Every spring, ahead of Memorial Day, we set aside time to clean veterans’ markers at no charge. It is the same conservation-grade headstone and monument cleaning we sell the rest of the year, pointed at stones that have earned it — and this is how it works if you would like a marker included.
Why Memorial Day, why free
Memorial Day is when families visit, when flags go out, and when a legible, cared-for stone matters most. Many veterans’ markers have no nearby family left to tend them, and cemetery boards run on volunteers and thin budgets.
A local business is fleet, equipment and skill — donating a day of it is the most direct way we know to mark the holiday. There is no catch and no upsell; it is simply the right use of a Tuesday in May.
How markers are cleaned
Exactly as conservation practice dictates: assessment first, then clean water, D/2 Biological Solution and soft brushes — the same method and product the VA specifies on national cemetery stones. No pressure, no bleach, nothing abrasive.
Stones too fragile to clean safely are photographed and reported to the family or board instead — protecting the marker outranks brightening it.
Getting a marker on the list
Tell us the cemetery, the name on the stone, and roughly where it stands; a photograph helps us assess condition in advance. Families, veterans’ organisations and cemetery boards are all welcome to submit, and section-wide requests from boards are how the day fills fastest.
The list opens each spring and closes when the day’s capacity does — earlier requests simply stand a better chance of inclusion.
Know a veteran’s marker that needs care before Memorial Day? Send the details — we will do our best to reach it. Read more about headstone and monument cleaning →