Scope: hand-held, non-handled cleaning implements — sponges, scouring/scour pads, cloths (microfiber, cotton, nonwoven, chamois/PVA) and disposable wipes. Handled tools (brushes, mops, squeegees) are the sibling leaf "Cleaning Tools & Brushes" and are out of scope.

## Seed
1. The generic trap is a package claim like "scratch-free" or "super absorbent" printed on the box; the real expert split is what the pad/sponge is actually made of (abrasiveness_level, scouring_pad_material) — a nylon-mesh pad and a steel-wool pad can both say "scouring pad" but one strips nonstick coating and one doesn't.
2. A spec-vs-line-reality persona would notice that brand data sheets quote hard numbers (Spontex cellulose: absorbs 20x dry weight, washable to 95°C) that never make it to the retail package, which just says "super absorbent" — the manufacturing spec and the shelf copy diverge.

## Sources
- [wikipedia_sponge] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sponge_(tool) — materials (cellulose/polyurethane/melamine), bacteria harborage, 2-min microwave disinfection, microplastic shedding — fetched, text seen directly
- [wikipedia_microfiber] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microfiber — split bicomponent poly/polyamide fiber, sub-10-micron diameter, van der Waals cleaning claim — fetched via WebFetch, text seen
- [wikipedia_scouring_pad] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scouring_pad — metal mesh vs plastic-mesh pad history, metal strips nonstick coating — fetched, text seen
- [wikipedia_dishcloth] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dishcloth — cotton/microfiber material, E. coli/Salmonella contamination, 2-min microwave kills 99% — fetched, text seen
- [wikipedia_melamine_foam] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melamine_foam — hard open-cell foam cleans like fine sandpaper, scratches soft surfaces, foam residue is microplastic — fetched, text seen
- [wikipedia_chamois_leather] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chamois_leather — genuine leather almost no abrasive properties, very absorbent, synthetic chamois now common — fetched, text seen
- [wikipedia_steel_wool] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steel_wool — abrasive grades 0000 (superfine) to 4 (extra coarse) — fetched, text seen
- [wikipedia_nonwoven_fabric] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonwoven_fabric — spunlace nonwoven, wipes/cleanroom-wipe end uses — fetched, text seen
- [spontex_cellulose_sponge] https://www.spontexindustrial.com/products/materials/cellulose-sponge — brand spec: absorbs 20x dry weight, washable to 95°C, 100% biodegradable, several porosities — fetched, text seen
- [spontex_absorbent_cloth] https://www.spontexindustrial.com/products/materials/absorbent-cloth — brand spec: nonwoven cloth = synthetic+cellulose fiber chemically bonded by resin, not woven/knitted — fetched, text seen
- [fsa_cloths] FSA "Safer Food Better Business" Cloths pack (PDF) — disposable-preferred, task-dedicated cloths never cross-used, reusable cloths washed hot (90°C cycle) to disinfect — fetched PDF, pdftotext, text seen
- [fsa_separating_foods] FSA "Safer Food Better Business" Separating Foods pack (PDF) — dedicated colour-coded boards/utensils for raw vs ready-to-eat food — fetched PDF, pdftotext, text seen
- [fda_food_code_2022] FDA Food Code 2022 (PDF, via WebFetch binary save) — wiping-cloth use-limitation rule: held in sanitizer between uses, laundered daily, cloths for raw-animal-food surfaces kept separate from other-purpose cloths — fetched PDF, pdftotext, text seen

WebSearch was exhausted for this session (0 of 200 remaining) before any query ran; all research is WebFetch + curl + pdftotext against known Wikipedia pages, two Spontex brand spec pages, and UK FSA / US FDA regulator PDFs reached via their publication listing pages.

## Branches
- product_type=sponge → ask sponge_material, cell_pore_density; scouring_pad_material/cloth_fiber_construction/disposable_wipe_substrate become irrelevant. Supported by wikipedia_sponge's material table (cellulose/polyurethane/melamine are sponge-only materials).
- product_type=scouring_pad → ask scouring_pad_material; sponge_material/cloth_fiber_construction/disposable_wipe_substrate/cell_pore_density irrelevant. Supported by wikipedia_scouring_pad + wikipedia_steel_wool (mesh/steel-wool is pad-only).
- product_type=cloth → ask cloth_fiber_construction; sponge_material/scouring_pad_material/disposable_wipe_substrate/cell_pore_density irrelevant. Supported by wikipedia_microfiber + wikipedia_chamois_leather + spontex_absorbent_cloth.
- product_type=disposable_wipe → ask disposable_wipe_substrate; the other three material facets irrelevant. Supported by wikipedia_nonwoven_fabric (wet wipe as a nonwoven end use).
- primary_task=dishes_and_cookware → ask nonstick_cookware_safe. Supported by wikipedia_scouring_pad (metal mesh strips nonstick coating).
- primary_task=glass_and_glossy_surfaces → nonstick_cookware_safe becomes irrelevant (no cookware coating at stake), abrasiveness_level pushed toward non_abrasive. Supported by wikipedia_melamine_foam (scratches soft/glossy surfaces).

## Noise
- Color/pattern of sponge or cloth — cosmetic, not functional; not a facet.
- Scent (citrus, lavender) on sponges/wipes — marketing add-on, not a cleaning-performance spec.
- Pack count and price per unit — price-adjacent, excluded per rule (price/brand/rating are never facets).
- Handle or grip presence — routes the product to the sibling leaf "Cleaning Tools & Brushes", out of scope here.
- Dishwasher-safe claim for scrub sponges — found on some listings but inconsistent/unsourced across brands this run; folded into reusability/disinfecting_wash_capable instead of its own facet.
- "Antimicrobial/silver-ion treated" marketing claim — seen on several listings but no regulator or brand spec page was reachable this run to source what it actually changes; left out rather than invented.

## Corrections
- Trimmed absorbency.cold_start_question to 11 words and a dishcloth reference supports line to 19 words (validator caps); added fsa_separating_foods to food_contact_task_dedication.evidence (validator flagged it as an uncited reference).

## Corrections (2026-10-26)
- Dropped `cell_pore_density` from `product_type=sponge` then_ask and `nonstick_cookware_safe` from `primary_task=dishes_and_cookware` then_ask — both are `novice_answerable: false`, have no `cold_start_question`, and their own `backfill_note` says they must be derived/defaulted, not asked.
- Removed the now-empty `dishes_and_cookware` branch (it had no remaining then_ask/makes_irrelevant); `nonstick_cookware_safe` is still computed as a derived annotation regardless of branch.
- Updated `fda_food_code_2022` url from the direct `/media/164194/download` link (unreachable on the checker's fetch) to the stable landing page `https://www.fda.gov/food/fda-food-code/food-code-2022`, confirmed reachable and linking the same PDF.
- Added a `heavy_duty_scrubbing_and_metal` branch to `primary_task` with `then_ask: [abrasiveness_level]` (that facet is novice_answerable with its own cold_start_question) and `makes_irrelevant: [nonstick_cookware_safe]`, so all four `primary_task` values now trigger something.
- Rejected finding: the single-sourced 20x-absorption/95°C numbers (Spontex cellulose sponge). Tried ~15 candidate second sources (other brand spec pages, Wikipedia, search engines) — all 403/404/blocked or search-budget-exhausted. Left as-is: the exposed facet text (`absorbency`, `disinfecting_wash_capable`) already generalizes to "many times their dry weight" / "near-boiling wash" rather than stating the precise numbers; only the `spontex_cellulose_sponge` reference's own `supports` line carries the number, correctly attributed to Spontex by name, not asserted as a cross-brand fact.
- Added facet `pad_thickness_or_weight` (parallels `cell_pore_density`: novice_answerable false, researched, backfill_cost high, default to `standard`) sourced to a new reference `spontex_abrasive_scour` ("colors, thicknesses and weights"; "flexibility depends on the thickness and weight") plus `wikipedia_scouring_pad` as second evidence; added to `makes_irrelevant` on the sponge/cloth/disposable_wipe branches.
- Expanded "PVA" to "PVA (polyvinyl alcohol)" in the Chamois vocabulary entry, the only place the abbreviation was used undefined.
- Judgement note on the microwave-disinfection claim: set `sources_disagree` to `false` and reworded the note — the 2006 vs 2007 study-year mismatch between wikipedia_sponge and wikipedia_dishcloth is a citation inconsistency, not a disagreement on the 99% figure; the real caveat is fire risk from under-wetted sponges.