Wow, black paint! I guess most paints all now are covered by a clearcoat, no? I personally like black varieties the best of all colors, especially when the vehicle is detailed well, right? (Basically the color of my last two Jeeps, including my near-new 2012 KK in Black Crystal Pearl Coat!) But black paint has got to be the most challenging to maintain, and the easiest to kind of mess up, no? Even white paint helps hide some imperfections by way of the inherent glare!
I guess it's not environmentally correct now, but in my youth we used to put a bit of kerosone in the rinse water, and the vehicle surface, including the finicky chrome, would be nicely preserved. (Buffed with a soft cloth to finish up.)
Another thing I learned from way back was not to wash the vehicle in sunlight--otherwise the water drops act like little magnifying glasses and sort of microscopically pit the paint, not to mention leaving precipitate water spots.
Yet another old point was to always use cleaning/polishing/drying cloths that are softer on the hardness scale than is paint----basically use cotton cloths/toweling--NOT POLYESTER, etc.
For darker vehicle colors, I use a darker color cotton towel for drying; lint is less visible.
A final point is to NOT use cleaning/polishing/drying cloths/pads that have grit, even just a bit of fine sand/silica embedded in them or in the wax/polish you're using---otherwise it scratches paint.
Might seem like common sense to finish experts, but I had to learn this the hard way, long ago damaging some of my paint along the way.
Basically now I mainly use a combo wash and wax product, rinsing with the gentler "shower" setting of my hose nozzle; this practice leaves more protective wax residue on the vehicle. I also fit my nozzle with a fine stainless steel mesh grommet/washer to reduce grit coming through on the stream of water.
