure spray carefully, most of the dirt will have already have been flushed from these locations - the chamois remove just any remaining surface dirt and the water.
However, the chamois will still get much dirtier than the 'outside paint' chamois - that's why it's a good idea to have two chamoises. With the door jambs and the inside of the boot and bonnet done, it's time for a last walk around the car with the 'exterior' chamois, looking for water runs and missed drops.
The Glass
Next it's time to do the windows. Spray a light mist of window cleaner over the glass and then wipe it off with a soft, cotton-based rag. Don't use a rag made of synthetic fibres (eg nylon) as the moisture will then just smear. The higher the humidity, the smaller the amount of window cleaner that you should spray.
Once all of the outside glass is done, clean the inside surfaces. If the windows haven't been cleaned inside for some time, they'll develop a film of the stuff given off by interior vinyl. It's really easy to smear this, so if there is a thick film present (it can be from cigarette smoke too), wipe the window over with a damp chamois or (in bad cases) a rag moistened with Prepsol before you spray on the window cleaner.
The Tyres
Finally, black the tyres (brush it on, don't apply it with a spray bottle) and you're done!
While this type of quick detail isn't up to show standards, in just 60 minutes no other techniques will give you a cleaner, better looking car!
Clean 'n' Mean Part 1
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