While I am sure Sharon is a tremendous person, she nevertheless clearly has neither experience nor training in chemical weathering, nor chemistry in general, for if she had, then she would not have made the erroneous implication given below. As has already been pointed out on this list, shaving cream has a pH that is *less* acidic than ordinary, regular rainfall. Clearly if one is concerned about pH affecting the durability of the stone, then people would recommend it as a preservative to PROTECT the stone against what would otherwise have been the even more damaging influence of rain, since the normal old rain is even more acidic. Belief in this myth that shaving cream harms tombstones relies on people having no knowledge of chemistry and the pH scale, and unfortunately, there are a lot of genealogists, both amateur and professional, who fall into this category. I think everyone should go out and buy and read all 12 of Sharon's books. But whomever does so, please do me a favor and take a chemistry class first. Brock Way --- Jan Miller <[email protected]> wrote {Quoting Sharon}: > Many genealogists, myself included, > used to use shaving cream > to clean the stone and bring out the image, however, > gravestone > preservationists caution that shaving cream has a > low pH, which means it is > acidic, and over time will harm the stone. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Expecting? Get great news right away with email Auto-Check. Try the Yahoo! Mail Beta. http://advision.webevents.yahoo.com/mailbeta/newmail_tools.html