Cleaning Marble Grave Monuments

This second spray will work the product into the second layer of the lichen.

Cleaning marble grave monuments.

An undiluted cleaning agent may leave a residue in the marble s pores. Lichen is one of the more challenging growths to clean from memorial stones. To remove lichen saturate the surface with wet forget. Currently a product called d 2 is recommended and is the cleaning agent used on the white house and various statues and monuments.

Once you have completely wiped the surface s with your sponge rinse the marker or monument thoroughly with clean water. A note about removing lichen. 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. Use the wooden scraper to remove any algae or moss growth from the surface.

Cleaning gravestones with bleach is never a good idea church said but it s especially bad when you re working on porous stone. Soak the stone with water to saturate any growth that may be present. Cleaning weak marble can result in further irreparable damage. Bleach is alkaline so it doesn t pose the big risk of acidic.

How to clean marble headstones soak. However it still must be a very gentle cleaning. Do not re use the cloth that you used with the soapy water. Wooden or plastic scrapers can be utilised to remove larger build up such as bird poo or moss and lichen.

Wash the granite headstone several times with another clean rag or cloth. Wetting the marble first will provide better cleaner spread on the surface and make rinsing easier. 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.

Dry the granite headstone when you finish washing the granite headstone use a clean white cloth to dry the headstone immediately. Headstones can be very porous and can soak up the cleaning solution before it has a chance to work. 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. As with interior marble cleaning soak the cemetery headstone with water before adding a cleaner.

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.