I've always been told to not use shaving cream because of chemicals in it and the effect it will have on the stone in years to come. What was always suggested to me, but I have yet to try, is to powder it with plain ole flour, I guess you would have to dust it off around the letters ?? What about chalk, is it harmful to OLD tombstones? You could get sidewalk chalk (bigger) and rub it across where the letters are suppose to be at. -----Original Message----- From: Terry Lanham <tlanham@kih.net> To: KYHENDER-L@rootsweb.com <KYHENDER-L@rootsweb.com> Date: Thursday, July 30, 1998 4:20 PM Subject: Tombstone rubbing >Hi >I wanted to respond to tombstone rubbings. > >I found a headstone of an ancestor buried in 1800, it was so bad that you could't read any letters on it. > >I took some shave cream and sprayed it across the top, then with a window squeegee I spreaded the cream across >the face of the headstone. > >Every letter was filled in with the cream and I was able to take the most wonderful pictures. > >The great thing about this is, the shave cream is just soap, it won't harm the head stone. > >Try it, you will be amazed at what great pictures you get. >Terry Lanham-Beatty