Two excellent ways to learn how to properly clean a gun.
"Plan A" would be to watch someone else do it. This technique takes about 10 minutes and will make you another expert.
The second suggestion is to enlist in the Army. This technique takes about 10-12 weeks, but you will be even more of an expert, and able to not only clean your handgun, but a rifle as well. And you will be able to disassemble and re-assemble them both blindfolded, which goes over big at parties as a sure way to impress girls.
When I got drafted, after basic training I was kind of stuck for almost two more years. But you...you can learn how to clean a gun (and march like nobodies business) and then quit after basic training. What a great deal!!!!
Still, I would go with plan A and learn other ways to impress girls at parties.
My son is a sailor. He has it great. But sailors don't shoot, so he never learned how to clean a gun. What a gyp! (He can run a nuclear reactor, but he won't show me how....I can't seem to find one around the house anyway).
Seriously, you can get a gun cleaning kit at Wal Mart or any gun shop. I got a Kleen Bore kit with a case and everything you need to clean a gun for $10. I like Kleen Bore's #3 gun conditioner. It cleans and lubricates, so it cuts out a step. You don't need to use both a solvent and an oil. This is new to me, and I've only been using it a short while, but so far, so good. It makes life easy. And IIRC, the kit came with an instruction book. But really, once you clean a gun one time (as described in this thread), it's really pretty quick and easy. Not much to remember. Your gun owners manual shows how to field strip the gun and I think the XD's manual even talks about how to clean it (not positive).
The $10 kit I got had a tooth brush included. A nice feature since it has two sides to the brush. A regular toothbrush size, and a very narrow one that fits nicely into the slide's groves that go over the rails. I am pretty sure you can buy these brushes now separately. But if not, any toothbrush will do. And having some Q-tips is always useful.
http://www.kleen-bore.com/
Good luck, and safe shooting.
Peace,
D.
Peace,
D.