# The gravestone cleaner turning death into viral content

> A Vermont woman has built a social media following by cleaning old graves and researching the lives buried beneath them, sparking both interest and concern about the trend.
- Title: The gravestone cleaner turning death into viral content
- Summary: A Vermont woman has built a social media following by cleaning old graves and researching the lives buried beneath them, sparking both interest and concern…
- Keywords: caitlin abrams, vermont, gravestone cleaning, social media, cemetery restoration, genealogy, viral content, gravestone, cleaner, turning, death, viral
- Source: Fortune — https://fortune.com/2026/10/22/vermont-woman-gravestone-cleaning-caitlin-abrams
- Author: Kimberlee Kruesi
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: caitlin abrams, vermont, gravestone cleaning, social media, cemetery restoration, genealogy, viral content
## Cleaning graves, one video at a time
Caitlin Abrams of Vermont cleans old gravestones and posts videos of the work to social media. She uses a brush and spray bottle to remove decades of grime and moss from marble stones.

> Sometimes you can definitely see a difference right away. Other times, it's a month later you'll come back and go 'oh my gosh, it's beautiful.'
## The pandemic sparked a cleaning trend
Gravestone cleaning grew popular during COVID-19 as people sought safe hobbies. Videos attract audiences drawn to cleaning content and calming repetitive sounds, though some worry about damage.
## Research brings the dead to life
Abrams researches the lives of people buried in the graves she cleans, cross-referencing birth, marriage and death certificates and newspaper clippings. She focuses on eighteen and nineteen century headstones.

> It's like journalism, but for dead people.
## Why she chooses the graves she does
Abrams focuses on stories of young women and children, drawn to graves as a mother of two in a world where men's stories are often elevated. She lets the graves pick her.

> I let them pick me. I'm drawn to it and kind of look at it and see how I feel.
## Experts warn of damage from amateurs
John Appell, CEO of Atlas Preservation, warns that untrained cleaners risk damaging gravestones with aggressive brushing or rough handling. An amateur genealogist damaged roughly two hundred gravestones in Maryland in twenty twenty-one.

> This is not a blanket statement, but there's certainly a significant number of people that seem to be out there that kind of just want fame.
## Cleaning is ritual in some cultures
In Mexico, families clean and decorate graves with orange marigolds for Day of the Dead, which begins October thirty-first and continues through November second. Abrams hopes her work removes fear around cemeteries.
## Reclaiming cemeteries as community spaces
Abrams sees cemeteries as places where communities can gather and exist with those who have passed. She believes proper cleaning and permission from cemeteries are crucial before starting any restoration work.

> I like the idea of a cemetery as a place where people can come and be and exist with the people who have passed before us.
## Key takeaway

Caitlin Abrams of Vermont has turned gravestone cleaning into a social media phenomenon, combining restoration with historical research, though experts warn untrained cleaners risk damaging sites.