I have tried to different ways to clear a form:
Took some searching and reading to find a method that suited my situation, on form submit, run ajax to a remote php script, on success/failure inform user, on complete clear the form.
I had some default values, all other methods involved .val('') thereby not resetting but clearing the form.
I got this too work by adding a reset button to the form, which had an id of myform:
$("#myform > input[type=reset]").trigger('click');
This for me had the correct outcome on resetting the form, oh and dont forget the
event.preventDefault();
to stop the form submitting in browser, like I did :).
Regards
Jacko