Worth having a read of the ‘Rebecca’s Guide to Detailing’, which is a ‘sticky’ at the top of this forum board - link below;
http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=277318.0I’m not aware of a detailing starter kit, but for the basic essentials to wash the car I’d recommend you get a couple of good buckets with grit guards, a lambs wool wash mitt, a separate wash mitt and or wheel brush for the wheels and some good plush microfibre drying towels (suggest three as a minimum - one won’t be enough) and a decent ph neutral car shampoo. A couple of detailing brushes would also be useful for getting into those hard to clean nooks and crannies - e.g. grilles, door shuts, inside the fuel filler flap etc.
There’s a long list of items in the ‘sticky’. However, IMO not all of these are essential if your immediate priority is washing the car and you’re starting from scratch. You can always add items such as wax, sealant, tyre dressing, microfibre buffing cloths etc. to your detailing kit over time.
The ‘sticky’ also includes links to various detailing websites. Also worth checking out the ‘Detailing - special offer spotting’ sticky, which gives details of discounts / discount codes that forum members are aware of.
If you are new - or relatively new to detailing, it’s also worth having a read of the first couple of posts in this thread over on Detailing World at the link below;
https://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=4637