I was reading Rules for Spellcasting and I have a question about #6:
“The work is not complete until you pout your tools away and clean your space.”
I don’t understand this…do we not leave our tools on the altar? Or do we take them out and put them away each time? and then how do I clean my space?
I can’t seem to find anything to clarify this.
Any help is much appreciated.
If you leave your tools on the altar you should clean them up and put them away in their spaces. That’s how I take it.
To me, it seems, “clean your space” means to physically clean your space, since it’s best to ensure it’s spiritually clean before any spell work.
Technically, everything on your altar is a tool since it’s there to help you connect with the energy within and around you and with the god or goddess of your choosing. But if we use the definition of a tool— a device or implement, especially one held in the hand, used to carry out a particular function— I’ve seen some altars where the tools, such as athame, wand, etc. are left on them.
I always put those tools away when I’m done with spell work because I don’t have enough room on my altar for everything. 
The altar is a working space, not a storage space.
However, it really depends on how much space you have. There aren’t “rules”, only guidelines. I found that the best way to keep the altar organized is to put everything away and then go from there, i.e. avoid clutter.
Lol i plan to keep most of my tools on the altar but i have a fairly large space for mine. But i do keep my cauldron in the cubord above it as well as a few other things like supplies and my book of shadows and mirrors.
I agree with Francisco here that it’s just a general guideline. What you choose to keep on your altar space is entirely up to you, so if your tools stay on your altar then that would be put away for them. I think the “clean your space” is just a reference to making sure you’ve cleaned up after yourself and not left a mess. I get sidetracked very easily and have left spell remnants laying around for days cleaning up is the worst part for me, but I don’t think it’s ever affected my workings negatively.
I also agree with @Francisco and @MeganB but I wanted to include the cleaning up of ingredients and the spell itself. We are supposed to clean and neat so I just put things back in their place wherever that place is and dispose of my spell ingredients, bury, throw away, etc., to finish up the spell.
I do leave some tools on my altar because they just don’t have a separate storage spot at the moment 
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