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Not plants. Cleaning gravestone!

LG_LG_ Posts: 4,360
in The potting shed
I am about to take ownership of a gravestone that is pink granite with lead lettering. It's nowt fancy, but that combination is very difficult to read and I wondered if there's anything I can do myself to brighten up the lettering without risk of damage? I'm asking here because I think at some point in the past someone on this forum had some expertise in these matters. Sorry I can't remember who!



'If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.'
- Cicero
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  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    @lyn is the gravestone expert … hopefully she’ll be along soon …

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • LG_LG_ Posts: 4,360
    Aha - thanks @Dovefromabove 🙂
    'If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.'
    - Cicero
  • Slow-wormSlow-worm Posts: 1,630
    I used to restore old phoneboxes as a job, I used gold paint to pick out the relief on the crowns, I'm sure it was just acrylic paint.
  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Posts: 12,494
    My mother's cremation plaque is grey granite where the lettering was engraved into the stone then painted in black over the top - we weren't allowed to have gold paint which would have lasted longer. The black paint lasted approx 12 years or so before wearing away, I used to touch it up occasionally with a special black pen from an art shop.
    Last year I employed the stonemasons to repaint the whole of the lettering at a cost of £220. (They had to lift the stone and take it back to their workshop). Hopefully it will last another 12 years or so before it becomes somebody else's responsibility.
    North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    It’s not an easy task for a beginner,  but the way to paint the letters is to tie a non fluffy pure cotton piece of cloth around a wine bottle cork,  cork not plastic.
    you get some outdoor black gloss paint,   Spread a small amount on a slate,  then work it into the cork then dab it on the letters.
    It may need a 2nd coat so you have to wait about a week,  more in this hot weather for the paint to go hard.
    Whatever you do,  don’t try to paint it with a brush,  it looks awful. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    @Lizzie27 we’ve never lifted a cremation tablet to clean and repaint, all done in situ,  they are the easiest to do.  We would have charged you around £60.00 for that job.

    Just  as well you didn’t use gold paint,  not very nice,  we always use 24ct gold leaf. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • LG_LG_ Posts: 4,360
    Sounds like a job for my OH, @Lyn - we've both got fine art degrees but he currently makes v detailed model aeroplanes and likes an esoteric method! So if I understand correctly, you dab the paint onto the lead letters and just make sure it doesn't touch the granite? 
    I am not completely sure that we'll attempt it, but thank you so much for responding so we know what to do if we decide to go for it.
    'If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.'
    - Cicero
  • BenCottoBenCotto Posts: 4,718
    There are numerous YouTube videos of this - I’ve just been looking at a couple - as well as several cleaning and painting products for headstone renovation on Amazon.

    I had no idea.
    Rutland, England
  • LG_LG_ Posts: 4,360
    Want to post a link to a relevant one, @BenCotto ? Save me searching 😉
    'If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.'
    - Cicero
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    @LG_. That’s correct,  a steady hand,  scrape the paint off the dolly and have another piece of rag ready if it should go over the edges of the cork.  It’s better to do a very thin coat first.  Sometimes I’ve done 3 coats to get that oval smooth look on the letters.
    you don’t want it to go on the sides of the letters,  just the flat face. 

    You don’t need fancy paints,  just something like you’d paint a door with.


    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

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