Care Hub | Expert Advice on Headstone Cleaning & Gravestone Care
Cleaning a gravestone can be a meaningful act of care, but it’s also easy to cause permanent damage with the wrong products or too much pressure. This guide explains a safe DIY baseline, what to avoid (including bleach and abrasives), how to spot fragile stone, and when to stop. It also covers when professional cleaning is the safer option, plus memorial-safe products for common staining.
Caring for a loved one’s memorial in London brings challenges many families don’t expect. Pollution, damp conditions and time can quickly affect headstones and inscriptions. This guide explains when professional cleaning or restoration is needed, what services are available in London, and how ongoing grave care helps preserve dignity for years to come.
GraveClean proudly supports Remembrance Day through the careful cleaning and restoration of war memorials for councils, parishes, and communities nationwide.
When a new idea appears on Dragons’ Den, it often sparks conversation, and the recent episode featuring a grave cleaning business was no exception. It shone a light on an industry that many families did not even know existed.
At GraveClean, we welcome that awareness. But there is a big difference between a small hobby style idea and a professional national service that is transforming how the public can care for their loved ones’ memorials.
Maintaining a memorial is a labour of love, but sometimes a standard clean isn't enough. While high-quality cleaning products can tackle moss and weathering, structural issues require a different approach. From fading inscriptions to dangerous tilts, we explore the critical warning signs that indicate a headstone requires professional restoration rather than a DIY fix.
In recent years, we’ve seen a rise in “one-man band” headstone cleaners offering quick, cheap cleans in cemeteries — often without permission, insurance, or understanding of local regulations.
At first glance, it might look like a good deal. But in reality, unauthorised memorial work in cemeteries can lead to serious problems — from damaged memorials to council fines and even permanent bans from the site.
When families want to restore a headstone, they’re often faced with two very different approaches:
Chemical cleaning, which gently lifts staining and biological growth, and
Manual resurfacing or sanding, a method traditionally used by some stone masons.
While both can make a memorial look “cleaner,” the long-term results — and the effect on the stone itself — are worlds apart.
At GraveClean, we believe that caring for memorials is more than just cleaning stone — it’s about preserving memories, heritage, and respect.
Our reputation as the UK’s leading headstone cleaning and restoration company comes from years of consistent quality, professional training, and a genuine commitment to doing things properly.
After years of cleaning and restoring thousands of memorials nationwide, GraveClean is proud to announce the launch of our own-label headstone cleaning product range, released in August 2025.
For the first time, the same professional-grade formula used by our technicians across the UK is now available to the DIY market, allowing families to safely care for their loved ones’ memorials at home.
