A common thing people want to do is be able to read what is on the stone. For some reason, some feel that they should stop at nothing to read the stone now - even if that means damaging the stone even more by using products and techniques that could hurt the stone.

Just to make it clear - I have never - nor will I ever put anything on a stone to read it. I have visited cemeteries and taking pictures of stones with what looks like baby powder or chalk on the stones before - and before anyone yells at me - IT WAS ALREADY ON THERE - I always take pictures on how I find it - NEVER put anything on stones.

You SHOULD NEVER use things like Baby Powder, Chalk, Shaving Cream, flour, or anything else other then water. Things like this contain chemicals which could do damage to a stone. Some will say "Oh, well shaving cream is safe for my face so it should be safe for a stone" - well your face & stone are 2 different things. Different chemicals and such could work themselves into the stone - and add to that different extreme weather conditions the stone has to deal with - those chemicals could react in a way to damage the stone. So many different types of stones are used with each one reacting different to different things..... Bottom line - Why chance it?

2nd bottom line - Unless you are a descended of the the one who purchased the stone, or a caretaker of the cemetery- YOU SHOULD NOT TOUCH IT

3rd bottom line - Using any of the above can be considered vandalism - even if your goals are "good", doing things like that can cause damage and can be considered vandalism.

So you ask - What can we do to make a stone more readable?

WATER - some have found having a small spray bottle of water and lightly spraying the stone with water will sometimes bring out words better.

PICTURES - Take some digital pictures - then on the computer, try manipulating them - different color tones, black & white, etc.... sometimes it will bring out something.

LIGHT - Sometimes if the light is just right shinning in a certain direction over the stone, it can bring something out. Also with a camera you might be able to do this with the flash while take a picture at an extreme angle. Some people will bring a mirror and try to reflect light from an angle to be able to read certain things.

FOIL - [note: pictures not mine - but it does show how foil can help] - on a stable stone (REPEAT - STABLE STONE), try using foil and with your fingers, lightly rub into the spaces to help bring out what is written on the stone. Plus the foil is RE-USABLE

[above pictures are not mine - but show a great example of how foil can help bring out what is written on a stone.]

CLEANING STONES:

Myself, I don't clean stones. I take pictures of stones on how they are. But I figured if I was doing a "tips" page, I would include this also.

To clean a stone, you need only a few things.

1. Make sure stone is stable

2. Water (NOTHING ELSE)

3. Soft brush

Like mentioned above, different chemicals in different cleaning agents can react differently in the hundreds of different types of stones used in cemeteries. Water, like rain, should be the only liquid on the stones.

SOFT BRUSH - I have seen stones where it looks like people to hard wire brushes to them - now creating hundreds of little lines for water to get into.... possible freezing and cracking and damaging the stone. DO NOT DO THAT. It may look nice when you are done, but you are going to ruin the stone for the generations to come.

PHOTOGRAPHING STONES:

Well there are many tips on the best placement of the sun - behind you on the stone - or around noon when the sun is above the stone bringing out the best shadows - but I know myself, I don't have time to sit around waiting for the sun to best line up for the best pictures, so here are a few of my own tips.

• Take more then 1 pictures. With a digital camera, take multiple pictures. For hard to read stones, I will take 1 picture from a slight right angle... then take another picture at a slight left angle - sometimes making 1 picture more readable once I get home and look at them.
• Use your camera flash - sometimes a flash at a slight angle will catch the inscription just right to make it more readable
• If YOUR SHADDOW is on a flat stone with you are trying to take a picture, stand on the other side and take the picture "upside down" - the shadow in now gone, and you can easily "flip" the picture at home on your computer.
• Big "glare" off the stone makes it hard to read - try to line up yourself to MAKE A SHADDOW on the stone - which taking the photo more readable
• Take multiple pictures. Yea, this is a repeat - but with a digital camera, there is no excuse to not take an extra picture maybe from a slightly different angle - never know if it can make it more readable or not.

Have a tip? Leave it below in the comments area.

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William Johnson – Rockford,IL

September 17, 2009 - 20:23

Subject: Rose Cemetery

What a great web site----wish I saw this several years ago. The pic's of James Johnson
# 0078,79 and 80 are for the same James Johnson and his wife ,Anna W (Wilson) on pic's 0759,0760 and 0761. I did not find this stone until after I fixed up the original stone from 1867. I think it is great that GG grandmother Johnson/Deck put them together.

I did not notice, but do you have stone for Zachariah Robertson, died 16 Jan 1839, in Bismarck. He was a revolutionary war vet from 1778-1781 , born in Prince George ,Maryland, and after the war settled in Harrison County , Kentucky, then moved to Vermilion County in 1835. His wife, Elizabeth Jones , died 15 Sept 1838, in Bismarck.
Zachariah and Elizabeth are the grandparents of James Johnson who died in 1867.
William Johnson, the father of James Johnson died in Kentucky abt 1835-1838.

William E Johnson
Rockford ,Illinois

Laurie – MS

August 18, 2009 - 11:26

Subject: Thanks!

Just a quick thank you for all the work you do, it must really be gratifying to know how much you help those of us out there studying our roots. I have ancestors in Jones Grove (yeah, I'm a Jones!), Spring Hill, Oak Grove, Resurrection and Sunset. I hope you can get to Sunset soon, I have a lot there to look for. Again, thank you so much for all your time and effort, it is very appreciated!

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