What We Actually Use
No mystery products and no house brand you have never heard of. These are the things in our own field kit — and the things we beg people to put down.
The Short List
Ten items handle nearly every job a volunteer or family will ever face.
| What | Why it belongs on old stone | |
|---|---|---|
| D/2 Biological Solution The one product we will not work without |
A biocide made for historic masonry and used by the VA on national cemetery headstones. Apply it, agitate gently, and it keeps working for months as the dead growth weathers off. Freezing in storage does not harm it, according to the maker — just apply it when the air and stone are 45°F or warmer, as the label says. | Buy from D/2 |
| Soft natural or nylon bristle brushes Several widths |
Firm enough to lift growth, soft enough to leave the carved surface alone. Soft natural bristle or soft nylon both work. Never wire, never stiff plastic, and on sugaring marble no brush at all. | Find it |
| Pump garden sprayer 1 to 2 gallon |
For water and for applying D/2 evenly at low pressure. Keep one sprayer for water and one for biocide, labelled, and never mix them up. | Find it |
| Wooden or plastic scrapers | For lichen crust that brushing will not take. Wood and plastic give way before the stone does. Metal does not, which is exactly the problem. | Find it |
| Distilled water For marble and limestone |
Tap water carries minerals and chlorine that leave their own residue on calcareous stone. Use distilled for the wet test and the final rinse on marble. | Find it |
| NHL 3.5 natural hydraulic lime | For resetting and pointing historic stone. It is softer than the stone and it breathes, so the joint fails before the stone does — the right way round. Portland cement does the opposite. | Find it |
| Akemi stone epoxy Or an equivalent conservation-grade adhesive |
For structural breaks in granite and marble. Colour-matchable and made for stone rather than countertops. Treat any epoxy repair as permanent — it does not come apart cleanly — so be sure before you glue. | Find it |
| Nitrile gloves and eye protection | Biocide in the eye ruins a good day. Non-negotiable, and doubly so with volunteers. | Find it |
| Knee pads and a kneeling mat | You will spend more time on the ground than upright. Ask anyone who has done a full day of base work without them. | Find it |
| Folding probe or thin rod | For finding sunken markers under the sod without digging. Probe gently and only with permission — a lot of fallen stones are still there, just inches down. | Find it |
Bugs & Ticks
Old burying grounds are long grass, brush and woods edge — prime tick and mosquito country. Dress for it.
| What | Why it belongs in your kit | |
|---|---|---|
| Tall rubber boots Knee-high, slip-on |
Ticks climb from the grass up. A smooth, tall boot with pants tucked in stops most of them at the ankle, and keeps your feet dry in wet morning grass. | Find it |
| Leg gaiters | If you prefer work boots, gaiters close the gap between boot and pant leg — the favourite way in for ticks. | Find it |
| Mosquito head net Worn over a brimmed hat |
Fine mesh that keeps mosquitoes and black flies off your face and neck while you read stones up close. Weighs nothing and folds into a pocket. | Find it |
| Bug jacket Mesh shirt with hood |
Covers the torso and arms on the worst days, with no spray on your skin at all. Light colours make ticks easier to spot. | Find it |
| Permethrin clothing spray For clothes and boots — not skin |
The best protection against ticks. Spray pants, socks, boots and gaiters, let them dry, and it lasts through several washes. Never apply it to skin, and keep wet spray away from cats. | Find it |
| Skin repellent Picaridin 20% or DEET 20–30% |
For exposed skin, against both ticks and mosquitoes. Picaridin has no odour and will not harm plastics or gear; DEET is the long-proven standard. Use an EPA-registered product and follow the label. | Picaridin DEET |
| Tick removal tool | For the one that gets through. Removes the whole tick cleanly. Check yourself head to toe when you get home, and shower within a couple of hours. | Find it |
Put These Down
Every one of these is recommended somewhere online. Every one causes permanent damage.
Household bleach
Leaves chloride salts in marble and limestone that keep working inside the stone long after you rinse. The whitening you see is the stone beginning to fail.
Pressure washers
Strip the carved surface off sandstone and weathered marble in seconds. There is no setting low enough to be worth the risk.
Wire brushes
Score the stone permanently and leave iron behind that rust-stains the marker within a season.
Shaving cream, chalk and flour
Used to make inscriptions photograph better. All leave residue that feeds the next generation of growth. Use a flashlight held low instead.
Vinegar and acidic cleaners
Marble and limestone are calcium carbonate. Acid dissolves them. That is not cleaning, it is slow erasure.
Portland cement
Harder than the historic stone around it. The joint survives and the stone crumbles at the edges. Use lime mortar.
Not Sure What Your Stone Needs?
Photograph it. The free assessment identifies the material and tells you which of these actually applies — and which would do damage.