Can I add to the above. Clearcoat is removed during the paint correction process not paint. Depending on the age of the car that is. But most of us have newer cars therefore not 2 pack (spelling?) paint.
The clearcoat gets scratched and marred with every contact made with it. The difference in levels of scratches depends on pressure, method and what was used to contact the paint. Clearcoat is not coloured, the name gives it away really. The detailers use a process of machining this clearcoat to remove the fine scratches some call swirl marks.
I.e If you use a brillo pad on your car to remove stains, marks or the like (believe me I've seen it first hand, a friend (girl) actually used a brillo pad to remove a mark) then you can expect to ruin the finish of your clearcoat.
If you use a bad wash method, i.e using 1 bucket for washing your car, the same wash mitt or sponge, starting from bottom to top to wash the car etc..... all the above will put fine scratches into the clearcoat of your car. You never contact the actual paint of your car but the thin layer of clear laquer which is ontop of that paint.
Like the back of a CD. We all know how easy it is to scratch them, even a T-Shirt rubbing across them is enough to scratch the surface. Your car does have a tougher surface than that of a CD, but you get the idea. Gentle washing with the two bucket method is the best that you can acheive cheaply, along with snow foam to drag dirt and debris off the car and onto the floor before you wash it. Done right using the correct products you can have a good finish on your car with very little marking.
The most important stage in any detail to me is the car washing after the detail has been done. Bad method will see swirls re-appear in the car during that first wash. It's down to the owner to keep the fresh corrected look that a detail will give.
To me Detailing is not an art. It's science, procedure and COMMON sense all aided by good proven products and technique.
I couldn't really care who agrees or who doesn't, we all have our own opinions. If you apply a pad rotating (high and low RPM) on a surface and add compounds which are abrasive then you will eventually polish that surface. The level of clarity in that surface depends on the cutting level of the compound used and the density/hardness of the pad used to apply it, pressure on the pad, along with technniques such as Zenith all dictate the science behind acheiving a good finish. Time and patience are something which can't be stressed enough. Like pruning and nurturing a Bonsai tree (Which is something else I'm into), it can take years to get it right. The more time and effort put into keeping something good will see it become great. I've always been taught to look after things. Properly!
One's eye is the Key in detailing. Goood Detailers, all, in my experience have 2 things in common, an obsessive disorder with getting things right, and the "eye" for the smaller things. Being able to pick out the needle in the hay is something you are born with in my opinion, some just aren't bothered about those smaller things, most of my friends think I am barking mad going to such extreme lengths with my car and the cars i detail. They are right in a way, having your car detailed is also a bad thing. It makes you over protective of it. People getting into it, messing with your nice finish, grubby/dirty hands all over the exterior after it's been freshly waxed because they don't understand how much work is/has been involved in keeping it that way. Girls with bags leaning on the car, rivets on tight jeans marking the flawles finish you've spend £400 quid on to acheive. Wether thats paying someone or doing it yourself! Makes no difference. I do have a compulsive obsessive nature on certain things. One is my car!
I'm a firm beleiver of doing things myself as nobody would do the job "just" the way I would do it. Which is why I detail cars that I own myself. I detail other peoples cars but I'm picky about what I do and who I do it for. Maybe thats judgemental of me, shoot me! There would be no point in detailing someones car only for them to take it from me and abuse it, washing it afterwards with totally the wrong methods and products. Educating people during the detail and afterwards about each stage, why it's being done, what to do and what not to do is just as important as the detail itself. It would be very dissapointing to see a car come back in a state having detailed it only recently. It's expensive to lay out for products when you aren't doing this for a living, the level of commitment in every paint correction is never realised by most people. Some don't even notice that the car is flawless (as much as it can be) and just simply say "thats shiney". Detailing isn't really for those sorts of people. A simple valet would do.
I am not speaking Ill towards anyone, we are all different, those people who have a valet might be totally obsessive about the kitchen in their house for instance, the garden looking freshly pruned. I wish that I didn't have this "problem" with my car, its expensive and time consuming. The plus side is that it does look good.
For anyone wanting to have their car detailed, I'd say give it a go. Get your paint read before hand to see how much clearcoat you actually have to play with though, or it could end in disaster. I get pleasure and "time out" from a busy life when I'm detailing my car and others, so I do enjoy it. You never know you might like it.....
An invaluable resource I used when learning was
www.detailingworld.co.uk. Read, read, read and more reading will give you and idea of whats involved. If you don't think after reading a little that it is actually something you can do, pay someone else to do it.
G
, The joys of knowing the owner lol. 
