There are so many little cemeteries where you can see that people care for it but they don't know how to restore it. This is great info especially for people with small cemeteries on private property with no road access.
I’ve been cleaning stones for a year and I really appreciate this video. I’ve learned (and continue to learn) from amazing people like yourself. Thank you!
I loved how you emphasized the importance of not expecting a perfectly clean stone on the first day. More important you explained why. You have saved so many people interested in cleaning headstones HOURS. Thank you 🙏
I used soap and water, then Wet And Forget and when I returned a month later for a second application the headstones looked brand new, not exaggerating. Beautiful.
Highly unlikely we are related to the Roach couple in the video, but thank you for sharing this insightful training. We have a very old graveyard down the road from us and have been researching proper cleaning techniques while maintaining respect for the deceased and their family. Thank you!
Do you have any links to sites that you would recommend? I wish more young people had this much respect as people such as you and this guy ( whos name slips me right now. 😢)
I am so glad I came across this video. You are doing such a great thing. And I have much Respect for you and what you do. Thank you for not forgetting what most people do now a days. 😎🇨🇦✌ Salute.
I’ve used a copper sulphate solution for my grandfather’s white marble headstone. Four years later, his headstone still has a slight blue tint to it. I also treated/tinted a couple of his buddies. We never have a hard time finding their headstones.
that's good to point out you cant scrape off the green stain and it will just look better over time. I started doing this sometime in 2020 when I had nothing better to do during the shutdowns and just used a little soap and water to clean off headstones, not knowing any better, I slowly figured out the soap was basically pointless and just water and a brush is the best, and eventually used a chemical approved for marble to leave on. It's very time consuming to do this to marble sculptures. Next to my grandparents is a 5 year old boy that died in 1954 from a car running him over on his bike. He has a very ornate angel statue that was completely covered in thick moss, I had no idea it was even white until I cleaned it. Even the exposed parts were a deep grey, but now it's a beautiful brilliant white statue that almost looks new, it's extremely satisfying.
I’m glad you made a video of what you use. I want to clean my parents headstone as at their grave site we are responsible for it. Will research more into the chemicals. Thank you. FYI do you get paid by anyone to do this? Do you get permission from family to clean them? You doing a wonderful job regardless
I just received last week the D2 chemical because I found out where a friend of mine a Vietnam veteran that I served with was buried and I used it on his gravestone and I'm amazed at it D2 works great you're not going to get it done on the first shot but it makes a big difference
Not gonna lie, seeing the upsurge in headstone cleaning videos I am beginning to feel some panic that someone is going to polish the gorgeous patina off my dads copper marker, that patina is the reason I chose copper. Please if you are considering taking up this hobby keep this in mind.
Dude same, i would be quite peeved if anyone cleaned my grandparents stone, its copper for a reason. It should be something people advertise for free so the family can choose. At least he knows what hes doing, i saw one video of a girl just using lysol and PAINTED someones tomb 😢
I've noticed that these stone are hard to read once cleaned properly. Originally was the lettering filled in any way? I find that it's often easier to read a dirty stone than a clean one, and wonder if there would have been some kind of rudimentary paint put inside the lettering.
I’ve been trying to find my 4th, 5th and 6th great grandfathers burial sites. The 6th great grandfather and two brother came to Jamestown Va on the mid 1600’s as indentured servants. Eventually they were given land by the King and began growing Tobacco. The lived in the same area as George Washingtons grandfather settled and over the years they and their sons, grandsons served in the same militia as the Washingtons and many other famous and well known men and women. I know my 6th great grandparents grew and prospered as members of the planting class. I can find the land that once owned, the towns they once helped create but no where can I find their burial sites and no where is there a written record that I have found. I wish someone over the years had cleaned and protected their head stones. My guess is they fell over and have long since been buried by 300 years of soil accumulation.
I would like to know where you are from and if you need any help. I love watching your videos and I see a lot of graveyards that could be I. Need of these services
I’m new to cleaning stones and this video helped a ton starting off, but I also have allot of polished stones in the grave yard I’ve been cleaning in and I can’t find much information on if d2 is safe to use on polished grave stones if anyone has an answer I would greatly appreciate it
hi I lost my brother it's been going been on 4 years I would love if you did a video on him! I been wanting to go there and clean it off ! it's been hard.
Ever heard of the gentleman who's called Mobile instinct he lives around the Tennessee area and he travels to small cemeteries and this last one he did had tint graves that were in Tennessee it would be nice to see you do one of the 10th graves restorations.
Question: Have you seen mausoleums (cast stone components) flaking (having “skin”) pealing off. I believe this is caused by using some chemicals (wrong ones). Any idea what chemicals may deteriorate cast stone. Assuming people tried to clean mold, mildew, etc. Muriatic acid??? Bleach??? Damage is heavy. And result of few/several years of reaction what permitted into molecular structure of cast stone to react with ambient moisture and weather elements. No snow ( California).
Quick question 🙋🏻♂️ Sir, How do you stay so calm when you have 2 ghosts looking over your shoulder ?? Or, the other 20 that I found easily on my first try, first time here !! 👍 You do awesome work ! Thank you for doing this
Wet & Forget is the cheapest one and you can source it from places like Lowes and Amazon. D2 can be sourced online only and it's pretty expensive. D2' produces imo faster results but Wet & Forget is better value if you're patient just do a 1 part chemical 5 parts water in a sprayer and it spray it on the stone wait about 10 minutes and do a second coat and you can just walk away and if you have to come back and do a second coat a month later. I usually do one treatment in the spring before memorial day and another treatment in late summer / early fall when it cools down but before first frost / freeze. The chemical stays on the stone longer in cooler weather and takes longer to evaporate giving better results - avoid using it if the temperature is below 40F One last thing if you use wet & forget make sure you do it when the stone is dry and there's no wet weather forecasted. After spraying it takes about 4-5 hours for the material to set in the stone and from there you let the rain / wind / and sun do the rest. I clean a lot of old stones from the early 1900's marble and it can take up to 6 months to clean. D2 has a different application method and you can use water on stones when cleaning with D2 but you can't use water when cleaning with Wet & Forget if you want very effective results. If you want to scrub the stone you will want to go back another day after the wet & forget has set in and then you can wet the stones and scrub.
D2 can be ordered from Atlas Preservation. They have what they call a "mini kit" with a quart spray bottle of D2, a flexible scraper, and a couple brushes, perfect for doing about 4 stones. Costs about $25.
i hate that all new headstones look exactly the same.... same color, same shape, same design.. boring. They need to make granite headstones but with the style of 19th and 18th century marble styles.
