Flooded lead-acid batteries of lead-antimony (Pb-Sb) positive grid alloy construction were continuously cycled and periodically subjected to overcharging and inverse charging as desulfation strategies. Traditional prolonged overcharging techniques were demonstrated to be inadequate at appreciably regenerating battery capacities, providing only marginal increases. On the other hand, inverse charging was shown to be highly successful on all batteries independent of state-of-health. Batteries with poor states-of-health (discharge capacities <15% of initial values) experienced almost perfect discharge capacity restoration post- inverse charging. XRD and BET investigations indicate that large sulfate crystals are selectively converted back to sponge lead metal at the completion of the process, coupled with increases in electrode surface area. Battery direct-current impedance measurements likewise indicate that inverse charging reduced internal resistance. Active material shedding was determined to be the failure mechanism during post-mortem examinations. Positive electrode shedding occurred during regular cycling and overcharging. Inverse charging was seen to promote active material shedding of the negative electrode due to electrode expansion when laterally unrestrained. Negative electrode shedding rates were negligible when restrained. Inverse charging was seen to have only a minor influence on the shedding rate of the positive.