diff --git a/README.rst b/README.rst
index 906062577..7778c9f4e 100644
--- a/README.rst
+++ b/README.rst
@@ -129,16 +129,18 @@ Run::
   Otherwise, add -K option to let Ansible prompting for the sudo  password:
 	 ansible-playbook -K -vvvv -i inventory/localhost install.yaml
 
-With regards to testing, you may wish to set your installation such
-that ironic node cleaning is disabled.  You can achieve this by passing
-the option "-e cleaning=false" to the command line or executing the
-command below.  This is because cleaning can take a substantial amount
-of time while disks are being wiped.::
+With regards to testing, ironic's node cleaning capability is disabled by
+default as it can be an unexpected surprise for a new user that their test
+node is unusable for however long it takes for the disks to be wiped.
 
-  ansible-playbook -K -vvvv -i inventory/localhost install.yaml -e cleaning=false
+If you wish to enable cleaning, you can achieve this by passing the option
+"-e cleaning=true" to the command line or executing the command below.::
+
+  ansible-playbook -K -vvvv -i inventory/localhost install.yaml -e cleaning=true
 
 After you have performed an installation, you can edit /etc/ironic/ironic.conf
-to enable or disable cleaning as desired.
+to enable or disable cleaning as desired, however it is highly encouraged to
+utilize cleaning in any production environment.
 
 Manual CLI Use
 --------------
diff --git a/playbooks/roles/ironic-install/README.md b/playbooks/roles/ironic-install/README.md
index 7a4261e6e..818023644 100644
--- a/playbooks/roles/ironic-install/README.md
+++ b/playbooks/roles/ironic-install/README.md
@@ -19,9 +19,9 @@ Testing mode is intended to help facilitate testing of the Bifrost roles and Iro
 
 testing: false
 
-Node cleaning, which was a feature added to Ironic during the Kilo cycle, removes the previous contents of a node once it has been deleted.  Bifrost sets this to true by default, however if testing mode is enabled,
+Node cleaning, which was a feature added to Ironic during the Kilo cycle, removes the previous contents of a node once it has been moved from an active to available state, such as setting the provision state to deleted.  Bifrost disables this by default in order to allow initial users to not be impacted by node cleaning operations upfront when they are testing and evaluating bifrost.  In the event of a production deployment, cleaning should be enabled.
 
-cleaning: true
+cleaning: false
 
 The Ironic python client and shade libraries can be installed directly from GIT.  The default is to utilize pip to install the current versions in pypi, however testing may require master branch or custom patches.  
 
diff --git a/playbooks/roles/ironic-install/defaults/main.yml b/playbooks/roles/ironic-install/defaults/main.yml
index f900b9899..38cd6b841 100644
--- a/playbooks/roles/ironic-install/defaults/main.yml
+++ b/playbooks/roles/ironic-install/defaults/main.yml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 ---
 # Cleaning turns on ironic conductor clean_nodes flag
 # chich causes the nodes to be wiped after deletion.
-cleaning: true
+cleaning: false
 http_boot_folder: /httpboot
 nginx_port: 8080
 ironicclient_source_install: false