EFFINGHAM - The Historic and Genealogical Society Effingham County promotes the preservation of cemeteries and gravestones. At least twice a year, they organize "cemetery holidays" throughout the country.
The next jump is scheduled for Mason this spring, said President Lo Ella Baker on Saturday at the Suzette Brumleve Effingham Public Library.
Paul Field of Effingham spoke of maintaining tombstones in front of an audience of 15 people. Many wanted to learn to look after the stones of their ancestors.
Field said he had been researching the preservation of the gravestones for four years and made an observation: do not damage the tombstones.
His advice was to research techniques before trying out a tombstone, because there is a great variety of materials and every stone can react differently. These markers can be granite, marble, limestone, sandstone, even bronze and others.
"Do not damage those stones," Field said. "They are very valuable to someone, they are memories, and there are state laws related to the possession of stones, families have a voice in the way they are treated."
Military stones fall under federal laws, he said.
After studying the variety of stone types and methods, he began to purify his parents' stones to see how their methods worked. Since then, he has cleaned about six more for customers in his new business, which began last fall.
"There are many misconceptions," Field said of his research. "Internet is a wonderful thing, but you have to do your homework."
He added that the products sold in Arizona, for example, work well, but may not work properly on rocks in a different climate like Illinois.
"You do not want to use anything on a rock that has an outlet at the end," Field said. "Use only a very soft brush: the softer, the better."
He said that it takes little effort to erase the letters of a stone if you are not careful.
"It can be a small percentage, but it can slowly erase the legibility of this gravestone," Field said. "Every time you do it, you clean up a bit more."
Products like D / 2, for stone cleaning, take months to get real results after cleaning the stone. It is a biological solution that has been specially developed to eliminate environmental influences such as dirt, lichen, mold and mildew.
According to the Graveyard Conservation website, the D / 2 is a non-rinsable, non-rinsable method that is applied by brush, roller or sprayer.
"Once I clean a stone, it should take 10 years," Field said. "You will never get a product like new, it's just impossible."
John Heider of Monticello, cemetery conservation specialist, said gravestones should not look new forever.
"I say, give this stone a break," said Heider. "He's 100, 150 and 200. It looks like we're not 16. We have to accept that too with these stones."
The participant Rex Borries of Dieterich said in his work of bricklayer and brick, which also preserves historical buildings.
Sometimes you have to look at the stone and see if the stone has a leak of minerals causing rust or stains, he explains. If it is found to be leaking, it must be cleaned and sealed to prevent it from coming out again.
Borries is looking for state-of-the-art standards for stone cleaning. There are limitations to what you can use in a building in your industry. But, there are special products available.
Heider suggested Orvus as a cleaner, available in the shops of the farm, often in the horse department.
"It's a non-ionic cleaner," Heider said. "It's most available in spring, summer and fall: it's only a tablespoon in every gallon of water."
Field said the use of detergents with appropriate PH levels is important. If you have a wrong combination, it does not take much to damage a stone, but you may not notice it for a few years.
Here, the search for each product is important, as well as the reading of labels.
A helping hand during the presentation included some tips for cleaning a gravestone. For ideas such as using a soft brush, never use a pressure washer, avoid cleaning with detergents containing sodium bicarbonate, sodium chloride, sodium sulfate, ammonium carbonate and trisodium phosphate.
Tombstones should be washed from bottom to top to avoid streaks and stains.
Household cleaners such as soap, Borax, Spic and Span, Fantastik and Formula 409 are not recommended as they are more corrosive.
The use of a non-water-mixed nonionic detergent is safer on tombstones. These can be found in the general cleaning supplies shops. The use of well water is also not recommended.
Contact Dawn Schabbing at dawn.schabbing@effinghamdailynews.com or by calling 217-347-7151, ext. 138
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