Audrey Reynolds: On a

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A stain is not dirty. A stain is clean — it is what remains after the dirt has been washed out, or otherwise removed. We can — and do — live with stains. Dirt, on the other hand, is invasive, out of control, threatening even, and modern chemistry has developed an arsenal of substances designed to keep it at bay. Cultural histories of domestic hygiene — charted in books with titles such as ‘Chasing Dirt' and ‘The Dirt on Clean' — are not much concerned with stains, however. Stains do not smell, they are not contagious, and they will not pollute air or water that comes into contact with them. They are stabilized, safe, and tolerable. You can't always see whether something is dirty or not, but a stain is, by definition, always v