How to tell when a headstone is due for cleaning

One of the questions we get most often on WhatsApp goes something like: “I hadn’t been to my father’s grave for two years and I went yesterday — is it urgent or can it wait?” There’s no one answer. But there are a few things I always look at first.

The colour — green, black, or just “grey”

A greenish-grey tint, especially on the north side or under trees, almost always means algae and lichen. It isn’t just cosmetic. Lichen roots itself into the pores of the stone and turns the surface into a sponge. The longer it sits, the more water stays inside, and that’s when real damage begins.

A dull black film on marble (especially white marble) is usually soot, dust and traffic pollution settled over years. It cleans up well — unless it has been there for three or four years, in which case it works its way into the engraving and starts to swallow the names.

The engraving — can you read the name from two metres away?

This is the simplest test there is. Stand two metres back and look. If the name and dates blur, the gold (or black paint) has faded and the letters have filled with deposits. That isn’t cleaning anymore — that’s an engraving restoration.

Hairline cracks that weren’t there before

A crack thinner than a millimetre at the top or around a corner is a red flag. Israel rarely freezes, but day-to-night temperature swings in summer are sharp, and coastal cities carry salt in the air. Water seeps in, evaporates, leaves salt behind, and the salt opens the crack a little more each cycle. If you spot one — zoom in with your phone and send us the photo before deciding anything.

Orange-brown stains

That’s almost always iron. An old nail, part of a fitting, or rust running down from a nearby fence. Surface cleaning won’t fix it — it needs a treatment that neutralises the rust without etching the stone.

So how often, realistically?

What we usually recommend: a light maintenance clean once a year (people often time it around Rosh Hashanah or the yahrzeit), and a deep clean every three to four years. Cemeteries near the sea (Haifa, Nahariya, Ashdod, Netanya) need a tighter rhythm.

If you aren’t sure, send us one wide photo and one close-up of the engraving. We usually come back within a few hours with an honest answer about whether it’s urgent.