Water, plain old water works well to bring up the writing on old stones if it is pictures you are wanting to take. Used this method a few years back in Nova Scotia when taking some pictures of rather old headstones of my husbands ancestors, but the drawback is you actually need two people because the water dries fast. Also have been told that a green leaf can work for rubbing, and that the evidence that rubbing has taken place is dulled in a day or so.... and completely gone in a about a month, but I don't have much experience in this so really don't know. Have read articles though that anything with a chemical in it will harm stones. In the cemetery that we took pictures of my husband ancestors the caretaker came up to us and made sure we were not using shaving cream, he even took us and showed us a few headstones that had been around since the early 1800's that someone had used shaving cream on and you could see the damage, it had eaten right into the stone, and in a few more years nothing is going to show on these headstones, sad really they stood the test of time and along comes someone with a can of shaving cream and in a few years all record is going to be gone. Christine ----- Original Message ----- From: "Janet Jones" <jjones@bam.on.ca> To: <CA-ONT-CEMETERIES-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, September 16, 2004 9:50 AM Subject: Re: [ON-CEM] Chalk Rubbings? > Well, in some cases, you can't even see what it says... figure rubbing might > be the only way... > > Betty suggested doing a paper-charcoal rubbing... like we used to do in > school. This way the stone isn't affected by the materials. Are there any > other suggestions? > > (cc'ing list to see the brainstorming process!) > > > If the stone is in that bad of a shape, why risk causing more damage? > > Why not get a copy of what the stones says plus get a photo of it. > > Safe, sound and out of trouble. > > Using vinegar is out.......... , chalk is only good on a good grey stone, > > not marble/sandstone. > > That is just my opinion. > > Sheila > > > > ==== CA-ONT-CEMETERIES Mailing List ==== > > Help Vicki Turner save the " Canniff Mill Cemetery" > http://canniffcemetery.com/index.html to see her story . > Let's not this and other cemeteries be fogotten > > ============================== > Gain access to over two billion names including the new Immigration > Collection with an Ancestry.com free trial. Click to learn more. > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=4930&sourceid=1237 > >

Well...thanks to this list I learned a lesson about not using shaving cream....glad I did not try it out...thanks everyone! Tom