Cleaning Bronze Veteran Ground Level Flat Grave Marker Headstone

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
That looks a lot better! I’m sure the family of the deceased would appreciate it!
I'm related to the people who are buried there, I've never met any of the people who have there names on the headstone just because of how old they were but since I cleaned two other headstones and decided last year I would put flowers on the headstone in the picture, I should clean it, I'm glad I did.

We'll see if mother nature cleans it up more during the summer, if not, then this fall I'll clean it with D/2 Biological Solution.
 
That looks a lot better! I’m sure the family of the deceased would appreciate it!
This is what it looked like after my first spraying with Wet & Forget, they say leave it and let mother nature clean it off but since it looked worse, I rinsed it off with distilled water.

Cleaning Bronze Veteran Ground Level Flat Grave Marker Headstone
 
It’d be nice to spray and forget. Even if it took multiple applications, you could treat a lot of stones with a hand pump sprayer, then come back and do the worst ones again.
 
  • Like
Reactions: thewoodlands
It’d be nice to spray and forget. Even if it took multiple applications, you could treat a lot of stones with a hand pump sprayer, then come back and do the worst ones again.
Yes it would. I might try that in the fall when the night temps are still above freezing and then see how they look in the spring. The one that I did with Wet & Forget actually looked better before I sprayed it so with Memorial Day around the corner, I wasn't leaving it looking like the way it was in the above picture.
 
This is the back of a headstone which is worse than the front so I'll do a full cleaning the next time I'm in, this man was a Civil War Medal of Honor Recipient, he was 1 of 16 that fought off 124 cavalry, repulsed the attack and saved the wagon train.

He was a Private in Company H, 2d Minnesota Infantry, this was on February 15, 1863 at Nolensville, Tennessee.

Cleaning Bronze Veteran Ground Level Flat Grave Marker Headstone
 
I worked on the front, back (pictured) and sides today while I was on my cemetery runs. This man fought in the Civil War, the picture on the left is when I sprayed it about 8 or 9 days ago with the Wet & Forget product I use, about three hours after I sprayed it, it rained real hard. The picture on the right is after I cleaned it today with some distilled water with a bit of dawn dish soap.

The back and the sides are the worst but hopefully by the end of fall, it's all cleaned up nice.

Cleaning Bronze Veteran Ground Level Flat Grave Marker Headstone
 
Great job!
Thanks. I'm getting there but with the wind and the heat today, if I sprayed it with Wet & Forget, it would've dried right up without helping.

I'm real happy with the one I first started cleaning with a Wet & Forget product. Before I started cleaning it you noticed it for the wrong reasons when you pulled into the cemetery for too many years, but you really notice it because of how clean it is when you drive in the last two weeks.
 
I think the hot weather will be returning for a bit. It might be a job for early morning or even the evening, when you won’t be washing the stone off with sweat!
 
  • Like
Reactions: thewoodlands