Of course it does not mean only to exorcise. I have also read and heard that about cleansing your face, in connection with make up etc...

Yes, I would say that "cleanse" is more of a "deep cleaning". The distinctions between the two words are subtle. I would agree with Chileno that to "cleanse" one's home sounds a bit strange, although I might not think "exorcism" right away. :)

- clean my face (take off makeup, or wash some food off around my mouth or something)
- cleanse my face (deep cleaning with special facial cleansers, deep pore cleaning, etc.)

Other common uses of cleanse might include medical:
- When my mother had kidney failure, they needed to cleanse her blood. (They needed to purify all the junk out of her blood that ended up there when her kidneys failed.)
- When you stop smoking, hopefully your lungs will begin to cleanse themselves. (They were blackened while you were a smoker, but hopefully the blackness from the tar will begin to go away when you quit the habit.)
- Before wrapping a wound, you should cleanse it thoroughly. (Because if there is any dirt or bacteria in an open wound, you could get a horrible infection!)
- Before you taste a new wine, you might want to cleanse your palate. (After drinking one wine, you might want to eat a piece of bread or drink a bit of water or wait for some time before you try another so that the taste of one doesn't impact the taste of the other.)
- Before a colonoscopy, you need to cleanse your colon. (Really don't want to elaborate on this one........)

There are also religious uses of the word:
- The home was cleansed of evil spirits. (Someone had to perform an exorcism ... as has already been discussed about Crotalito's home......) :)
- One might need to be cleansed of one's sins. (Because if one believes that sin leaves a spiritual stain, it is necessary to remove the stain.)
- If something has been defiled, it may be possible to cleanse it using holy water. (I don't quite know how to explain this one ... but it makes sense to my ears...)

Are these helpful in any way?

by the way, I made that comment to crotalito, half in jest, mimicking the old woman in the movie The Exorcist, once everything came to normal in the house she said "this house's been cleansed" or something of that sort... :D

Her face was so parsimonious... :lol::lol::lol:

I know. I made that comment tongue-in-cheek. :)

It wasn't The Exorcist it was Poltergeist.... get your demons right!

:lol::wicked::whistling:

I noticed all of the smilies... :) or is it smilys...smilyes...

aw shoot! smiles...:)

I think I would say "smileys" or "smiley's", but probably neither one is correct. :):):):):D:D:D:D:lol::lol::lol::lol:

hahahaha

I knew I was missing an e somewhere! :-)
:lol::lol::lol::lol:

Thanks for the thorough explanation, Lou Ann. Pretty useful... demons apart. :D

Yes I want to cleanse my home.