I have been reading old stones for several years now. What I use to read
them is non toxic, not harmful to environment & really works.
I use corn starch in an old mens dress sock. It works great. I carry it
in a small plastic bucket or a small pasteboard box.
I tap it lightly on stone & use the top end of sock to dust off any
excess. It works really well, & if there is anything there at all you
can read it.
It is safe & the first rain washes it off with out harming the stone.
Good Luck
Coordinator for the Trego, Graham & Sheridan county, Kansas Genweb Project.
Gayle M. Garrett



clay gullatt wrote:

>Some shaving creams have ingredents that are
>harmful to the stone, some that are pure soap
>aren't. To be on the safe side the recommended
>cleaning agent is Orvus which is available from
>animal supply stores. Use a very soft brush such
>as a mushroom brush.
>
>If you do usw shaving cream in order to better
>read the faded engraving, carefully read what is
>in the  shaving cream to ensure it is pure soap
>and always take a gallon or two of distilled
>water to wash off what you have used on the
>stone. Distilled is beter that tap, because of
>the clorine and minerals in tap water. All this
>is especially true of old marble and sand stones.
>They are very fragile.
>
>The following are the two RECOMMENDED methods for
>reading the engraving on old stones.
>
>It is better to use a mirror to bounce sunlight
>off the stone at an angle to highlight the
>lettering when photographing. Or use a piece of
>alumium foil and carefully press against the
>stone to transfer the lettering to the foil.
>Lightly spray paint the FOIL to help highlight
>the lettering on the foil. If it is still hard to
>read, try lightly spray painting the back of the
>FOIL and hold up to a mirror to read.
>
>Always gently wash the stone off with distilled
>water after any of this. Again use a very soft
>brush such as a mushroom brush.
>
>I have see where repairs were made with cement,
>it looks terrible and the lime in the cement
>further damages the stone. All in all it is
>better to leave it to the professionals. Goods
>intentions can destroy some of these old stones.
>
>Go to the West Virginia Cemetery Preservation
>Association Web Site for further tips on cleaning
>and repairing old tombstones.
>
>Clay Gullatt
>Mount Airy NC
>
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