What about cleansing your altar?

[Witchy Cowgirl]

After reading What is Your Altar Made Of and seeing Emaleth's post about her altar getting cluttered, it got me to thinking....I'm sure there are others out there as well whose altar has to work double time - an altar and a night stand, an altar and a desk, an altar and a computer table, etc.
(I'm one of those, the altar I use the most is also my nightstand.)
So...............
How often and how do you go about cleansing your altar?

I cleanse my altar weekly.
I move everything on it, sprinkle it with rain water and clean it off. Then I either sprinkle it with salt or cedar shavings or smoke it. I usually leave it that way for a couple of hours before cleaning off the salt/cedar and setting it back up.

[Flar's Freyja]

I'm a messy witch when it comes to cleansing my permanent altar. I don't do it nearly often enough. It usually only gets a good cleaning when I'm changing the theme for a sabbat, or lighting a special candle.

I have a portable altar that I set up for specific rituals and that one always gets cleansed before I use it.

I read somewhere that if you didn't clean your altar or your house, the deities wouldn't come to visit you. I discussed this with a friend who assured me that they would - but they'd just be a bit pissed off :lol:

[Raevyn]

Hm I never cleanse mine, I like the energies from frequent use to build up, and get good results that way.

Though, where my altars are set up is sacred, though one is on an end table and another on one end of the dresser for instance, nothing else gets placed on that spot, and they are permanent.