diff --git a/plugin-designs/big-picture/big-picture.vue b/plugin-designs/big-picture/big-picture.vue
index e5b9cdfe6..f02100847 100644
--- a/plugin-designs/big-picture/big-picture.vue
+++ b/plugin-designs/big-picture/big-picture.vue
@@ -105,17 +105,32 @@ const heading = computed(() => config.value.title
 //
 // Set on the HOST rather than on .bp-root, deliberately: `dir` takes effect through the inherited
 // CSS `direction`, and inheritance crosses shadow boundaries — so one attribute covers this
-// element's own chrome AND both nested elements beneath it. Only ever SET, never cleared: a host
+// element's own chrome AND both nested elements beneath it. Set and CLEARED, but only ever ours: a host
 // page that already declares its own dir owns that decision.
 const textDir = computed(() => {
   const l = hostLang.value || getRuntimeLocale() || detectLocale()
   return RTL_LOCALES.has(l) ? 'rtl' : 'ltr'
 })
 const _self = getCurrentInstance()
+// ★ WE CLEAR ONLY THE DIRECTION WE SET. The line below used to be a one-way
+// `if (rtl) setAttribute('dir','rtl')` with no else, so a reader who switched from an RTL locale to
+// an LTR one (ar -> zh) kept a right-to-left layout for the rest of the session: Chinese laid out
+// backwards, which reads as a broken page rather than a stale setting.
+// The original reason for never clearing is still honoured, and is why this remembers rather than
+// just removing: a host page that declares its OWN dir owns that decision, so the value found before
+// we first wrote is restored verbatim, and removed only when there was none.
+let _dirPrev = null
 function reflectDir() {
   try {
     const host = _self?.proxy?.$el?.getRootNode?.()?.host
-    if (host && textDir.value === 'rtl') host.setAttribute('dir', 'rtl')
+    if (!host || !host.setAttribute) return
+    if (textDir.value === 'rtl') {
+      if (_dirPrev === null) _dirPrev = host.getAttribute('dir') || ''
+      host.setAttribute('dir', 'rtl')
+    } else if (_dirPrev !== null) {
+      if (_dirPrev) host.setAttribute('dir', _dirPrev); else host.removeAttribute('dir')
+      _dirPrev = null
+    }
   } catch (_) { /* no host (SSR/tests) — nothing to reflect */ }
 }
 onMounted(reflectDir)
diff --git a/plugin-designs/dashboard-plus-grid/dashboard-plus-grid.vue b/plugin-designs/dashboard-plus-grid/dashboard-plus-grid.vue
index 2dc479774..8e24e81a1 100644
--- a/plugin-designs/dashboard-plus-grid/dashboard-plus-grid.vue
+++ b/plugin-designs/dashboard-plus-grid/dashboard-plus-grid.vue
@@ -300,7 +300,7 @@ watchEffect(() => { if (hostLang.value) setRuntimeLocale(hostLang.value) })
 // Set on the custom-element HOST rather than on the layout inside it, deliberately: `dir` takes
 // effect through the inherited CSS `direction`, and inheritance crosses shadow boundaries — so one
 // attribute on the host covers this composite's own chrome AND every nested element beneath it,
-// which is the half the audit found missing. Only ever SET, never cleared: a host page that already
+// which is the half the audit found missing. Set and CLEARED, but only ever ours: a host page that already
 // declares its own dir owns that decision.
 const textDir = computed(() => {
   const l = hostLang.value || getRuntimeLocale() || detectLocale()
@@ -316,10 +316,21 @@ const textDir = computed(() => {
 // it is". Measured in this tree before, under Vue 3.5.42, when research-map.vue's emitFilterState
 // died the same way; the fix is its _selfInstance, and this is the same fix.
 const _selfInstance = getCurrentInstance()
+// ★ WE CLEAR ONLY THE DIRECTION WE SET. This was a one-way `if (rtl) setAttribute` with no else,
+// so ar -> zh kept a right-to-left layout for the rest of the session. The host page's own dir is
+// still respected: the value found before we first wrote is restored verbatim.
+let _dirPrev = null
 function reflectDir() {
   try {
     const host = _selfInstance?.proxy?.$el?.getRootNode?.()?.host
-    if (host && textDir.value === 'rtl') host.setAttribute('dir', 'rtl')
+    if (!host || !host.setAttribute) return
+    if (textDir.value === 'rtl') {
+      if (_dirPrev === null) _dirPrev = host.getAttribute('dir') || ''
+      host.setAttribute('dir', 'rtl')
+    } else if (_dirPrev !== null) {
+      if (_dirPrev) host.setAttribute('dir', _dirPrev); else host.removeAttribute('dir')
+      _dirPrev = null
+    }
   } catch (_) { /* no host (SSR/tests) — nothing to reflect */ }
 }
 onMounted(reflectDir)
diff --git a/plugin-designs/people-groups-grid/people-groups-grid.vue b/plugin-designs/people-groups-grid/people-groups-grid.vue
index 38079304d..96e623668 100644
--- a/plugin-designs/people-groups-grid/people-groups-grid.vue
+++ b/plugin-designs/people-groups-grid/people-groups-grid.vue
@@ -278,16 +278,31 @@ const languageCode = computed(() =>
 // page it owns and useless for an element dropped into someone else's, which is this grid's whole
 // job. Set on the HOST, like both composites: `dir` takes effect through the inherited CSS
 // `direction`, and inheritance crosses shadow boundaries, so one attribute turns the element and
-// everything it renders. Only ever SET, never cleared — a host page that declares its own dir owns
+// everything it renders. Set and CLEARED, but only ever ours — a host page that declares its own dir owns
 // that decision.
 const textDir = computed(() => {
   const l = languageCode.value || getRuntimeLocale() || detectLocale()
   return RTL_LOCALES.has(String(l).split('-')[0].toLowerCase()) ? 'rtl' : 'ltr'
 })
+// ★ WE CLEAR ONLY THE DIRECTION WE SET. The line below used to be a one-way
+// `if (rtl) setAttribute('dir','rtl')` with no else, so a reader who switched from an RTL locale to
+// an LTR one (ar -> zh) kept a right-to-left layout for the rest of the session: Chinese laid out
+// backwards, which reads as a broken page rather than a stale setting.
+// The original reason for never clearing is still honoured, and is why this remembers rather than
+// just removing: a host page that declares its OWN dir owns that decision, so the value found before
+// we first wrote is restored verbatim, and removed only when there was none.
+let _dirPrev = null
 function reflectDir() {
   try {
     const host = hostEl()
-    if (host && host.setAttribute && textDir.value === 'rtl') host.setAttribute('dir', 'rtl')
+    if (!host || !host.setAttribute) return
+    if (textDir.value === 'rtl') {
+      if (_dirPrev === null) _dirPrev = host.getAttribute('dir') || ''
+      host.setAttribute('dir', 'rtl')
+    } else if (_dirPrev !== null) {
+      if (_dirPrev) host.setAttribute('dir', _dirPrev); else host.removeAttribute('dir')
+      _dirPrev = null
+    }
   } catch (_) { /* no host (SSR/tests) — nothing to reflect */ }
 }
 watch(textDir, reflectDir)
diff --git a/plugin-designs/research-map-plus-grid/research-map-plus-grid.vue b/plugin-designs/research-map-plus-grid/research-map-plus-grid.vue
index 26d39dcfc..aac865d90 100644
--- a/plugin-designs/research-map-plus-grid/research-map-plus-grid.vue
+++ b/plugin-designs/research-map-plus-grid/research-map-plus-grid.vue
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ const hostList = computed(() => (typeof hostConfig.value?.list === 'string' ? ho
 // Set on the custom-element HOST rather than on the layout inside it, deliberately: `dir` takes
 // effect through the inherited CSS `direction`, and inheritance crosses shadow boundaries — so one
 // attribute on the host covers this composite's own chrome AND every nested element beneath it,
-// which is the half the audit found missing. Only ever SET, never cleared: a host page that already
+// which is the half the audit found missing. Set and CLEARED, but only ever ours: a host page that already
 // declares its own dir owns that decision.
 const textDir = computed(() => {
   const l = hostLang.value || getRuntimeLocale() || detectLocale()
@@ -168,10 +168,25 @@ const textDir = computed(() => {
 // it is". Measured in this tree before, under Vue 3.5.42, when research-map.vue's emitFilterState
 // died the same way; the fix is its _selfInstance, and this is the same fix.
 const _selfInstance = getCurrentInstance()
+// ★ WE CLEAR ONLY THE DIRECTION WE SET. The line below used to be a one-way
+// `if (rtl) setAttribute('dir','rtl')` with no else, so a reader who switched from an RTL locale to
+// an LTR one (ar -> zh) kept a right-to-left layout for the rest of the session: Chinese laid out
+// backwards, which reads as a broken page rather than a stale setting.
+// The original reason for never clearing is still honoured, and is why this remembers rather than
+// just removing: a host page that declares its OWN dir owns that decision, so the value found before
+// we first wrote is restored verbatim, and removed only when there was none.
+let _dirPrev = null
 function reflectDir() {
   try {
     const host = _selfInstance?.proxy?.$el?.getRootNode?.()?.host
-    if (host && textDir.value === 'rtl') host.setAttribute('dir', 'rtl')
+    if (!host || !host.setAttribute) return
+    if (textDir.value === 'rtl') {
+      if (_dirPrev === null) _dirPrev = host.getAttribute('dir') || ''
+      host.setAttribute('dir', 'rtl')
+    } else if (_dirPrev !== null) {
+      if (_dirPrev) host.setAttribute('dir', _dirPrev); else host.removeAttribute('dir')
+      _dirPrev = null
+    }
   } catch (_) { /* no host (SSR/tests) — nothing to reflect */ }
 }
 onMounted(reflectDir)