Red Clay Staining
Abilene is red dirt country. This iron-rich soil stains everything it touches.
Wind blows red dust into the stone pores. Rain sets it deep. White marble turns orange. Soap won't move it. We use poultices for cleaning stone gravestones. They draw the iron stain out of the rock so we can wash it away.
Plains Wind Scour
The wind here never stops. It carries sharp grit from the fields.
This grit hits the monuments constantly. It sandblasts the polish. It packs into the lettering. If you wipe it dry, you scratch the face. We flush the stone with water to float the grit off before we touch it with a brush.
Mesquite Pod Rot
Mesquite trees provide the shade here. They drop sugary bean pods.
These pods rot on the markers. They leave a sticky, black tar. It eats into the stone. We use grave site cleaning services to strip this gum off. We clean it down to the bare stone.
Veterans Marble Care
The State Veterans Cemetery uses white marble uprights. They are porous sponges.
They soak up dirty water and grass stains. Bleach destroys them; it turns the marble yellow and sugary. We use biological cleaners that are safe for soft stone. We pull the stains out without burning the surface.
Hard Water Crust
Irrigation water here is full of minerals. The sun bakes it dry.
This leaves a hard white scale on the base. It looks like frost, but it is rock hard. Scrapers ruin the polish. We use chemical descalers to melt the crust so it rinses off.