diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 0d82eaa8..4cd82075 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -2,4 +2,5 @@ media/
 static/
 
 __pycache__
-.vscode/
\ No newline at end of file
+.vscode/
+.DS_Store
diff --git a/anatomy/models.py b/anatomy/models.py
index 9dd82222..4f75f5ac 100644
--- a/anatomy/models.py
+++ b/anatomy/models.py
@@ -214,10 +214,10 @@ class Answer(models.Model):
 
     def clean(self):
         if self.answer:
-            self.answer.strip()
+            self.answer = self.answer.strip()
 
     def get_compare_string(self):
-        return self.answer.lower()
+        return self.answer.lower().strip()
 
 
 # class HalfMarkAnswers(models.Model):
@@ -308,7 +308,7 @@ class UserAnswer(models.Model):
 
     def clean(self):
         if self.answer:
-            self.answer.strip()
+            self.answer = self.answer.strip()
 
 
 class CidUserAnswer(models.Model):
@@ -340,10 +340,11 @@ class CidUserAnswer(models.Model):
 
     def clean(self):
         if self.answer:
-            self.answer.strip()
+            self.answer = self.answer.strip()
 
     def get_compare_string(self):
-        return self.answer.lower()
+        # strip here should be unneccasry (providing clean is now working)
+        return self.answer.lower().strip()
 
     def get_answer_score(self):
         q = self.question