Detailing World is probably the best on-line resource for detailing, though it can be fairly overwhelming if you're a beginner.
Good suppliers of detailing products are
Clean Your Car and
Elite Car Care. I've used them both extensively in the past - the product ranges are great and delivery is always speedy.
Good brands are: Gyeon, Dodo Juice, Optimum, Chemical Guys, Meguiars, GTechniq, Chemical Guys and Bilt Hamber. You can mix brands, though most of my stuff is Gyeon.
First off, buy two buckets, preferably with grit guards. You should use the "Two Bucket Method" to wash the car. See
here. You don't necessarily have to get posh buckets - those you get from B and Q are fine.
You can go crazy with products (like me). I'd say the essentials are:
Exterior
* Mitts for washing. Don't bother with sponges - they're too easy to drop. For example:
here. I'd buy two, one for each hand.
* Shampoo, such as
this or
this.
* Wheel cleaner.
Do not use acid-based cleaner as it can damage your wheels. Bilt Hamber
Auto Wheels is good, as is Valet Pro
Bilberry. It's probably worth getting a small
brush as well, as you can use it to agitate the product and make sure it gets into all parts of the wheel. Such products are perfectly safe to use on diamond-cut wheels.
* If your wheels are particularly dirty, try an iron/fall-out remover (
here). These work brilliantly and have the fun side effect of turning your wheels purple as the product works away ( until you rinse it off), but they do stink to high heaven.
* If you have small dark-coloured specks on your paintwork, it could well be tar that's been thrown up from the road. Get a
tar remover to get rid of this.
* Glass cleaner. Self-explanatory really. Spray it on, leave for a few seconds, wipe off. For example:
here.
* Micro-fibre cloths - for general use (e.g. with glass cleaner). For example:
here
* Drying towels. Use to clean off all the water when you're done cleaning. For example:
here. Towels and micro-fibres can go in the washing machine when done - I stick mine in at 40C with a bit of fabric conditioner to keep them nice and soft.
* If, like the XC40, there's lots of black trim on your horseless carriage, invest in some trim gel, such as
this - it'll restore the nice black look you get when it's new. Consider a
sponge applicator too.
Interior
* Some sort of vinyl/general interior cleaner, such as
this.
* Leather cleaner of some sort. (No idea what to recommend here, as my current car doesn't have leather seats.)
When your car is nice and clean, you can look at protecting it. The most obvious product to apply is a wax of some sort to the bodywork. You can spend quite a lot on waxes if you want. You may also want to consider applying a sealant.
You can also apply a sealant and protection to your wheels - companies such as
GTechniq and
Gyeon offer coatings that you can apply to your wheels (cleaned, obviously) that help repel brake dust. I usually do this when I swap summer and winter sets over as you can get to the back of the wheel easily.
You can use a normal hose if you want, or you can invest in a proper pressure washer. You can opt for something cheap like Karcher or Nilfisk, but they can be unreliable. Probably the best make of pressure washer is Kranzle. Mine is ten years old and has worked perfectly since day one. It's built like a tank and keeps on going. For added fun during washing, you can buy some snow foam and a foam cannon - your children may enjoy using it (my niece certainly did).
If your hose connectors are leaking (most plastic ones are prone to), chuck 'em in the bin or recycle them and get some proper metal ones. I use a German brand called Geka. They weigh a tonne and haven't leaked a single drop when I've used them. They also look rather nice. You can get a kit with all the essentials:
here. Their hose is top quality too (
here). The Geka stuff is the same size as the usual Hozelock stuff - I actually have my Geka hose mounted on a Hozelock reel, and it works perfectly.
I wouldn't recommend going with any product the dealer tries to force on you. They may charge a fair amount, and as someone else mentioned, you can pick them up for peanuts on eBay and the like. They won't be applied by an expert, and you have no idea whether the person doing the job is going to miss large parts of the car because they're distracted by someone's new XC40 arriving. You can do a better job yourself, or you can get an expert to do it for you with proper, decent products.
When I ordered my car, I specifically told the saleswoman that I don't want it cleaned in any way before handover. They can remove the protective film from the bodywork and that's it. I don't care how dirty it is. I'll clean it myself (taking a whole day to do it properly and in-depth). I'm spending a great deal on this vehicle, so I want to take care of it.
Oh, and try and enjoy detailing. I find it rather satisfying, especially when surveying my nice clean car afterwards.