the key thing is to touch your car as less as possible when washing/drying. and the best way to avoid having to touch your car is to keep it properly waxed and maintained. that may seem counter-intuitive, but think about it:
swirls and fine scratch marks are nothing more than abrasions on the clearcoat. and clearcoat is nothing but just paint.
you get that by *touching* the paint (i.e. scrubbing with the wash mitt, drying with a microfiber towel, etc). so your rule of thumb is to keep the car as waxed as possible, so that dirt and grime wont bond as well to your paint. if they don't bond as well, you can easily remove them by just water pressure or light sudsing/foaming. then when you need to rinse, if you rinse it properly by sheeting the water away (a properly waxed car helps), most of the water will roll off the car that you will just end up dabbing spots of the car where the water pools. the rest would be effectively dry. having a car blow dryer helps (you can buy those).
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