To get this to all work perfectly there is a method and it's not a quick process...but it's all worth it in the end. This polish is especially awesome for darker cars -- the more coats you apply, the deeper the shine gets until you have a "poster" quality finish...it's amazing.

First, you wash the car with dish washing detergent thouroughly - this removes all the wax and protectant -- never do this again!

After that - take the clay and spray a mix of car wash (not dish soap) and water over the areas affected and rub with the clay. If any clay residue gets on your car, spray lots of the soapy water on the area and wipe again with the clay - it'll take it off. You can also use the Z6 (gloss enhancer) as a lubricant - but it's an expensive choice! Water and soap work just as well. Use the clay to remove bug guts, sap, tar, bird droppings etc...**remember - the clay takes off any wax you have on your car as well as residue so if you are using it after you have applied zaino polish, you have to rinse it and polish it again**

Next, wash the car with the zaino car wash. For best results, try and get as much foam in the bucket as possible by using a spray feature on your hose if you have it. Then, when you are washing the car, try to just use the foam - it makes it even more shiny. Also, when rinsing the car, if you can try and remove all the attachments to your hose and just use the constant soft stream from the hose - it makes it more shiny then when using the higher-pressured attachments.

Once you are finished rinsing, dry the car with white, made in usa cotton towels - they are the least likely to scratch. Make sure you cut all the edging and tags off of them before using. Apply a thin coat of the polish lok as directed -- just let it haze for about 30 mins and then apply your first coat of Z2 (show car polish). This is the tricky one. you should let it dry completely -- test it with your finger -- if it at all smears around it's not ready. My first coat dried in about an hour - EXCEPT the hood. The hood is a little annoying -- sometimes it can be 24 hours and it still won't have dried completely. But for time constraints you make the decision - you can buff it off as best you can and then try and do it later -- just make sure the car is clean cuz you don't want to be buffing after driving around -- DIRTY!

Once the polish is dry, buff it off with another clean white towel, trying to turn the towel to use clean sections frequently. After it's all buffed off, go around the car and put a coat of Z6 (gloss enhancer) on (spray and wipe off). It'll make your car even more shiny. Follow the directions.

After your first coat, you'll notice rain beads off better, and when you wash it the car will be easier to dry with the towel - less streaking. After your first coat of Z2, you can put a coat of Z5 on and then alternate back and forth until you don't need the Z5 anymore. Z5 is good at removing fine scratches and swirl marks - but it's not instant -- it takes a couple coats, depending on the scratches. You just have to make sure you wait 24 hours between coats of any kind of polish.

I know this sounds like a very long and involved process, but this is the complete way to get your car looking and feeling AWESOME!! You can just apply a coat of Z2 over a clean car, but the above mothod is the BEST and COMPLETE way -- IMHO anyways. Zaino will make your car have a deeper, cleaner looking shine and will make your paint feel great. plus, it's great for your paint and will help protect it. It gets better with each additional coat you apply - I've seen a black Cobra with 30 coats and it looks AWESOME!!!

A note - I actually like Maguire's Endurance tire protectant gel better then Zaino's tire shine. although Zaino's may be better for your rubber, this gel lasts a long time -- and even when your tire's are dirty you can just rub them with a cloth and they'll be shiny again if you had a coat of this gel on before. The only problem is that it occasionally splatters a bit when driving -- but the shine is worth it! :) Plus it comes with a cool applicator sponge.

Two very enthusiastic thumbs up for Zaino :) Thanks for making it this far!!