This should be old news for most people, but in case it slipped by, don’t ever use clear / reset buttons. Ok, now I’ll qualify that. Do everything in your power to avoid using them, and if you absolutely have to have one, please do not place them right next to the submit button.
Also, keep in mind that when users press “enter” while in a form, the first button on the page is used, and if it’s a reset button that means that instead of submitting the form, your user just erased all their hard work. When that happens, what are the chances they are going to fill it back out? It’s definitely not 100%.
Now, instead of worrying about whether you can, stop and think about whether you should. Stop for a moment and try to think of the last time you really wished you had a reset button on a form. Thought of one? No? Me either. I’m sure somewhere out there there’s a good reason to use them, but I have yet to think of it. Either way, chances are that the drawbacks of a user accidentally clearing their form heavily outweigh the benefits of being able to start over.
Please don’t confuse reset buttons with cancel buttons.
The difference is that a cancel button would take you to another page instead of just clearing the form. These are not as bad as reset buttons because they actually serve a purpose. However, if you do need to have a cancel button, it should not be placed within accidental click range of the submit button. I am by no means advocating the use of cancel buttons, but I wanted to distinguish between the two. In many instances, users do need to be provided with a means to cancel out of a form. Weigh your options carefully.