Flour Power

I keep a little brush in the car because I never know when I will decide to stop at a cemetery. The brush helps remove moss on old stones and make them more readable. Two weeks ago I stopped at the Buch cemetery on my way to Lancaster. I needed more than a brush to be able to read the worn stones I wanted to see.

There are other methods of making a stone readable. Spraying with shaving cream and then wiping clean with the straight edge of a ruler will work but it is kind of messy and not cheap. Rubbing with chalk works but is slow. I decided to try another method someone recommended recently. I took a bag of flour with me yesterday and rubbed a handful on the stone. Viola! Quick, cheap, does not harm the stone or the environment, and it works! I'm sold! From now on I will keep a container of flour in the car with my brush.

Here is one of the stones before and after being rubbed with flour. The cemetery record (done in 1927) gives the death year of this person as 1814 and the age as 1 year 1 month 20 days. The flour clearly shows the year is 1847 and the age is 1 year 4 months 20 days.