Wet and Forget Headstone Cleaner: Sheila & Her Family Cleans 500+ Headstones
We tend to think of Memorial Day as a time for grilling, relaxing outside, and preparing for summer. However, we must never forget the true meaning of the day: honoring those who’ve given their life while serving in the United States Armed Forces.
Wet & Forget is humbled to be a part of this yearly remembrance. We’ve heard stories from customers all over the country about how Wet & Forget has helped them clean the headstones of veterans.
Most recently, one of our customers, Sheila L. from Mount Sterling, IA, posted on our Facebook Group how she and her family have treated over 500 headstones in Iowa and Missouri with Wet and Forget. We are beyond excited to share how Wet & Forget helped her take on this honorable ritual and how others can use our outdoor cleaning spray to clean headstones in their local area, too.
(And to further show off how Sheila and her family have honored those who’ve lost their lives, we’re including throughout this blog post some of the before and after photos of her work.)
Wet & Forget Headstone Cleaner Reviews
When Sheila first got to work cleaning her town’s gravestones, it required a lot of hard work. “We really scrubbed, we washed and sprayed them, scrubbed them, and we used the brush and all that.”
That hard work seemed needed at the time because they needed to be especially careful with these gravestones. Many were over 170 years old, and, as Sheila states, “Many had probably never been cleaned before.”
Because the cemetery was off the beaten path, it’s understandable that many headstones were dirty. Beyond the natural dirt, dust, and grime, the grave markers were also dealing with algae stains, moss, and lichens.
One cemetery was in particularly bad shape. “The fence was falling down. There were goats grazing in the cemetery.”
This cemetery not only contained the headstones of long-lost family members but also military veterans, which inspired Sheila and her family to take action.
With the landowner’s permission, Sheila and her family went to work that fall. After reading some information online and seeing it at their local store, they got some help from Wet & Forget.
Sheila continued, “We put a fence around it the first year and sprayed it with Wet & Forget. And from there, then we went back the next spring and hit it again.”
Over time, Sheila and her family installed new fencing, removed dying trees, cleared back brush, and sprayed the headstones with Wet & Forget.
It didn’t take long to see results.
“We had done that work in October, and then in March, we just were driving by [the cemetery] and I looked over and saw that the stones were just pure white. You know, we were like, ‘Wow! Look how much better that is,’ and so then we were believers.”
From that point, Sheila and her family moved into maintenance mode with the gravestones. “We just kept going back. And we tried to spray them once a year just to keep it [clean.]”
By starting with their family headstones and then moving on to other gravestones in the cemeteries, Sheila and her family eventually cleaned over 500 headstones.
Why Do Headstones Get Dirty?
Let’s talk about why headstones in cemeteries need cleaning.
There are two factors here. First is that gravestones spend all their time outside.
So, dirt, mud, and even air pollution all leave headstones looking dirty and dingy. Bird droppings and tree sap are other potential stain sources.
The second factor is biological growth. Headstones are typically made from natural stone like limestone or granite.
These stones are porous. That makes it relatively easy for spores to sink beneath the surface of the gravestone, where they can retain moisture and spur growth.
So, you may encounter gravestones hosting a variety of biological organisms, from mold and mildew to algae, moss, and lichens. If a cemetery isn’t well-maintained, it doesn’t take much for these pesky organic growths to take hold, as they do in the photo below.
What to Avoid When Cleaning Headstones
As with any outdoor stain, it can be tempting to deploy high-powered cleaning tools like bleach or pressure washers. However, both are more likely to cause additional damage to the gravestone than they are to help with cleaning.
We mentioned earlier that headstones are often made from natural stone, which is a porous material. That means bleach, with its high pH level of 13, can tarnish and weaken the natural stone both inside and out.
Using a pressure washer, too, can be harmful to the headstone. Pressure washers can peel off layers of stone, weakening its structural integrity and dulling its luster.
How to Clean Headstones at the Cemetary with Wet & Forget
When cleaning gravestones, two Wet & Forget Outdoor products will help. Determining which one to use should be based on how many gravestones you plan to clean.
If you’re only cleaning one or two headstones, we recommend Wet & Forget Ready-To-Use. The pre-mixed formula includes an attached sprayer; one bottle will cover up to 180 square feet.
If you plan on going above and beyond, like Sheila and her family, we recommend Wet & Forget Concentrate. A single-gallon bottle can make six gallons of cleaning solution, which you can then apply to the headstones with a garden pump sprayer.
When using either Wet and Forget headstone cleaner, wait until the weather is cloudy, mild, and windless. Temperatures should be at least 32 degrees Fahrenheit during application and about five hours afterward.
Before applying the spray, try to brush any loose dirt off the gravestone.
Using Wet & Forget as a headstone cleaner couldn’t be simpler. Whether you’re using Wet & Forget Ready-to-Use or mixed one-part Wet & Forget Concentrate with five parts water in a pump sprayer, all you have to do is thoroughly spray the gravestone.
There’s no need to scrub, pressure wash, or use harsh cleaning agents like bleach.
The spray will work with wind and rain to gently lift stains over time. Because Wet & Forget headstone cleaners are fairly pH neutral (it has a pH balance of 8; pure water has a pH level of 7), it’s safe to use on virtually any outdoor surface.
In fact, it’s safe enough for Sheila to employ some of the youngsters in her family to help with their cleaning: “One of the pictures that we posted had our youngest grandson working on spraying. We never hesitated to let the kids help because we felt like [Wet & Forget] is very safe.”
If you’re dealing with moss or lichen, you may need to take a quick, extra step to remove these especially pesky organic growths.
For moss, thoroughly soak with spray until it comes in contact with the gravestone beneath it. Within a week or two, the moss will start to brown, curl, and detach from the headstone surface.
For lichens, first thoroughly soak the stain. Then, wait 15 minutes and spray the lichen again.
The first application should help loosen and soften the outer layer of the growth. The second application will then penetrate more deeply.
If you accidentally spray any nearby plants or flowers, rinse with water.
Wet and Forget Headstone Cleaner
Cleaning headstones is a great way to honor those who’ve passed away and keep them in our hearts and minds. And when you use Wet & Forget Outdoor to get rid of stains caused by organic growth, the process couldn’t be simpler.
It’s so simple that when Sheila is asked to sum up her Wet & Forget experience in a single line, she says,
“The name says it all.”
To pick up a bottle of Wet & Forget online or at a nearby retailer, click here.
