Best thing to clean?

Question

My friends and I are cleaning up an old cemetery which has been terribly neglected. What's the best thing to clean the head stones and grave markers without damaging the granite or marble. Some of these markers had to be literally dug up...they were sunken and overgrown. Lots of them have unbelieveable mold all over them. We want to clean them up nice but don't want to damage the stone.

Answer 1

Baking soda and vinegar work wonders on stone.. and are very safe.. baking soda is what was used on the statue of liberty

It is idiotic to think that vinegar being an average of only 4% acetic acid , mixed with baking soda and water is going to harm gravestones.. the acidic content would be basicly void and harmless.. it also would not be healthy to digest it if the acidic content were of dangerous levels...

Answer 2

Vinegar works on a lot of stuff like windows and chrome it might work on the markers. but being an acid you would have to make sure each was rinsed off throughly..you could also consider a pressure washer that was turned on its lowest speed or a high pressure garden hose attachment.

Answer 3

Home Depot sells cleaners for stone, but first you should find out
what type of stone it is. I couldn't get the link for Everlife Memorials
to work but their is an article on cleaning and preserving tombstones.

Answer 4

Either just plain water or ammonia and a common kitchen sponge should do the job. One cup ammonia to one gallon water, and rinse well!!

Answer 5

Do NOT use vinegar! It is an acid and may damage the stones. Please see the following link:
http://www.gravestonestudies.org/faq.htm#Tools%20and%20Materials%20for%20Gravestone%20Cleaning%20Projects