----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, March 11, 2007 12:58 PM Subject: Re: [ILMACOUP] Last word on the shaving cream discussion? > > While I am sure Brock Way has some knowledge of chemistry, I do not. > My > husband was a Chemist and if he were still alive, he could have answered > his > argument factually and intelligently regarding his pH claims in this > shaving > cream discussion. I do not have my husband's chemical knowledge and will > not > get into the pH discussion. > Early into the shaving cream discussion, I said the use of shaving cream > on > our cement walkway in the Fall of 1979 left a stain ... yes, Brock Way, a > stain and not a clean spot as you scoffed. Brock Way suggested there > had been > no “experiments” regarding the claim that the use of shaving cream harms > tombstones. > While the following was not an experiment, this is what happened when my > son’ > s then-girlfriend wrote in shaving cream on our cement walkway in the > Fall > of 1979: > 1. The message in shaving cream on the cement walkway was written > between 5-6 a.m. > 2. It was washed off the walkway (hosed down) by 10 a.m. > 3. The stain (or, even perhaps etching) was still visible on the > sidewalk when dry for the next 5-7 years. We were hoping the sun would > bleach it > out. > 4. We moved from that house in the Fall of 1992 and the message was > still visible when wet. Some five years ago, the current owners made > mention > that it was still visible. > Since my last posting to this List, I called the present owners (who are > high school friends of my son and the then-girlfriend) to ask if the > message was > still visible today. I was told it is and that it has become a joke > amongst > them because, she wrote, "I love you Doug" -- it is good they have > remained > friends all these years. Do the math. That was almost 28 years ago and > her > message still remains visible when wet today. > If the use of shaving cream on a cement walkway was left in tact about > five > hours, was hosed down with water and still leaves a stain … yes stain … > what > would happen to a tombstone when shaving cream is used and is not washed > off? > I am sure many cemeteries do not have a water source readily available to > wash off shaving cream (or anything else) after its use on a tombstone of > any > type. As I stated before, I have never used shaving cream on a tombstone > ... > never really thought about doing so ... and have only used water to bring > out > whatever might become visible ... and after this discussion, never will > use > shaving cream on a tombstone. > Linda R.F. Arnold > Menifee, California > ...Brock Way [email protected]_ (mailto:[email protected]) > wrote: > (mailto:[email protected]) 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. <snip>..please do me a > favor and take a chemistry class first. > > > --- 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. > > > <BR><BR><BR>**************************************<BR> AOL now offers free > email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at > http://www.aol.com. > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Sorry, I didn't see the list-admin's admonitions until after I sent my last note. I have been contacted off-list, and any further discussion on the issue will reside off-list. Please note that ALL of my posts are replies to what someone else has said, and that I don't bring this issue up de novo myself. Believe me when I say...I don't like seeing this issue come up on these lists any more than you do. I will quote John Chandler of Columbia University (when the same topic came up many years ago) - - "I am sorry to see this topic come up again". Brock Way --- Dolores <[email protected]> wrote: <snip> ____________________________________________________________________________________ It's here! Your new message! Get new email alerts with the free Yahoo! Toolbar. http://tools.search.yahoo.com/toolbar/features/mail/