If a caretaker and people looking after cemeteries have certain rules that they want followed I certainly do believe that they must be followed, and that we as people doing research within their realm we must follow their guidelines, we certainly would if we were in a libraby or a museum. That headstone that we potentially could be damaging with shaving cream or some sort of other chemically based solution actually does belong to someone, whether it be in perpetual care of a cemetery or family attends the gravesite once a week, we have no business as researchers or hobbyist adding something that could eat away at the structure. Yes, many a chemical reaction has taken place to a stone to be in bad shape not to be able to read it ,so all I say is don't potentially add more chemical reactions, I for one get very annoyed when vandalism takes place in a cemetery, so let us just stop and think what we are doing, if the potential is there to damage is it not a form of vanadalism? Just out of curiosity I looked at two cans of shaving cream in my bathroom this morning, one which is a "gel" type has no ingredients listed, the other has so many ingredients in it I doubt if I would put it on my face, know it 'aint a goin on my legs anymore! Check out the URL below. http://www.savinggraves.org/education/print/shavingcream.htm Christine > I think it is too bad that some cemetery caretakers > (who should know better) believe in these old wives > tales. The idea that shaving cream can cause harm to > > > Moreover, I have seen a lot of claims of shaving cream > doing harm to specific tombstones. But whenever I see > the pictures of the stones, it is always the case that > the imperfections in the stone are CLEARLY caused by > some other process(es), most usually carbonation and > hydrolysis. I even saw one case where a guy showed > some pictures claiming to represent shaving cream > damage - yet he didn't seem to think it was important > to inform the viewer of the pictures that the > tombstones in question had recently been involved in a > raging brushfire - shameless! > > > > > > > > __________________________________ > Do you Yahoo!? > Yahoo! Mail Address AutoComplete - You start. We finish. > http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail > > > ==== CA-ONT-CEMETERIES Mailing List ==== > READ the taglines! > Before you ask for a lookup ...check > http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~silentguardians > > ============================== > 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 > >