whenever you clean something, you're just making something else dirty.

[kingjames488]

you can't possibly clean something without using something less dirty than the thing you're cleaning, and then all you're doing is equalising the levels of dirty between what you're trying to clean and what you're using to clean it.

clean is an illusion.

thoughts?

[Basho]

Nguyên văn bởi kingjames488:

but isn't "being closer to the ideal clean state" just another way of saying "less dirty"?

you could say that, but first of all it is a much less strict definition than "within reasonable tolerances", since those tolerances are quantifiable and usually imply that no negative interference will be enacted by any contaminants still present, whereas "less dirty" could mean you flicked a single mote of dust away.

lets take a hospital setting as an example.
if you wash, disinfect, and autoclave a set of implements they may not necessarily be free of particles/contaminants if put under a microscope.
but whatever is still there will no longer cause negative interference when the implements are put to use.
they are "clean" - withing reasonable tolerances of their ideal state.

if you just make them "less dirty" by brushing them against your sleeve, they can not be considered clean by any stretch of the word, at the very least not for their intended use and subsequent ideal state.

that is to say, "less dirty" is a much more vague description than "clean".

[shoopy]

This is why you rinse with running water, and/or change the rag or whatever you are using.

The same thing happens with sand paper. It gets clogged up and doesn't sand anymore, so you just get a new one and keep sanding, or use the kind that can be cleaned out.