Cleaning Old Granite Headstones

How to clean granite headstones.

Cleaning old granite headstones.

It s always a good idea to check with the cemetery s staff to make sure you re allowed to clean the headstone s. How often it needs to be cleaned will depend on weather conditions and whether there are trees overhead. Once they are wet gently begin wiping down the surface of the stone. Headstones can be very porous and can soak up the cleaning solution before it has a chance to work.

Check if you can clean the stone. You should clean a granite headstone as needed. Clean a granite headstone. 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.

Before you begin to actually clean the granite headstone remove excess. Our group recommends d 2 as the first choice in cleaning headstones and markers. Gallons and gallons of water. They feast on mold mildew and other growth that causes tombstones to look discolored and damaged.

Soak the stone with a hose or by dumping a bucket of clean water over the entire surface. Follow the directions on your cleanser. The steps for general cleaning are as follows. Also if you re thinking of cleaning a stone in a very old cemetery will it stand out awkwardly among the other 200 year old gravestones.

Dampen your sponges in your bucket of water. However it still must be a very gentle cleaning. Spraying down the headstone first will help maximize the effectiveness of the cleaning solution. Hard dark stone such as granite and cast metal markers grow surprisingly hot due to direct sunlight and or higher temperatures which can result in the rapid evaporation of the water you ll need for basic cleaning.

Therefore you should not try to clean a headstone marker or memorial on a very hot or very cold day. Use undiluted for best results. First protect any. Once you have checked out the stone you are ready to start actually cleaning.

There are many different types of headstones but if you know that the marker you want to clean is granite and that it s soiled with just dirt and mildew here s a suggestion. Perhaps a lighter cleaning would be best in this case. Mix it with the proper ratio of water. Old clean plastic milk bottles work great for transporting water to the markers.