Don't use a sponge or a chamois on a Honda, you'll add lots of swirl marks.
To start off with, buy:
2 x buckets (one for soapy water, one with clean water)
1 x wool washmitt (for car)
1 x sponge or microfibre wash mitt (for wheels)
1 x bottle of decent shampoo
1 x waffle weave towel (for drying)
My uber quick quide for washing car:
1. fill up a bucket of soapy warm water. rinse wheels + wheel arches using hose, then wash and rinse wheels.
2. Empty the bucket and fill up with clean warm soapy water, another bucket with clean cold water.
3. Rinse entire car to get rid of as much dirt as you can. Wash 1 panel at a time (working of the car to the bottom) with the wash mitt, don't apply pressure, simply glide it across the wet panel. After 1 panel is done, rinse out the wash mitt in the clean water, then dunk in the suds bucket. After every few panels, hose off the soapy water then continue.
4. Rinse entire car using the hose.
5. Dry using the towel - either glide it over the paint, or pat dry.
Very quick guide, but stick to that technique and you'll minimise the infliction of swirl marks.
Want to know more? There's some great guides on the
Polished Bliss website under the Advice section. Quite heavy reading, but well worth it.
Because Honda paint is very, very soft, you'll want to minimise the amount of rubbing you do on the paint, and go for products which are easy applied and easily removed without having to put in much effort. I use:
Polish: Blackfire Gloss Enhancing Polish (
link)
Sealant: Blackfire Wet Diamond All Finish Paint Protection (
link)
Wax: Blackfire Wet Diamond Ivory Carnuaba Paste Wax (
link)
Quite expensive products, bet they're so easy on and easy off and last for ages.