Great post. The distilled water won't spot, good idea. I tend to stay way from mitts, they collect particles. Believe it or not I just use a high quality microfiber 16x16 towel, cut the edges off and make sure when it touches the car it has plenty of surfactants. I move in one direction to pick up all particles. Rinse them off and then with the towel rinsed make another pass in any direction since all particles that could scratch are removed. The nice thing about a flat towel and not the mitt is you can see what it has taken off and you can make sure it rinses off the towel before touching the car again. I always use white.
Or you can just do this...but only in a bind
Spray-On Car Wash Kit - Cleaners - Car Washing - Car Care - Griot's Garage