For 99c you can buy XSysInfo which will free up memory before you run a memory intensive app. Can't be bothered to tap on all those wriggly icons.
If you've been using the iPad for a while free memory can drop as low as 7mb. No wonder safari has to reload pages....
This is the app I was looking for! I went for it, - not 99 cents for us privileged Brits, it cost £1.19 (which is $1.91), but from showing 6.6 Mb free memory, I cleaned and it jumped to 53 Mb.
Just have to see if there are any adverse side effects now.