just wondering what is the best soap or detergent to use prior to clay barring, applying scratch remover, paint cleaner, paint polsh and then wax???

 

Any kind of quality car wash is fine to use, usually you use whatever kind or brand name car wash that matches the brand of wax you are going to finish with.

 

I'd use dawn dish soap, it will strip all old wax and stuff.

 

Any ph balanced car wash. I would not recommend dishwashing soap, because it is harsh (it dries, but won't really cause catastrophic harm), and it will not remove all of your LSP. You want the car clean from particles, so that your cleaner and polishes can effectively remove all of your lsp's without marring.

Dawn will be more appropriate to use with the Zaino process, since Zaino recommends it as a part of its application.