Washing:
Degreaser sprayed on, let it work for 5 minutes. A good Degreaser could be Chemical Guys Grime Reaper diluted 1:5
Optional snowfoam:
Snowfoaming with a good soap diluted 1:10 in the foam cannon. Let foam work for 5 minutes before pressure washing the car. A good soap can be meguiars hyper wash.
Wash with washmitt and 2 buckets as described above.Same soap as used in snowfoam.
Then its clay time, clay must never be used without clay lube, if you use too little lube the claybar can marr the paint. When it comes to clay, make a pick of you're choice, just remember that it should be medium or fine. If not it will marr like crazy. Good value is to buy Optimum No-rinse because its can be diluted to lots of claylube.
When done with clay, rinse car and dry with a microfiber towel.
I always use professional products that actually removes scratches and swirls so my steps with only a DA machine would be.
Masking:
Use blue or green 3m masking tape, unless you love being tortured with removing glue from unpainted rubber and plastic (masking is vital for you phase 1 owners).
Time for polishing:
Depending on the state of the cars paint you choose what polish to use. I mostly use scholl concepts S17 on a polishing pad followed by S30 on a finishing pad. When using professional products less is more, do not use too much or you're going to make a mess.
When polishing move the buffer slowly across a 2x2 foot surface of the paint until the polish turns completely transparent, then you buff off the remaining residue and inspect. When satisfied with the correction, you're ready for wax or sealer. I prefer a good pastewax myself, again less is more, you should hardly be able to see that you're putting wax on the car at all, the haze time depends on brand of wax. Most are between 5-15 minutes. After that buff off hazed wax and if possible let stand in sun for 4 hours, if not possible let stand in garage or atleast avoid water to hit the paint for the next 4 hours. Buff again with a microfiber cloth and enjoy the sight