If you had to start from scratch.....?

[Mizzoutiger]

These work for me...

WASH
- CG Citrus Wash Red (to strip sealant/wax off car)
- CG Honeydew Snow Foam (mx wash)
- NanoSkin Autoscrub Medium Foam Pad 6" on PC7424
- CarPro Wool Wash Mitts
- 3 buckets (wheels, wash, rinse) with grit guards (double grit guards in wash/rinse buckets)
- Kranzle 1120T (replaced w/1122) pressure washer w/MTM foam cannon
- Wheels. Sonax Full Effect, Atlasta Soft Tip Brush, Speed Master Wheel Brush, Poorboys Wheel Sealant
- Engine. P21S Total Auto Wash, Sonus Trim & Motor Kote

DRY
- Electric leaf blower or Metro Master Blaster
- Supreme Guzzler Microfiber Towels (20" x 40") sprayed with CG V7
- Detailing spray. CG V7 or BFWD polymer spray

TIRE/COATINGS
- Tuf Shine; if not Tuf Shined, BF Total Eclipse Tire Gel or Optimum Opti-Bond Tire Gel
- Wheel Wells. CG Bare Bones
- Black plastic. Solution Finish followed by Ultima Tire & Trim Guard Plus

GLASS
- CarPro Ceriglass Polish, CarPro Eraser, Aquapel
- DP Krystal Vision (mx cleaning)

PAINT COMPOUND/POLISH/SEALANT/WAX
- XMT Polishing Pad Conditioner
- Menz FG 400 Compound
- Menz SI 1500 Polish
- Menz SF 4500 Polish
- Sonax Perfect Finish Polish
- CG EZ-Creme Glaze
- CG Black Light
- Menz PL or BFWD Sealant
- Pinnacle Souveran Wax

INTERIOR
- Ultima Interior Shampoo Gel
- Ultima Interior Guard Plus
- 1Z Einszett Cockpit Premium
- 1Z Einszett Plastic Deep Cleaner
- 1Z Einszett Gummi Pflege Stift

OTHER TOOLS
- Kwazar Spray Bottles
- Meguiars 16 oz bottles
- Really Useful Storage Containers each labelled for separate pads
- PC7424

- Flex 3401
- Lake Country - Flex XC3401 Changeable Backing Plate System
- Lake Country 5" Hybrid Power & 5.5" Hydrotech Pads

- Flex 14-2
- Flex-Foam HD Rotary Backing Plate 3"
- 3M Perfect It III 09553 125mm (~5") Rotary Backing Plate

[Nomadsto]

I would have bit the bullet and bought the largest containers (most of these come in gallon size) I could find of the following:


EXTERIOR
- Meguiar's M205 Ultra Finishing Polish
- Meguiar's M105 Ultra-Cut ompound
- Menzerna SF4000 or SF4500 Super Finish
- Menzerna FG400 Fast Gloss Compound
- Meguiar's D151 Paint Reconditioning Cream (AIO)
- Meguiar's D110 Hyper-Wash (shampoo and can be used in foam gun)
- Meguiar's D108 Super Degreaser
- SONAX Wheel Cleaner Plus

INTERIOR
- 1Z Einszett Cockpit Premium Interior Plastic Cleaner
- Folex Carpet Spot Remover

SPECIALTIES
- CarPro Spotless
- CarPro Eraser
- CarPro PERL Coat Plastic & Rubber Protectant
- Detailer's Pro Series Poli-Coat Paint Sealant

TOOLS
- Flex 3401 VRG Dual Action Orbital Polisher
- Meguiar's Microfiber Cutting Discs and Surbuf R Series buffing pads for correction
- 5.5" CCS Smart pads in Yellow, Orange, White, Green, and Gray
- 16" wire wheel brush
- Rigid 6 HP 14 gallon wet/dry shop vacuum
- #0000 steel wool
- Ryobi 1700 psi electric pressure washer

Well done sir! Newbies should pay close attention here.

[Nomadsto]

Subbed. Good thread Nomad

[Nomadsto]

These work for me...

WASH
- CG Citrus Wash Red (to strip sealant/wax off car)
- CG Honeydew Snow Foam (mx wash)
- NanoSkin Autoscrub Medium Foam Pad 6" on PC7424
- CarPro Wool Wash Mitts
- 3 buckets (wheels, wash, rinse) with grit guards (double grit guards in wash/rinse buckets)
- Kranzle 1120T (replaced w/1122) pressure washer w/MTM foam cannon
- Wheels. Sonax Full Effect, Atlasta Soft Tip Brush, Speed Master Wheel Brush, Poorboys Wheel Sealant
- Engine. P21S Total Auto Wash, Sonus Trim & Motor Kote

DRY
- Electric leaf blower or Metro Master Blaster
- Supreme Guzzler Microfiber Towels (20" x 40") sprayed with CG V7
- Detailing spray. CG V7 or BFWD polymer spray

TIRE/COATINGS
- Tuf Shine; if not Tuf Shined, BF Total Eclipse Tire Gel or Optimum Opti-Bond Tire Gel
- Wheel Wells. CG Bare Bones
- Black plastic. Solution Finish followed by Ultima Tire & Trim Guard Plus

GLASS
- CarPro Ceriglass Polish, CarPro Eraser, Aquapel
- DP Krystal Vision (mx cleaning)

PAINT COMPOUND/POLISH/SEALANT/WAX
- XMT Polishing Pad Conditioner
- Menz FG 400 Compound
- Menz SI 1500 Polish
- Menz SF 4500 Polish
- Sonax Perfect Finish Polish
- CG EZ-Creme Glaze
- CG Black Light
- Menz PL or BFWD Sealant
- Pinnacle Souveran Wax

INTERIOR
- Ultima Interior Shampoo Gel
- Ultima Interior Guard Plus
- 1Z Einszett Cockpit Premium
- 1Z Einszett Plastic Deep Cleaner
- 1Z Einszett Gummi Pflege Stift

OTHER TOOLS
- Kwazar Spray Bottles
- Meguiars 16 oz bottles
- Really Useful Storage Containers each labelled for separate pads
- PC7424

- Flex 3401
- Lake Country - Flex XC3401 Changeable Backing Plate System
- Lake Country 5" Hybrid Power & 5.5" Hydrotech Pads

- Flex 14-2
- Flex-Foam HD Rotary Backing Plate 3"
- 3M Perfect It III 09553 125mm (~5") Rotary Backing Plate

Whew! nice war chest. Swirls don't stand a chance!

[Nomadsto]

No waxes or sealants. Just CQuartz coating.

Fan of all CarPro products I have tried.

ONR is great

Sweet and simple, I like.

[Moldavite]

Good thread

[RevitalizeAutoSpa]

Washing & Drying

• Grit Guard, Blue, 1
• Grit Guard, Red, 1
• Chemical Guys Citrus Wash, 1g
• Chemical Guys HoneyDew Snow Foam, 1g
• Lake Country Wash Wedge
• Microfiber Mitts, 2 or 3
• CarPro Iron-X, both scents are Satan in a bottle.
• CarPro Tar-X
• CarPro Spotless
• Meguiar's Rinse Free Express Wash D114
• Meguiar's All Purpose Cleaner D101
• Meguiar's Super Degreaser D108
• Meguiar's Wheel Brightener D140
• Tuf Shine Tire Cleaner
• Tuf Shine Tire Brush
• CarPro Eraser
• Toro 230mph electric leaf blower ($50 at Lowe's)
• DI MF WaffleWeave
• Foam Cannon
• SunJoe SPX3000 Electric Pressure Washer

Glass

• Meguiar's Glass Cleaner D120
• CarPro Ceriglass Glass Polish
• CarPro Glass Rayon Polishing Pad, 5"
• DI MF WaffleWeave
• CarPro FlyBy30 (or Forte, once it comes out)

Buffer Pads:

• Lake Country Yellow Cutting Pad, 5.5", 4
• Lake Country Orange Light Cutting Pad, 5.5", 4
• Lake Country White Polishing Pad, 5.5", 4
• Lake Country Black Finishing Pad, 5.5", 4
• Lake Country Blue Fine Finishing Pad, 5.5", 2
• Lake Country Yellow Cutting Pad, 3", 4
• Lake Country Orange Light Cutting Pad, 3", 4
• Lake Country White Polishing Pad, 3", 4
• Lake Country Black Finishing Pad, 3", 4
• Lake Country Blue Fine Finishing Pad, 3", 2
• Meguiar's DA MF Cutting Disc, 5.5", 2
• Meguiar's DA MF Buffing Disc, 5.5", 2
• Surbuf R Series Microfingers Pad, 5.5", 2

Compounds & Polishes

• Meguiar's M105 Ultra-Cut Compound
• Meguiar's M205 Ultra Finishing Polish
• Meguiar's D300 MF Correction Compound
• Meguiar's D302 MF Polish
• Menzerna FG400 Fast Gloss Compound
• Menzerna PF2500 Power Finish
• Menzerna SF4000 Super Finish
• Meznerna SF4500 Micro Polish
• Chemical Guys Extreme EZ-Creme Glaze with Acrylic Shine II

LSPs

• CarPro Reload
• CarPro CQuartzUK
• Menzerna Color Lock Caranuba Wax
• Menzerna Power Lock Sealant

Trim & Tires

• SolutionFinish
• Optimum Opti-Bond
• Carrand Tire Applicator
• Wal-Mart Foam Tire Applicator

Microfibers

• DI All Purpose Blue Towel (door jams, trim, etc.)
• DI All Purpose Black Towel (wheels etc.)
• DI Ultra Plush (polish\compound removal)
• DI Deep Blue (wax\sealant removal)

I love having all the Meguiar's spray bottles for the Meguiar's gallon products. It makes my garage look a lot neater, more organized, and it's easier to know what I'm grabbing without really having to look. The chemical resistant sprayers are great, too - easy to go from a fine mist to a stronger jet.

[JHL88]

-I would've saved my money and skipped the G110v2 and went straight to the Flex 3401.

-I wouldn't have bought so many soaps.

- I wouldn't have bought so many QD's.

- Should've used/tried Collinite #845 a lot earlier

[Moldavite]

[JSFM35x]

I would use

1. Opticoat on cars that durability trumped slickness.
2. I would use GTECH EXO v2 on all cares that the person hand washed and that wanted the slickest most Hydrophobic 2 year LSP life with veryt good mar resistance.
3. Use Total Auto Wash as my go to LSP
5. Use any inexpensive PH neutral shampoo without gloss inhancers. I see very little difference between all the brands I have used-Luso Oro, BF, Poorboys SSS, Ultima Shampoo
6. I would use ONR as my clay lube
7. I would get the 2 Rupes if a pro or a GG 6 and 3 if a hobbyist.
8. I would get a good Pressure washer. Kranzel. It has outlasted 3 cheap HD units.
9. Polshes, I use 105, 205 mostly but also the Menzerna Line. I am a bad example of polishes bc I only do my own cars and have found what worked on mine and stuck with them.

Good Luck.

Knowing everything you know now, if you had to restock your arsenal of detailing chemicals, pads, polishes, polishers, towels and gadgets completely from scratch, which ones would you absolutely must have and which ones would you definitely skip?