ABSTRACT
A general concern shared by everyone, wherever they live, whatever their social rank, whatever their age, is to be neat and to live in a clean environment. "Clean" may have a different meaning for different people, depending on their habits and education, but maintaining or restoring cleanliness is usually among the top priorities of everyone and a significant amount of time and money is involved in the cleaning processes. In fact, keeping the house clean has been, since antiquity, a reason of pride for the housekeepers. This implies laundry, kitchen and dish utensils, floors, windows, walls, furniture, countertops, and so on. Cleaning the house is one of the most important tasks that any family has to face. Not so long ago, cleaning habits and hints were communicated from mother to daughter. Nowadays, new cleaning products are heavily advertised and each large consumer-goods company has its web site. Very valuable consumer-driven information about the different segments of cleaning is available on the Internet site of the Soap and Detergent Association (http/ /www.sdahq .org).
