THE DISCIPLINE OF CLEAN: Wildly Clean Is a Standard

Standards exist to remove ambiguity.

They define what is required, what is acceptable, and what outcomes must be met before something can be considered in compliance. In every serious domain, standards serve as the boundary between intention and execution.

Historically, personal hygiene practices have lacked clearly articulated, evidence-informed standards in comparison with other areas of personal health.

For generations, personal toileting routines were shaped by repetition rather than specification. Behaviors were passed down, not evaluated. Familiarity became a proxy for adequacy. Over time, this produced routines that feel normal without ever being clearly defined as sufficient.

The Modern Hygiene Standards exist to correct that absence.


What a Standard Actually Does

A standard does not describe preferences.
It establishes requirements.

It answers questions like:
What conditions must be met for hygiene to be considered complete?
What outcomes are necessary for dignity, independence, and effectiveness?
What expectations apply universally, and which depend on context?

Without standards, hygiene remains subjective. With standards, hygiene becomes measurable.

This is not about optimizing for perfection. It is about defining a baseline that reflects contemporary expectations of care, autonomy, and effectiveness.

Why Hygiene Requires Discipline

Discipline is often misunderstood as restriction. In reality, discipline is structure.

Discipline creates consistency.
Consistency creates reliability.
Reliability creates trust.

In hygiene, discipline means that completion is not left to guesswork. It means routines are evaluated against outcomes rather than habits. It means people are not asked to improvise dignity or depend on workarounds.

Wildly clean describes a way of living that values completion and self-respect in the smallest routines. That mindset only holds when it is supported by clear standards.

Applicable Standards, Not Universal Assumptions

The Modern Hygiene Standards are designed to be applicable, not rigid.

Some requirements apply across all environments. Others apply only when relevant conditions exist, such as shared facilities, caregiving contexts, mobility limitations, or institutional use.

Compliance is determined by whether all applicable requirements are met. A household, organization, or system is not penalized for standards that do not apply to its context. It is evaluated on the standards that do.

This is how standards function in healthcare, construction, accessibility, and safety. Hygiene deserves the same clarity.

Partial Alignment Is Not Full Compliance

Many existing systems improve outcomes without meeting the full standard. That matters, but it does not complete the evaluation.

A routine can align with some standards while failing others. That does not make it harmful or negligent. It means it is incomplete relative to defined expectations.

Standards make that distinction visible.

They allow people to see the difference between improvement and completion without assigning blame or judgment. They create language where none previously existed.

Why Naming the Standard Comes First

Products, systems, and behaviors evolve after expectations are set.

When standards are undefined, innovation optimizes around convenience and familiarity. When standards are explicit, innovation has a target.

The Modern Hygiene Standards do not exist to crown winners or certify products. They exist to define what modern hygiene requires so that people, organizations, and future systems can evaluate themselves honestly.

Standards come before solutions because standards tell us what solutions must achieve.

Wildly Clean as a Commitment

Wildly clean is not an aesthetic.
It is not a trend.
It is not a personality trait.

It is a commitment to holding personal care routines to the same level of intention applied elsewhere in modern life. It reflects a belief that dignity is built into daily practices, not reserved for exceptional moments.

Choosing a standard is an act of self-respect.

What Comes Next

The Modern Hygiene Standards are a living framework. They will continue to evolve through professional review, real-world application, and thoughtful challenge.

Their purpose remains constant.

To define completion.
To clarify expectations.
To give people language where silence once existed.

When standards are visible, choices become easier.
When expectations are clear, compromise stops masquerading as normal.

This is the discipline of clean.

The Modern Hygiene Standards are stewarded and published by Bare Instinct, a Benefit LLC.

Peer-reviewed research on cleansing methods and skin health indicates that, in specific contexts, water-based routines can result in lower residual contamination and less friction-related irritation than dry wiping (see Truth Bombs)