How to Clean Cemetery Monuments

Cemetery headstones provide a lasting memorial for the deceased. Preserving the natural stone helps ensure the monument will last for generations to come. Over time, stones become worn and discolored from exposure to the elements. Plant life and other organic matter can also root into the porous stone, eventually causing water saturation, leading to internal rotting and freeze-cracking. It is often recommended to clean a cemetery monument every two years to prevent damage and discoloration. Stones that sound hollow when rapped with a fist (indicating internal rot), or ones made of shale, sandstone or clay should not be cleaned, as the process will damage them further.

Extra soft toothbrush
Rubber gloves
Protective glasses
Dust mask
Water
Bucket
Non-ionic detergent (Photo-Flo, Orvus, Vulpex and such)
Ammonia
Herbicide
Small garden shears

Instructions

- 1
  Wet an extra soft toothbrush and scrub the monument, working from the top down, to remove dirt, debris and loose organic growth. Make sure to wear rubber gloves, safety glasses and a dust mask while scrubbing, to prevent the dust from settling on the skin or in mucous membranes.
- 2
  Rinse the monument by pouring clean water over the stone. Do not use pressure washers, as pressurized water can damage the monument. Fill a bucket with clean water and manually pour it over the stone face to best rinse the stone without causing harm.
- 3
  Add 2 ounces of non-ionic detergent to 1 gallon of clean water. Scrub the face of the stone with this mixture, using an extra soft toothbrush. Rinse the mixture off the stone with clean water when you're finished scrubbing.
- 4
  Add 1 cup of ammonia to 1 gallon of water and saturate any organic growth on the stone (such as lichen or moss). Let the stone sit for 10 minutes. Scrub the organic matter with a soft toothbrush soaked in the ammonia mix and then rinse the stone with clean water.
- 5
  Cut any vines or other branched plant that may have attached itself to the monument. Daub the cut end of the stem with herbicide. Do not pull the plants off the stone but allow several days for the herbicide to take effect, in order to kill the plant, and then brush the plant from the stone with a toothbrush.
- 6
  Whiten marble stones by mixing 4 ounces of calcium hypochlorite with a gallon of water and use this mixture to scrub the stone. Let the stone air dry. Rinse the stone with clean water and the project is done.

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