Car Cleaning Myth: If a car looks shiny, it does not need to be cleaned

First a lesson in terminology.  Cleaning is not the same as washing.  Paint cleaning is the process of removing oxidation and bonded contamination.  Your car's paint can look shiny and be very dirty.  The best inspection is with your hands, not your eyes.  So, after you wash and dry your car, feel the paint with your finger tips.  Is it smooth like satin, or do your fingers drag on the rough, bumpy surface?  The roughness needs to come off.  This is the purpose of detailing clay and pre-wax polishing.  Detail clay removes all of the surface contamination without damaging the surface or thinning the clearcoat.