I only applied the Opticoat once, that's all that is needed. I applied it to all of my carbon parts (all were sanded to matte with 3M 2601 pads) to ensure that they all had the same level of protection. You can hear it "squeak" a little bit when you rub it on with the applicator pad, then the super thin compound quickly dries to clear with hardly any noticable addition to the part's finish. I've found that if you use it on glossy finish, the result is glossy. If you use it on matte, the result is just barely between satin and matte (but more matte). Apply opticoat to clean parts, so you need to clean them very thoroughly first to ensure there is nothing held between the opticoat compound and the surface of the actual material.
Day-to-day cleaning... maybe a quick wipe with a rag and one of the spray bottle mixes I describe below if the dirt is enough to make me want to clean it off.
I'm a bit thorough on my bike cleaning (and have been requested to make a thread about how I go about it by several people, just haven't gotten around to it), so I clean the bike about once per week on average, at most three weeks between a good cleaning. While the drivetrain bits are sitting in the ultrasonic cleaner, I clean the everything else. I use a simple IPA solution (approximately 50/50 mix of clean/distilled/filtered water and rubbing alcohol) sprayed onto the bike & parts, wiped down with a rag. This will dry clean without any trails and pretty quickly, too. It's also cheap and I can attack clumps of dirt fairly easily with it. Grease spots are very rare, but in case I also have a spray bottle of diluted dish washing soap and distilled water. Then I spray & rub on a coat of the Matte Detailer. It helps, in my experience, to minimize dirt as matte finishes tend to show dirtiness quicker. It also makes the next quick wipe easier to clean. And I think it smells pleasant.
That's about it, really. The drivetrain on the other hand... that's some obsessive territory.
[ If you live in an area where the city's infrastructure provides good water, then using distilled water isn't necessary. Unfortunately Los Angeles has fairly bad water coming from the tap compared to most modern cities, so I use the water from my filters. ]