Well I had to write up an essay for school and I choose to do it on detailing, I thought some people here might be able to learn from it as well or add to it. so here it is paste and copied from Word:

Exterior Detailing

Detailing can be a long and tiring process, but if you like to see a car shine it all pays off in the end. Most times when I do a full detailing it can take me all day, around 6-8 hours or more depending on the car.

First thing is to make sure you don’t have on any jewelry or anything that can scratch the paint (belt buckles, etc.). Then get some soap and water, I use dish detergent, a lot of people say that this is bad because of the degreasing properties of dish detergent, but for doing a full detailing that’s what I want, it’s like wiping the slate clean, removing all the old wax and other applied protections of the paint. For just washing and waxing a car I’ll use a high quality car wash soap, like Meguiar’s. Wet the car down with running water, NOT a pressure washer, the pressure from one of those can push the dirt on your car into the paint scratching it get underneath an existing scratch and blow the paint straight off (If you don’t believe me take a look at the roof of my car). Wash the wet car down with the soap and water, then wet it down with running water again (this also lets the car dry faster as it allows the water to sheet off the car) I’ll usually wash the car 2 or even 3 times to make sure I got all the dirt off of it. After washing the car take I’ll take a chamois and dry the car, keeping sure to get in all the cracks and creases.

When the car is fully clean the next step is to use the clay bar, which kind of looks and feels like sticky-tak. This is were the long and tiring process begins. To use it you take a special lubricant, or water if you’ve run out, and rub the clay bar over the paint, you’ll hear a scratchy sound and you continue to rub until the sound disappears. What this does is remove ALL of the dirt and contaminants from your paint and makes it as smooth as when it was first painted. Now when this is done the next step depends on the condition of the paint, if there are light scratches and other imperfections, I will go over it with a mild rubbing compound or scratch removing products. If the paint is still like new, I will start polishing the car, as with the clay bar this is also a long process and I’ll take it one panel at a time. Fairly simple product to use, rub on, rub off, make sure you do a good job at rubbing though, if you get it in the cracks and can’t reach it with a your fingers use a q-tip. The more times you repeat this step the better the car will shine. I’ll usually do it only once though unless I’m detailing a high end car or one with a custom paint job. The next and final step for the paint is the wax. It’s applied the same as the polish is and depending on the wax it can also increase your shine with more coats as well.

After the paint it finished I will use some plastic polish on the headlights, taillights, and any other non painted plastics on the car. This is used the same as the paint polish. After this I start on the rims, I’ll use an environmentally friendly degreaser such as Simple green mixed 50:50 with water and then scrub away with a toothbrush to remove any brake dust, dirt, grime, or anything else on the rims. Then depending on the wheel finish apply either a polish (Chrome, aluminum) or wax (painted). Then I will rub on a tire gel to the tires. If you don’t have a “special applicator” use a dense sponge. If the exhaust tips are chrome or have a special finish, I’ll polish those as well.

And that’s it for the exterior of the car. Look at that baby shine! Now take car of that car and don’t drive on any dirt roads or over any puddles, unless you own a truck or Subaru of course.

 

I dress the tires and spray some of the dressing/shine stuff up inside the wheel wells, it really makes the difference. If your wheel wells are lookin a little aged, a can of flat black rustoleum and a paint brush and a little bit of your time makes a huge difference.

 

I give your essay a B- for some spelling and grammatical imperfections.
But over all very "Detailed" and helpful to those who have never spent 4 hours washing their car.