diff --git a/src/OpenMesh/Core/Mesh/ArrayKernel.cc b/src/OpenMesh/Core/Mesh/ArrayKernel.cc
index 8a24f3ac..64d7f807 100644
--- a/src/OpenMesh/Core/Mesh/ArrayKernel.cc
+++ b/src/OpenMesh/Core/Mesh/ArrayKernel.cc
@@ -257,14 +257,20 @@ void ArrayKernel::garbage_collection(bool _v, bool _e, bool _f)
 
 void ArrayKernel::clear()
 {
-  vertices_.clear();
-  edges_.clear();
-  faces_.clear();
+  vprops_clear();
+  eprops_clear();
+  hprops_clear();
+  fprops_clear();
+
+  vertices_.clear();
+  VertexContainer().swap( vertices_ );
+
+  edges_.clear();
+  EdgeContainer().swap( edges_ );
+  
+  faces_.clear();
+  FaceContainer().swap( faces_ );
 
-  vprops_resize(0);
-  eprops_resize(0);
-  hprops_resize(0);
-  fprops_resize(0);
 }
 
 void ArrayKernel::resize( uint _n_vertices, uint _n_edges, uint _n_faces )
diff --git a/src/OpenMesh/Core/Mesh/BaseKernel.hh b/src/OpenMesh/Core/Mesh/BaseKernel.hh
index cb96a53a..e791580e 100644
--- a/src/OpenMesh/Core/Mesh/BaseKernel.hh
+++ b/src/OpenMesh/Core/Mesh/BaseKernel.hh
@@ -93,7 +93,12 @@ class BaseKernel
 public: //-------------------------------------------- constructor / destructor
 
   BaseKernel() {}
-  virtual ~BaseKernel() {}
+  virtual ~BaseKernel() {
+	vprops_.clear();
+	eprops_.clear();
+	hprops_.clear();
+	fprops_.clear();
+  }
 
 
 public: //-------------------------------------------------- add new properties
@@ -504,29 +509,44 @@ protected: //------------------------------------------- synchronize properties
 
   void vprops_reserve(unsigned int _n) const { vprops_.reserve(_n); }
   void vprops_resize(unsigned int _n) const { vprops_.resize(_n); }
+  void vprops_clear() {
+    vprops_.clear();
+  }
   void vprops_swap(unsigned int _i0, unsigned int _i1) const {
     vprops_.swap(_i0, _i1);
   }
 
   void hprops_reserve(unsigned int _n) const { hprops_.reserve(_n); }
   void hprops_resize(unsigned int _n) const { hprops_.resize(_n); }
+  void hprops_clear() {
+    hprops_.clear();
+  }
   void hprops_swap(unsigned int _i0, unsigned int _i1) const {
     hprops_.swap(_i0, _i1);
   }
 
   void eprops_reserve(unsigned int _n) const { eprops_.reserve(_n); }
   void eprops_resize(unsigned int _n) const { eprops_.resize(_n); }
+  void eprops_clear() {
+    eprops_.clear();
+  }
   void eprops_swap(unsigned int _i0, unsigned int _i1) const {
     eprops_.swap(_i0, _i1);
   }
 
   void fprops_reserve(unsigned int _n) const { fprops_.reserve(_n); }
   void fprops_resize(unsigned int _n) const { fprops_.resize(_n); }
+  void fprops_clear() {
+    fprops_.clear();
+  }
   void fprops_swap(unsigned int _i0, unsigned int _i1) const {
     fprops_.swap(_i0, _i1);
   }
 
   void mprops_resize(unsigned int _n) const { mprops_.resize(_n); }
+  void mprops_clear() {
+    mprops_.clear();
+  }
 
 public:
 
diff --git a/src/OpenMesh/Core/Utils/BaseProperty.hh b/src/OpenMesh/Core/Utils/BaseProperty.hh
index ead16e42..77116ceb 100644
--- a/src/OpenMesh/Core/Utils/BaseProperty.hh
+++ b/src/OpenMesh/Core/Utils/BaseProperty.hh
@@ -97,6 +97,9 @@ public: // synchronized array interface
   /// Resize storage to hold n elements.
   virtual void resize(size_t _n) = 0;
 
+  /// Clear all elements and free memory.
+  virtual void clear() = 0;
+
   /// Extend the number of elements by one.
   virtual void push_back() = 0;
 
diff --git a/src/OpenMesh/Core/Utils/Property.hh b/src/OpenMesh/Core/Utils/Property.hh
index fc46b33e..f828fcad 100644
--- a/src/OpenMesh/Core/Utils/Property.hh
+++ b/src/OpenMesh/Core/Utils/Property.hh
@@ -109,6 +109,7 @@ public: // inherited from BaseProperty
 
   virtual void reserve(size_t _n) { data_.reserve(_n);    }
   virtual void resize(size_t _n)  { data_.resize(_n);     }
+  virtual void clear()  { data_.clear(); vector_type().swap(data_);    }
   virtual void push_back()        { data_.push_back(T()); }
   virtual void swap(size_t _i0, size_t _i1)
   { std::swap(data_[_i0], data_[_i1]); }
@@ -161,18 +162,18 @@ public:
 public: // data access interface
 
   /// Get pointer to array (does not work for T==bool)
-  const T* data() const { 
+  const T* data() const {
 
     if( data_.empty() )
       return 0;
 
-    return &data_[0]; 
+    return &data_[0];
   }
 
   /// Get reference to property vector (be careful, improper usage, e.g. resizing, may crash OpenMesh!!!)
-  vector_type& data_vector() { 
+  vector_type& data_vector() {
 
-    return data_; 
+    return data_;
   }
 
   /// Access the i'th element. No range check is performed!
@@ -230,6 +231,7 @@ public: // inherited from BaseProperty
 
   virtual void reserve(size_t _n) { data_.reserve(_n);    }
   virtual void resize(size_t _n)  { data_.resize(_n);     }
+  virtual void clear()  { data_.clear(); vector_type().swap(data_);    }
   virtual void push_back()        { data_.push_back(bool()); }
   virtual void swap(size_t _i0, size_t _i1)
   { bool t(data_[_i0]); data_[_i0]=data_[_i1]; data_[_i1]=t; }
@@ -387,6 +389,7 @@ public: // inherited from BaseProperty
 
   virtual void reserve(size_t _n) { data_.reserve(_n);    }
   virtual void resize(size_t _n)  { data_.resize(_n);     }
+  virtual void clear()  { data_.clear(); vector_type().swap(data_);    }
   virtual void push_back()        { data_.push_back(std::string()); }
   virtual void swap(size_t _i0, size_t _i1) {
     std::swap(data_[_i0], data_[_i1]);
diff --git a/src/OpenMesh/Core/Utils/PropertyContainer.hh b/src/OpenMesh/Core/Utils/PropertyContainer.hh
index abf0d214..dcd53bd8 100644
--- a/src/OpenMesh/Core/Utils/PropertyContainer.hh
+++ b/src/OpenMesh/Core/Utils/PropertyContainer.hh
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ public:
   //-------------------------------------------------- constructor / destructor
 
   PropertyContainer() {}
-  virtual ~PropertyContainer() { clear(); }
+  virtual ~PropertyContainer() { std::for_each(properties_.begin(), properties_.end(), Delete()); }
 
 
   //------------------------------------------------------------- info / access
@@ -177,7 +177,16 @@ public:
 
   void clear()
   {
-    std::for_each(properties_.begin(), properties_.end(), Delete());
+	// Clear properties vector:
+	// Replaced the old version with new one
+	// which performs a swap to clear values and
+	// deallocate memory.
+
+	// Old version (changed 22.07.09) {
+	// std::for_each(properties_.begin(), properties_.end(), Delete());
+    // }
+
+	std::for_each(properties_.begin(), properties_.end(), ClearAll());
   }
 
 
@@ -256,6 +265,12 @@ private:
     size_t n_;
   };
 
+  struct ClearAll
+  {
+    ClearAll() {}
+    void operator()(BaseProperty* _p) const { if (_p) _p->clear(); }
+  };
+
   struct Swap
   {
     Swap(size_t _i0, size_t _i1) : i0_(_i0), i1_(_i1) {}