I think it is really unfortunate that this mis-information continues to be promulgated on various websites and elsewhere. These websites which advocate against using shaving cream can all be boiled down to pseudo-scientific gobbledygook from opinionated hobby-time folks who have no training or expertise in the area, and which show a profound misunderstanding of the scientific principles involved. Nowhere is this more evident than the argument that shaving cream hurts a stone on the basis that it is a mild acid. Using the same argument, water is a mild acid, since its pH (the negative log value of the proton concentration in solution) is 7. If it were not an acid, it would have a pH of infinity. Furthermore, the "acid" in shaving cream is not a mineral acid, but an organic acid, and therefore, EVEN IF it were a stronger acid, it wouldn't make any difference, since the "acids" in shaving cream are not water soluble. And EVEN IF they WERE water soluble, it ignores the fact that shaving cream contains a organic base which neutralizes the organic acid. And when you neutralize an acid with a base, what do you get? You get a salt and water. That's junior high chemistry, folks. So to argue that shaving cream can hurt a stone because it is (or contains some) acid really is to pile one impossibility upon the next. The only way that shaving cream could hurt a tombstone by virtue of its acidity is if you are using shaving cream which contains HYDROCHLORIC ACID. And since I doubt very many folks use "Three Mile Island" brand shaving cream, it is really not an issue. If you want to read something about the actions of acids on stone which have actual scientific merit, read about acid-promoted rock etchings, where folks use industrial grade super-acids of the course of months to generate etching depths of microns. To put them on equivalent scales, shaving cream would cause detectable etch depth if you shaving creamed the stone for an hour daily for 8,000 years. Notions like comparing shaving cream with acid rain are really intended to be inflammatory, rather than as some scientific underpinning rationale. Acid rain conjures up images of post-nuclear holocaust, etc., and completely ignores the fact that people are not unfamiliar with shaving cream, as they put it on their face routinely. The fact of the matter is that shaving cream has a pH of about 5.5 or so, and REGULAR RAIN (not acid rain, but just plain old rain) has a pH that is more acidic than that. That is to say, that from the point-of-view of acidity, shaving cream would have a PROTECTIVE effect from the rain. In short, not using shaving cream only produces one result - an inability to get a good transcription/picture that you may have otherwise been able to obtain. Gregg Bonner DO NOT DO ANY OF THIS TO HEADSTONES: Shaving Cream: DO NOT USE SHAVING CREAM TO READ HARD TO READ HEADSTONES. Most people who have some experience in the area know that this is not a good practice and by doing so you can cause irreparable damage to the stone itself. Shaving cream, of all kinds, contains perfumes and stearic acid. Stearic acid is a white crystalline fatty acid obtained by hard fats which is used in creams for scar and skin lesion reduction. This acid is stronger than acid rain. 3xs stronger to be exact. Some shaving creams, such as Gillette Series line, have replaced stearic acid with palmitic acid, which is somewhat safer for your face but still has the same effect on stone. Shaving cream contains chemicals, greasy emollients that are sticky and very difficult to remove from the stone with a simple washing. The cream fills the pours of the porous stone as a result will discolor and damage the stone. DONT USE SHAVING CREAM, CHALK, GRAPHITE, DIRT OR OTHER CONCOCTIONS IN AN ATTEMPT TO READ WORN INSCRIPTIONS. Why not use the safest cream? To begin with, the exact formula in shaving creams are corporate trade secrets. ALL creams cause the surface to exfoliate (scale, splinter). Marble and Limestone are highly reactive to acids, and will actually sublimate in the presence of hydrochloric acid.