Related Resources • Cryptic Clues in the Bone Yard • Cemetery Do's & Don'ts • Tombstone Symbolism & Iconography

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Have you ever struggled with trying to get a perfect tombstone rubbing? Ripped your paper or smeared your charcoal? Well, no more! You can get a clearer, more durable impression using wax crayons and interfacing material, such as Pellon, found at your local fabric store. Interfacing fabric is wonderful for tombstone rubbings because it is inexpensive (about $1.25/yard), folds neatly into a suitcase (unlike paper) and doesn't tear.

To create the perfect rubbing start by ensuring that the stone is stable, is not crumbling and that you have permission to do the rubbing (in some states it is actually illegal). Next cut a piece of non-fusible interfacing material slightly larger than the face of the stone. Use masking tape or a partner to hold the material tightly around the stone. Rub gently, but firmly, over the inscription with the side of a jumbo wax crayon or a block of rubbing wax until you have a good impression of the entire tombstone inscription. Once you get home you can preserve your rubbing by placing it wax side up on an ironing board, then cover with an old towel and iron. This will set the crayon or wax into the fabric and preserve it indefinitely.

You can view a tombstone rubbing with interfacing in action on a new video by genealogist, Sharon DeBartolo Carmack. Cryptic Clues in the Bone Yard not only presents a on-site demonstration of how to do a tombstone rubbing, but also covers just about everything else you need to use cemeteries and their records in your genealogical research.

More About Genealogy Research in the Cemetery

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