While nobody uses *only* one brand of products, its a good idea to use as many of one brand, (and an affordable one) that you can get your hands on. Then of course you have another compound and polish you can call on, but for the most part working with one brand helps with your consistency.
The 360 stuff works well, but you'll get better use from Megs. Megs D300 & D301 will do most anything you've got (with the MF pads). You can even use the MF finishing pads and get excellent results. That alone saves you money, although two pads seem a bit pricy, it's possible to do an entire vehicle with only two cutting, and two finishing pads. If you're using foam, cutting takes from 4 (more like 6) to 8 pads to get it done, half that many for polishing.
Speaking of foam pads, nothing wrong with having some CCS in your bin with the flats. With the straight edge you'll find the CCS pads can get into places that rolled edge pads just don't handle.
Get some D151 as a middle of the road AIO. You can remove swirls with as little as a orange pad, and if they are bad (but not terrible and not on really hard paint) yellow pads work GREAT. Then move up to white or blue and run it a little for an excellent finish without having to put a dab of polish on the surface.
Of course there are the cornerstones 105/205 but unless you want to deal with the learning curve you might just go for 101 (but it's pricy). One VERY GOOD solution is mixing Ultimate Compound with 105. Either prime the pad with UC and use 105 'peas', or just mix it. Play around with your mixture, maybe 1:1, or even 2:1.
Speaking of UC, make sure you have both it and Ultimate Polish in your kit. I tell the guys in the parts stores all the time that by far, they are the best working, most versatile, easiest to use, and nicest finishing products they've got in the store. Easiest the (or one of the) best OTC products out there.
Interior and exterior protectant, can't go wrong with 303. Makes the dash look nice without it being all shiny and gooey as well as it works on exterior trim, and doesn't make running boards slippery.
Not making them slippery is GOLD when it comes to housewives that use them to get in and out of their SUV's and pickups.
Wheel cleaner, Megs brightener is good (and cheap) but you'll want some Sonax or IRON-X as well. While you're shopping for CarPro products, grab some TARX and grab some PERL. You can use PERL straight, 1:1, 3:1 and 5:1 for a whole host of rubber and vinyl trim duties.
Oh, and cleaner, Megs APC+ is usable in so many different situations you'll wonder how you ever lived without it. I keep three dilutions at all times. Heck even my wife uses it now and my daughter and here fiancée are putting together a new place and she's already used a quart cleaning the place up.
Shampoo, Megs Hyperwash, Megs Shampoo Plus, both good. But do NOT miss having Duragloss 902 (it's the gallon version of 901). Then of course CG Honeydew is also great to have around, makes great foam. But then again so do all the others I just mentioned, with Shampoo plus being the least foam of the bunch.
Liquid wax and or spray wax. Megs 156 is VERY GOOD! Plus you can apply it in direct sunlight. Nice, slick, great shine. While you're looking at spray waxes grab the DG 951 (952 in gallon size). Boy is that a great product to have around. For that matter, you could just get some other DG items, compound, polish, etc and you'd be well rounded with the Megs as your cornerstones.
Also pickup a gallon of Megs 135 Synthetic Detailer, it'll be your friend!
Megs Glass Cleaner also is a multi dilution tool you'll love.
Another thing for shiny stuff is what you'll want to do under the hood, fender wells, even tires if you like. Megs Hyperdressing is another of those products that you can have at least 3 dilutions of.
You didn't mention a rinseless. Get ONR or ONRWW. So very many uses for that one. From a quick rinseless wash, to a QD spray in a pinch, clay lube, even a nice surfactant to add to your wash water with your other shampoos.
Speaking of clay lube, you might just skip clay for the most part and go directly to a Nanoskin pad for the DA. That is one SERIOUS time saver! You can do the entire vehicle in a matter of minutes. Of course you'll need another one for the small tight areas, or just use clay there.
Tire gel, boy that one can go in all directions. PERL can work on tires, so can Hyper Dressing as long as they have some time to dry. PERL looks very good given overnight to dry and it looks like it's actually become a part of the tire. Optibond is mucho primo nice for a smooth dry looking satin finish. Plus it's actually VERY affordable by the gallon. Then a little goes a long way so at the end of the day it may be the least expensive on a "per application" basis of anything out there!
Megs Endurance a lot of guys use for that glossy look but it's messy FOR SURE. Doesn't sling so bad, unless it's just caked on but it's really glossy and 'wet' looking. (that doesn't have to be a bad thing, sometimes it's exactly what you want).
Then of course there are all the BF, WG, DP, Pinnacle that I'm sure you'll get plenty of input on. Their prices are all over the ball park, and IMHO they are all fairly pricy, one I think (BF) is $89.99. YIKES!!!
It's have to be pretty freaking special to run more than TWICE what Optibond costs for my money. :dunno:
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