Markup View

Author: calmestofdoves

May 19th 2015 at 2:37:05 AM

I only mentioned the difficulty of cleaning ''expensive'' stuff with bleach because you seemed to be proposing bleach as some kind of cure-all. How is it actually this hard to understand that keeping white things looking clean is more of a pain (and more of an expense!) than keeping colored things looking clean, expensive material or not? Pretty much the only thing this ''doesn't'' apply to is your bed linens. Ask literally any furniture salesperson or carpet salesperson or clothing salesperson or anyone who has ever owned a house. A small spill on colored or neutral carpet can be washed with a bit of soapy water and rubbed into the carpet; a small spill on bright white carpet can be washed with a bit of soapy water and a partially-bleach solution but will probably still be visible and may require professional cleaning. A small scuff on brown leather = hardly noticeable. A small scuff on white leather = HUGELY NOTICEABLE. Thus the white leather gets dirtied more easily and more effort must be taken to keep it looking clean. Repeat ad nauseam for white suits, white lampshades, white whatever. And repeated cleanings fade and wear down materials faster and thus material that must be cleaned more often must be replaced more often. This is ''not rocket science.''

But ''even if it were'', isn't it obvious from the plethora of modern examples of this trope that it's still a trope even today, regardless of how closely it tracks with reality? White things do not have to be a luxury to be associated with richness, just like opera capes do not have to be evil to be associated with villainy.