Cleaning gravestone

[sweep158]

Hi, coulld anybody advise me what to use to clean a very old gravestone, not sure what its made of but is some sort of stone, its rough and covered in green slime, thanks

[mrs_overall]

Try a weak solution of bleach & water and scrub it with a fairly soft bristled brush.
Failing that, contact a local supplier of headstones and ask them for advice...most reputable firms will be happy to help.

[RATTER15]

DO not use bleach at all!!!!!!!!

Bleach reacts with the lead lettering and turns it brown, you will also get brown stains running down the gravestone!!

I used to do this for a living many years ago, we used bleach but also had access to spirits of salts to counteract the effects of the bleach on the lead.

You are best getting it cleaned professionally!!

[spudqueen]

Very, very carefully is the answer. You don't want to damage the stone at all. Have a look at this
http://www.hollyhockfarms.com/coweld/cemetery/ cleaning_gravestones.htm

[maviscoull]

my dad got his mum and dads gravestone cleaned professionally and it didnt cost that much ( cant remember how much ) but it now looks like new.

[theonlyone]

We were trying to clean a family headstone and a stone mason who was there gave us a piece of sandstone which you wet , rub over the lettering etc , then rinse off . That is what they use so maybe you can get a bit from them .

[sweep158]

Hi All, so many thanks for all your replies, we had it cleaned professionally a year ago but due to the positioning, (under trees) it soon gets bad again, the inscribing is in the stone and not coloured,somebody suggested a stone, but I would not dare use anything until heard advice form others, would hate it to turn disastrous, the website was extrememly interesting and ive printed that for my mum to read, many thanks all again,

[RATTER15]

Do not use a stone, a sand stone is used for cleaning certain types of stone, if you use it on other types it could completely ruin lettering and the stone. The website is erring on the side of caution, in reality I don't think that method would work for one minute. You really need to have it cleaned professionally or risk damaging it, if it was only cleaned last year, it shouldn't be so expensive this year.