Gravestone Cleaning Tips From Billion Graves
These cleaning guild lines, are to be used for our own family graves.
Gravestone cleaning can turn back the wheels of time to make your ancestor’s final resting place nearly as beautiful as the day their family members gathered there to wish them farewell.
Time has been hard on gravestones that were originally considered nearly permanent. Weathering, erosion, neglect, and vandalism have all taken their toll.
While some of this damage cannot be reversed, in other cases, preservation and prevention can make all the difference. And as more people become interested in genealogical research, there is a greater desire to preserve what is left of our ancestor’s legacies in stone.
By cleaning and caring for historic resting places you can provide an opportunity for future generations to glimpse the past. Then burial grounds will become treasures of information that would otherwise have been forgotten or lost.
More Answers to these questions below .
Why Should You Clean a Gravestone?
When Should You NOT Clean a Gravestone?
Sources of Gravestone Damage
Understand Laws and Regulations
Source of Gravestone Damage #1: Biological Growth
Headstone Cleaning Tips
DON’T
Don’t do anything that will damage the surface of the headstone
Don’t use common household cleaners
Don’t use strong bases or acids
Don’t use power tools, such as sanders or drills with wire brushes
Don’t sandblast
Don’t use power washers or pressure over 300 psi
Don’t use bleach
Don’t use cleaners with salt in them
Don’t rub the gravestone surface with hard-bristled brushes
Don’t scrape the gravestone surface with anything harder than the stone
DO
Do no harm!
Choose the gentlest cleaning method possible
Do read and follow product manufacturer’s guidelines
Do use good safety practices
Do test small areas before cleaning the entire headstone
Do keep the stone wet as you work
Do obtain the approval of other family members before cleaning
Also a list of Gravestone Cleaning Supplies
And much much more