Quote Originally Posted by GTScoob
^^^ Good writeup, although I normally wash top to bottom, starting at the roof and working down. That way the dirt from the top washes down the car and then gets washed away later. If the bottom is clean then junk from up high will rinse down over the clean sections of paint.
Washing from top to bottom prevents you from knowing what has been washed and what hasn't because of all the run-off covering what you haven't washed yet...almost always guaranteed to have a missed spot or two, you know those little dirty triangles only discovered once the car is dry.

If the car was properly washed then everything will be removed with the rinse anyways.