Your best tips for wash, wax, polish, buff, detail in prep for a sale

[VX KAT]

And I have not yet invested in either polish or an orbital buffer. Still considering.

Hey Jack....since I just got the Griot's random orbital buffer, I have this one I can sell you if you're interested. PM me.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...SIN=B000077CPT

[Osteomata]

Still hoping for some guidance and the answer to a couple of questions:
OK I have bought some stuff, but am not sure I got it right:
Meguiar's Claybar kit
Meguiar's NXT Generation 2.0 Wax BUT i bought the paste and it has a spongy looking applicator. Should I have gotten the liquid instead? I still have receipts etc so...
A pack of microfiber towels. Are these just for buffing or is this for washing, drying, and application of the wax or polish as well?

I have not bought a special wash, I just use dishwashing liquid usually. Bad?
And I have not yet invested in either polish or an orbital buffer. Still considering.

Kat, looking into it, I will let you know.

[VX KAT]

Still hoping for some guidance and the answer to a couple of questions:
OK I have bought some stuff, but am not sure I got it right:
Meguiar's Claybar kit
Meguiar's NXT Generation 2.0 Wax BUT i bought the paste and it has a spongy looking applicator. Should I have gotten the liquid instead? I still have receipts etc so...
A pack of microfiber towels. Are these just for buffing or is this for washing, drying, and application of the wax or polish as well?

I have not bought a special wash, I just use dishwashing liquid usually. Bad?
And I have not yet invested in either polish or an orbital buffer. Still considering.

Kat, looking into it, I will let you know.

For this purpose Os I think what you bought already is just fine, and
Dishwashing liquid is said to strip wax off, so yes you can go ahead and use dishwashing liquid as you're going to wax the entire car so no problem.

Again for this purpose, the paste NXT will be fine.

Don't bother using the "good" microfiber towels washing or drying, reserve them for removing polish/wax if you don't get a Random Orbital Buffer. Turn the towel frequently so you're using a "clean" area as much as possible when removing wax or polish.

[Etfren]

OK I have bought some stuff, but am not sure I got it right:
Meguiar's Claybar kit
Meguiar's NXT Generation 2.0 Wax BUT i bought the paste and it has a spongy looking applicator. Should I have gotten the liquid instead? I still have receipts etc so...
A pack of microfiber towels. Are these just for buffing or is this for washing, drying, and application of the wax or polish as well?

I have not bought a special wash, just use dishwashing detergent usually. Bad?
And I have not yet invested in either polish or an orbital buffer. Still considering.

If you are getting a car ready to clay/polish/wax/whatever then dish soap is great as it will remove any wax that is currently on the car. After you wax it though, its best to use a car specific wash formula so it doesn't take the wax off.

I much prefer the paste was actually. Its a lot easier and more precise to apply it than liquid wax, plus the spongy applicator you mention works great. Just make sure you keep the plastic thingy that seperates it from the wax and store it just like it is when its new. A friend of mine has a tin of it and he left the sponge sitting on the wax and the sponge is all nasty looking now and the wax is cracked and dried out. Looks to me like the sponge sucked the moisture out of the paste while it was sitting there and dried it out.

I usually let my cars air dry, but I know I have good water that won't leave spots. You can get a big microfiber drying towel. There are a few different types, the waffleweave ones I've heard work the best, but I dunno. Use the regular ones for wiping the quick detailer you use with the c;ay and for buffing the wax off.