05/29/2026
When I first started cleaning headstones, the thought of using a wire brush made me cringe 😅 Everything in preservation says be gentle, so a wire brush felt completely wrong. But moving into repairs has taught me there’s a big difference between careless cleaning and necessary prep work. Sometimes before applying setting compound or epoxy, the joints have to be cleaned out and prepped really well and yes… that can mean carefully using a wire brush. It still feels weird every single time I pick one up, honestly probably always will 😂 but proper preservation work isn’t about avoiding certain tools completely. It’s about understanding when, where, and how to use them correctly so the repair actually lasts and the stone is protected long term.
