The 91 Freeway Smog Trap
The traffic on the 91 never moves. That exhaust has nowhere to go. It hangs over the cemeteries and settles on the stone. It isn't just dust; it is an oily diesel film. It turns headstones black.
Don't wipe it. You just push the grease deeper. It creates a sticky black mess. It acts like a magnet for dirt. Tending uses industrial grave site cleaning services with heavy degreasers. We have to chemically cut through that traffic grease to get down to the granite without ruining the polish.
This isn't simple surface dirt. It is a "traffic film" made of unburnt hydrocarbons and rubber dust. Under the Corona sun, this mix bakes into a hard, waterproof varnish. It seals the stone. This trap prevents the granite from breathing, leading to internal moisture damage over time.
We don't use household soaps. They are too weak. We apply a foaming solvent that clings to the vertical surface. It eats into the petroleum binder. Our foam lifts the soot chemically. We rinse it clean. No stiff brushes. No scratches. We restore the stone’s natural color safely.
Sandblasted by the Canyon
Corona is the exit door for the Santa Ana winds. The wind funnels grit through the canyon at highway speeds. It hits the monuments first. It strips the face off upright markers.
The stone looks dull and "frosted." If you are searching for headstone cleaning services near me because the shine is gone, that is wind erosion. You can't wash it back. The surface is physically gone. We apply stone enhancers to fill the pits and seal the surface against the next storm.
This erosion is mechanical. It works exactly like a sandblaster. The flying grit cuts away the factory seal and the polished layer of the granite. Once that seal is broken, the stone becomes porous. It absorbs water and pollution instantly. The crisp lettering softens and fades into the background.
Our protocol is protection. We clean the open pores. Then, we apply a heavy-duty stone enhancer. This fluid soaks into the rough surface. It fills the microscopic craters left by the wind. It restores the deep, "wet" look of the polish. Finally, we apply a sacrificial coating. The wind eats the coating, not the history.
Hard Water Concrete
Parks flood the grass to keep it alive in the inland heat. Inland water is heavy with calcium. It hits 120-degree stone and flashes to steam. It leaves a layer of rock behind.
It bonds like concrete. Scrapers ruin the finish. We specialize in cleaning stone gravestones by dissolving this crust. We melt the minerals away safely to bring back the dark color.
This is "flash evaporation." The solids in the water stay behind, fused to the granite by the heat. Layer by layer, this builds a hard, opaque scale that hides the name and dates.
We treat this with a calcium-specific descaler. It attacks the mineral bond, not the stone. The crust turns into a soft paste. We rinse it away. This restores the contrast between the polished face and the inscription, making the marker legible again without mechanical damage.
