Baked-On Pine Resin
Little Rock is full of massive pine trees. They drop sap constantly. In the Arkansas summer heat, that sap hits the stone and bakes on instantly.
It turns into a hard, black amber. It acts like glue. Dust and pollen stick to it, creating a thick, ugly crust. You cannot wash this off with water or soap. If you try to scrape it, you scratch the polish. Families searching for headstone cleaning services near me often think the stone is damaged. It's just resin. We use specialized solvents to dissolve the hardened sap. We melt it down and wipe it away without hurting the granite.
Red Clay Stains
The dirt here is red clay. Heavy rain kicks that mud up onto the stone bases. You can hose the mud off, but an ugly orange stain stays behind.
That is rust. It goes deep into the stone. Bleach is the worst thing you can use here. It locks the rust into the stone permanently. We use a chemical poultice made for iron removal. We draw the rust out of the stone. The orange band disappears, and the base matches the rest of the marker again.
Black Algae in the Heat
Arkansas summers are suffocating. The air stays wet. This is perfect fuel for black algae.
It covers older stones in a dark, streaky film. On gray granite, it makes the stone look wet even when it is dry. It hides the inscriptions. We don't pressure wash this. High pressure forces water deeper into the stone, which causes cracks later. We use a soft-wash biocide. We kill the algae spores. The blackness fades, and the stone looks bright again.
Historic Stone at Mount Holly
In places like Mount Holly, we have stones from the 1800s. Many are made of soft marble or sandstone. They are fragile.
Time and acid rain have made them sugary. If you rub them with a stiff brush, you sand away the name. We treat these with extreme caution. We use the softest bristles and gentle biological cleaners. We remove the biological growth that eats the stone, but we leave the patina. We preserve the history rather than trying to make it look brand new.
Oak Tannin Stains
Apart from pines, we have big oaks. In the fall, wet leaves pile up on flat markers. They rot quickly in the humidity.
Rotting leaves release tannins. It's a brown acid. It dyes the stone like tea. We see dark brown outlines of leaves etched into the rock. We use a drawing poultice for cleaning stone gravestones. We pull that organic stain out of the pores. If you catch it early, it comes out clean.
Storm Debris and Chips
We get severe weather here. Storms drop heavy limbs and cover plots in debris.
Falling branches chip the edges of the stones. We clear this debris immediately. We check for fresh damage. We can't glue a broken stone back together, but we can grind down sharp chips. This stops water from getting inside the crack and splitting the rock when it freezes.
Highway Soot
I-630 cuts right through the city. Thousands of cars blow exhaust onto the cemeteries every day.
It forms a greasy gray film. It dulls the polish on granite. Rain just beads up on it. We use industrial degreasers for grave site cleaning services. We strip the traffic film. The natural shine returns once the oily layer is gone.
