Cleaning Marble Grave Monuments

Do not re use the cloth that you used with the soapy water.

Cleaning marble grave monuments.

Soak the stone with water to saturate any growth that may be present. Use soft bristle brushes and a mild stone cleaning solution mild ionic soap or detergent ph neutral working in a circular motion to gently remove dirt and dust. Wetting the marble first will provide better cleaner spread on the surface and make rinsing easier. An undiluted cleaning agent may leave a residue in the marble s pores.

As with interior marble cleaning soak the cemetery headstone with water before adding a cleaner. Use the wooden scraper to remove any algae or moss growth from the surface. Wooden or plastic scrapers can be utilised to remove larger build up such as bird poo or moss and lichen. Headstones can be very porous and can soak up the cleaning solution before it has a chance to work.

This second spray will work the product into the second layer of the lichen. A note about removing lichen. After the rinse water drains examine the surface for any areas that need additional attention due to moss lichen algae or other organic growths or particularly dirty soiled spots. Currently a product called d 2 is recommended and is the cleaning agent used on the white house and various statues and monuments.

The most gentle way to clean is to spray it on and allow mother nature to do the rest since the more you agitate the stone the more wear you cause on the stone and fine edges of the engraving. Bleach is alkaline so it doesn t pose the big risk of acidic. The hardest of the natural stone type of monuments that you will see in a cemetery is granite which is still widely used today granite has a hardness of between 7 and 9 and can withstand a little more cleaning than the other types of natural stone. Wash the granite headstone several times with another clean rag or cloth.

Cleaning weak marble can result in further irreparable damage. Spraying down the headstone first will help maximize the effectiveness of the cleaning solution. Mix 1 tablespoon of the non ionic soap with 1 gallon of water. Soak the stone by spraying it down with a hose or dumping a bucket of clean water over the entire surface.

However it still must be a very gentle cleaning. Once you have completely wiped the surface s with your sponge rinse the marker or monument thoroughly with clean water. Cleaning gravestones with bleach is never a good idea church said but it s especially bad when you re working on porous stone. Lichen is one of the more challenging growths to clean from memorial stones.

Wait 15 minutes and spray the surface again.