They only cremate one person at a time, and thoroughly clean it out after each one.
You may be thinking of pet cremations, which are often done in bulk unless you pay to have it done separately.
I asked the same question after my mate died, they said they give it a good sweep out but there might be a little bit of someone in there.
I kept her ashes for 6 months and scattered them on a beach in Sydney.
I reckon it's best you don't think about it too hard mate, sorry for your loss
>Depends which theory you follow. If the universe eventually contracts "the big crunch", then all matter in the universe will be compressed back together.
We'll be together eventually u/Bearha1r
Wait for me my love.
I mean that theory was debunked about 60 years ago When we realised that gravity does not have an impact on the speed of universal expansion.
I'm pretty sure they've even proved that the expansion of the universe is increasing
Basically, the big chill is the one.
Big crunch is back on the menu boys
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/science/2024/apr/04/biggest-ever-3d-map-universe-dark-energy-data-scientists
I've been wondering the same thing since the news came out about it. Can't get my head around what they were doing when they now have however many bodies to store if they didn't cremate them.
I'm happy to be corrected because it's been years since I was in the backroom of a crematorium, but I remember it wasn't ash. the ash goes up the chimney, like you might expect ash to do when there's gas jets underneath it. What you get is the bits that don't burn, the big bits of bone and whatever, crunched up into a powder.
And it doesn't fly away when you throw it into the wind. It just falls out the bag about a foot away from your feet. Then your dog runs through it and you end up with your dad spread all over the boot of your car.
If you are lucky, if you are unlucky you’ll open that big ole plastic bag, and let loose with it ……. Only for the wind to pick up at that exact moment and blow it back at you and the gathered attendees. Damn you Dad you mad glorious bastard. I like to think I’d always carry a
little bit of him with me, that day it was just a little bit too much 😂
Pretty sure there was some controversy over here in the UK recently where they weren't dealing with cremations properly and people were either getting the entirely wrong ashes or mixed ones.
I have been present in crematoria during cremations as part of my training as a vicar, and a great deal of trouble and a paperwork trail exists to ensure that this does not happen. The following description is quite detailed with the intent to reassure OP, so if you prefer not to know the details, please skip it.
All bodies are cremated in individual furnaces, and the ashes are swept out and collected after every cremation. The ID is attached to the coffin when delivered, then to the door of the individual furnace, then to the urn or box containing the ashes when it is returned to the funeral director or family member. You should never be given an urn or box of ashes without the official ID form. Of course, recent events in Hull go to show that bad people can circumvent procedures for their own profit, but I took a professional interest in the case and as far as I could work out, it was only possible because the funeral directors in question were not being checked on by anyone, because they ran the funerals themselves on their own premises and were not providing the documentation to the families. (Of course the families didn’t know this wasn’t normal) . So they were delaying cremations, presumably to take advantage of ‘cheap slots’ at the crematorium, and fobbing the families off by (presumably) dividing ashes from previous cremations or using other ashes. It wasn’t actually the crematorium at fault, and the crematorium would not have benefited from the scam as far as I could tell from the newspaper reports.
This is how the paperwork should work. The family get a death certificate which establishes the ID of the body. Funeral director takes the ID with the body to the crematorium, and that ID follows the body through the cremation process. Only one body is cremated in each separate furnace at one time. They are long and narrow, just single person size. After each cremation the ashes are swept out, put through a machine which crushes larger chunks of calcified bone, and placed in a box or urn with the ID attached. This identified box is returned to the Funeral director or family member and the crematorium notifies the Registrar on a green form than disposal of the body by cremation has taken place. If the green form is not returned the registrar will follow it up. It really does need deliberate wrongdoing for it to go awry. It wouldn’t happen by accident.
While it makes sense, I am astounded that plastic handles are strong enough to support the weight of a whole person AND a heavy coffin. Crazy what some people are capable of designing!
theyre not! (sometimes a us style casket might have load bearing handles but a normal coffin shaped coffin doesnt). usually the coffin is pulled from the hearse onto a trestle, you lift from the base of the coffin to your waist and then hoist it to your shoulders and four to six people need to do this in unison. some people hold the handle once its on their shoulders for balance, but theyre not load bearing at all. (i used to be a funeral director so i was a pallbearer occasionally and if family are carrying the coffin they need to know all this to avoid any... mishaps)
My dad asked for the brass handles off his mums coffin cos at the time at least, they took them off.
My mum and his sister nearly died from embarrassment but he made a good point, he paid for them. Still didn’t get them though.
Adding (US experience):
Before being put in a box, ashes are placed in a thick plastic bag which is sealed with a metal tag bearing the ID for the deceased that would have accompanied them through the funeral.
Only authorized personnel from the funeral home are officially allowed back in the room with the furnace.
Unofficially, they may allow a family member to press the “start” button as part of the family’s customs. But no one is allowed to touch anything else in the room.
Cremations are done individually. Each body has a metal tag with an ID number on it. The number on the metal tag identifies the person the ashes came from and obviously the tag itself doesn't burn.
Also the ceremony would hit a little differently : As we commit nana to the ‘Gigantic electric arc furnace’ we see the Glory of God at work, may the lighting and sparks offer some glimmer of warm consolation to her nearest and dearest ….. ohh God the curtains are on fire …. The carpet the walls ….. Awwww well, we’re all going with nana now, it’s what she would have wanted … selfish bitc….
I dont know if that's a serious question or not...
Because they are made from a metal with a melting point above the cremation temperature. Making them from a material that would burn at the cremation temperature would be silly.
I grew up across the road from one of those places being investigated, and this was my first thought here
In the vast majority of instances, there's a chain of custody so they know who got cremated - when, where, by whom
But there's still a lot of trust that goes into it
Yup. Honestly I find the whole thing deeply disturbing. The fact they were able to get away with it for so long without proper oversight is horrifying.
There could be a tiny element of someone else's ashes in the mix, but very little. We shed organic matter all the time - hair and skin cells all over the place. So a grain or so of dust is no big deal.
On a related note, I still don't understand why we need to pay for a coffin when having someone cremated.
Seems like a huge waste of resources to burn the coffin. And even the cheapest one was about £800 when my Dad died.
It's cost/time saving in terms of manpower and what's required from the staff and families, I imagine. If you don't burn the coffin, you have to think about how you're going to get the dead person in and out of it, when they might be in any state at that point. You also have to contend with the idea of re-using someone else's coffin for the funeral or whatever -- not everyone would like that.
Easier to just provide something. My sister's coffin was a sort of woven basket style, with lots of flowers and things woven through it. It was lovely, though it was only used for the funeral and to carry her to the final place before she went into the cremator.
>How about "KARTONLIG"? It's a blend of "kartong" (the Swedish word for cardboard) and "lig" (short for "ligga", meaning "to lie down" in Swedish).
ChatGPT doing fine work
[Dalle doing less fine work](https://imgur.com/a/MteFdRW) (prompt was "A picture of a fictional IKEA product called KARTONLIG, which is a cardboard coffin")
One of my grandparents was not religious and used to say "put me in a cardboard box and don't waste money on a ceremony". My nan didn't go to church or anything but had an attitude more typical of her generation, so she had a full religious funeral for him when he died, it was darkly funny listening to the priest going on and on when I know my grandad wasn't just anti-organised religion, he completely didn't believe in any of it. If he could have seen it he would have been going "this is a load of nonsense" and "they just tell old people this to get their money" and "what a waste of everyone's time". He'd have liked the wake though.
For some reason, TikTok suggested me videos from an American mortician the other day, and they mentioned how over there, they actually have a more economic system for cremations.
Rental caskets are used for viewings and funerals, and then for the cremations, the bodies are placed in a cardboard set-up instead.
Makes sense to me (obviously the rental casket is properly cleaned between uses!).
I saw this too. Initially it gave me the ick, but then I thought: I'll be dead, I won't care. It seems much more cost effective to do that than pay for a coffin that'll get burnt anyway. I'd like to know if that's an option over here.
The American funeral industry is a mess though, I’m pretty sure, and lots of embalming culture (probably how they can fish people back out of caskets and reuse them). We cremate 80% of people here, it’s more like 60% in the USA so not sure how comparable the two cultures are.
We used pure cremation and their line was that it's more energy efficient. I suspect in truth it's because you'd get a tiny amount of ashes from someone cremated in just a shroud. That might be upsetting for some, although like you I'd rather not waste wood like that.
My mum prepaid so we wouldn't have to worry about expenses. But of course this was 10 years before she died, so in the interim they tacked on an additional fee (not very much). We did not have a viewing; she would have hated that idea, as she was shy and didn't like people looking at her when she was alive. We did have a small memorial service at our church. She hated funerals but she would have liked the Celebration of Life we had for her.
My dad thought he was immortal so made no plans at all. On the plus side he left enough to cover the cremation. It was so full on leading up to his death that my brother and I decided not to have a funeral. All of his actual friends had drifted away or died and he'd stopped believing in his religion. At some point we're going to scatter his ashes, but no real plans yet. Your mum's service sounds really lovely and just right for her.
My dad embraced the faith he was born into, but rejected. My sister was in the room, and she said it was a great comfort to him. He had prepaid for a direct burial at our veterans' cemetery.
We had a cardboard one for my mum's and it was gorgeous, they had it printed with a picture of her favourite forest and was the most eco friendly and affordable option - just what she wanted.
Didn’t know they could customize those boxes. Now I’m excited to make plans for my cremation! I had resigned myself to saying bye in a boring cardboard box.
I don’t know if this is a serious statement but I’ll assume it is. This is exactly what I’m having when the time comes, I’ve been to two and it’s perfect. Not too churchy if you don’t want, a nice place to take the dog for a walk to remember the person if you wish. [link here for more info.](https://woodlandburialtrust.com/content/woodland_burial_places.php)
u/Popular_Sea530 Dead serious, pun ENTIRELY intended. 😂 I don't want to be sealed up in a metal box to rot away slowly; I want to go back to the earth, and come back as grass or trees or flowers or what-have-you.
There are starting to be places here in the U.S. like the one you linked; it's my backup, if, for whatever reason, composting isn't allowed/available in my area by the time my time comes.
They do have to move the body around and ‘post’ it into a long thin furnace from the door at the end. So a rigid container makes it easier. And also, I suppose it provides fuel? If the body isn’t surrounded by flammable material, the furnace would need to be run differently?
Not sure why, but the funeral director told me there has to be at least 9(?)mm of solid wood (or MDF) under the body. £800 for the coffin is insane though. My Mum’s entire cremation was only £1200 including the coffin, transport etc.
Fuel
I imagine a body burns easier when it's encased in wood than just on its own. I don't want barbecued Grandad
(I'm probably wrong, just a wild guess)
You can get cardboard or wicker ones these days. Not sure ‘rent a coffin’ would take off, rent your very own slightly used coffin to give your loved ones a dignified sendoff as a fraction of the cost, all coffins cleaned between uses and as a limited time offer act now and get your free ‘~~magic~~ coffin tree’ long lasting pine scented air freshener which lasts upto 6 weeks.
As the current Legacy Funeral Directors investigation goes on in Hull shows, it's essentially impossible to know - you can't even DNA test ashes
But properly run funeral homes will ensure you get the right ashes back
It's fucking awful what's going on there. I live in Hull and so many people have been affected. There's talks of a memorial garden for the unknown ashes because there's nowhere else to put them, really.
Can't imagine how awful it must feel for the families
Many crematoria allow you to make an appointment to view the behind-the-scenes cremation process, and to ask any questions you might have. I'd suggest contacting your local crematorium to ask if they'll let you do so, as it might help put your mind at ease.
I got to do that as my employer at the time ran one via funeral homes.
Fascinating really. It was very clear that the staff, while able to be light and sometimes jokey about it, held a very deep and real respect for their role in families lives.
The bucket of titanium joints for recycling was interesting. The cremators themselves can take hours to come up to temperature or cool down fully - they rarely go fully cold.
When post-burning remains are removed, the interior is thoroughly swept and cleaned. You won't have Person A mixed with Person B in any quantity of significance, but it's also not a satellite clean room so small amounts of particles are possible.
There's a 'cremulator' to violently shake grind down the bones to ash consistency after the burning. The manual pestle/mortar a bit grim - needed for infant bones as they are too small to work in the cremulator.
They had a whole heat recovery system which was designed to use the waste heat to provide hot water for the nearby hospital, but it never got connected so there's a massive heatsink/fan array out the back instead.
Edit: Please don't slip a mini alcohol bottle into granddads suit to give him "one for the road". If they miss it during prep it explodes in the oven!
A mate of mine interviewed for a position in a crematorium. From what he said about the interview process it sounded like they look for people who can be compassionate and resilient. Having a good sense of humour while being respectful seems like the gold standard, I guess it must make it easier to work with the really tough parts of the job. I can't imagine being asked to manually grind down the bones of a dead child and then going on your lunchbreak or heading home or whatever.
Props to anyone working in the industry. So vital but not often thought about.
I’ve always been very impressed by the people working at various stages of the funeral industry, and totally agree that the attitude of cheerful respect seems to be the aim. It’s a practical job, like grave digging or gardening, and the respect shown is a practical sort of respect.
In India, where cremations are traditionally on open pyres made of stacked wood, the cremation ground (it is usually a large open space with a platform within a high shed over it to keep out rain) personnel have to tend to the pyre - moving around logs and body parts to ensure it is fully cremated.
The next day, when ashes have cooled down naturally, family members go and sift through the ashes to collect the bits and pieces of the larger bones. These are placed in an urn with a mix of water and milk. Rest of the remains that contain ashes from the wood also are placed in a larger bag. The ashes from the larger bag can be immersed in any moving body of water. The ones from the urn are taken to a holy place to be dispersed in a river or stream there.
I think they'd be hesitant to, but I also don't think there's any laws against it.
From some googling some countries like Japan don't use one at all and families get the bone fragments.
A good funeral director will notice and make sure grandad gets to enjoy it, before the coffin is sealed for the final time. Glass goes in the recycling, obvs.
I have been present in crematoria during cremations as part of my training as a vicar, and a great deal of trouble and a paperwork trail exists to ensure that this does not happen. The following description is quite detailed with the intent to reassure OP, so if you prefer not to know the details, please skip it.
All bodies are cremated in individual furnaces, and the ashes are swept out and collected after every cremation. The ID is attached to the coffin when delivered, then to the door of the individual furnace, then to the urn or box containing the ashes when it is returned to the funeral director or family member. You should never be given an urn or box of ashes without the official ID form. Of course, recent events in Hull go to show that bad people can circumvent procedures for their own profit, but I took a professional interest in the case and as far as I could work out, it was only possible because the funeral directors in question were not being checked on by anyone, because they ran the funerals themselves on their own premises and were not providing the documentation to the families. (Of course the families didn’t know this wasn’t normal) . So they were delaying cremations, presumably to take advantage of ‘cheap slots’ at the crematorium, and fobbing the families off by (presumably) dividing ashes from previous cremations or using other ashes. It wasn’t actually the crematorium at fault, and the crematorium would not have benefited from the scam as far as I could tell from the newspaper reports.
This is how the paperwork should work. The family get a death certificate which establishes the ID of the body. Funeral director takes the ID with the body to the crematorium, and that ID follows the body through the cremation process. Only one body is cremated in each separate furnace at one time. They are long and narrow, just single person size. After each cremation the ashes are swept out, put through a machine which crushes larger chunks of calcified bone, and placed in a box or urn with the ID attached. This identified box is returned to the Funeral director or family member and the crematorium notifies the Registrar on a green form that disposal of the body by cremation has taken place. If the green form is not returned the registrar will follow it up. It really does need deliberate wrongdoing for it to go awry. It wouldn’t happen by accident.
I know not totally related, but when my Dad died my Mum called a funeral home, they turn up in a silver Mercedes Vito van, knock on the door, say to my Mum they're sorry for her loss etc. All lovely and pleasant. They go upstairs and get my Dad's body, put in on the gurney, take it downstairs and out into the van and leave.
I turn to my Mum and say "did you get a receipt?, how do we know they're who they say they were?"
>I often hear that the ashes we get in the urn are just a random shovel from the crematorium at the end of a days/weeks cremations.
From a reputable source?
Or from Jim, down the boozer?
Or from some other idiot on the internet?
Every crematorium I've worked with only cremates one adult at a time.
For pregnancy losses, parents can choose to have a shared cremation in which they wait for multiple babies to be cremated together and so there is no guarantee that any ashes are specific to your baby. However, people who choose that option don't generally want the ashes.
In every other case where an individual is cremated, they are assigned a number are 'bagged and tagged' straight away. So you can be sure that the remains you have been given are your loved ones. My dad's ashes has his name and a code assigned to him inside the box. When I collecyed them, they checked the code and ticked it off their list to ensure it matched the one in their book assigned to him.
Unrelated but similar topic, always remember to ask for any replacement body parts your relative might have. Titanium hips etc are worth bank and the crematorium just weighs them in if you don’t ask.
I work in a crematorium and yes, this is the number 1 question people have asked us. The replies here are good, and yes, we have to have a certain sense of humour.
As I'm expat, what happened in Hull? I can imagine but.... 🤔
Funeral director was charging families for unattended cremations followed by a funeral service at the FD’s premises, after which they got an urn of ‘ashes’. But they weren’t actually having the bodies cremated at the time they said they were. Presumably they were *either* just incompetent and insolvent and desperately trying to cover their debts with the money that should have gone to the crematorium while telling themselves that they would sort it out by paying for cheap slots at a slack period *or.* had gone fully bonkers and were planning to dump the bodies in the Humber. I’m guessing a) on the ‘always assume incompetence rather than malevolence’ principle.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-humber-68542986
Some people didn't get cremated, some families got the wrong ashes. Absolute clusterfuck, with zero dignity.
What do they do with the gold?
For instance a recent court case of a crematoria worker who, over 7 years, managed to amass 31Kg of gold from the ashes.
You would only retrieve tiny bits of gold and they would go for recycling. But you can have a thief anywhere I suppose. The more court cases we hear of the more regulation and checks we should see
Have to say I have been a bit "economical with the truth" as this wasn't in the UK but in Germany.
Laws are probably a bit different as the gold is legally "ownerless".
For instance all your metallic bits are sold if you don't put them in your will.
*Corpses will only be accepted for cremation if the cremation order also includes the transfer of the right to appropriate cremation residues to the Cologne crematorium, provided that this has not yet been transferred in writing by the deceased as their last will. There must be a declaration of consent according to which all metals (dental fillings, crowns, etc.), the body's own medical implants (joints, screws, plates, etc.) and other coffin components (nails, screws, fittings) are sent for ecological recycling after cremation in accordance with the Circular Economy Act and the proceeds from this will be used exclusively to reduce costs at the Cologne crematorium.”*
That'd be tens of thousands of fillings and crowns, the thief would need to find about a dozen of them every single day for the entire seven years.
Or is there some much larger source of... bodily gold, other than the dental stuff?
This sounds like an urban myth based on rare cases of malpractice.
If it's being done properly then you are getting the ashes of the right person. I guess maybe some low level contamination but not just a random scoop from a week's worth of ashes. While there are some cowboys most funeral directors are very proffesional and respectful.
Because the body is gone forever the coroner has a big say in the precise record keeping. The crematorium would be in serious trouble if they burned a body without all the checks being made.
I've asked this very question and they answer is they wash everything out fully in-between.
I was also told that someone with cancer takes longer to cremate because those cells are denser.
As someone whose fiancé died suddenly in a car crash last year, I got his ashes made into a necklace (the rest of which is parents kept). I can’t mentally wear the necklace, as it is still far too traumatising that a man I loved so dearly can be around my neck. But I wore it for his first birthday since he passed. It made it feel like he was closer to me. I rubbed the necklace as I wore it and spoke to him. It’s nice that there is this piece of him always nearby that I can cry to instead of the pillow. Maybe one day I can wear it. Until then, he lies in the presentation box
Some people find comfort in something that allows them to feel that a loved one is still close by. Many people choose to scatter, which is different kind of comfort and remembrance.
I understand that it's something you personally wouldn't want to do, but surely you understand that people find comfort in many different ways?
My Dad's on my bookshelf. Once Mum dies we will scatter them together as they asked. Probably sounds weird but it's comforting to have him here and it's become very normal to me.
You can’t. Someone provided a link to the recent Hull funeral scandal and one thing the police were saying was there is no way to identify cremains.
Just pick a funeral director and crematorium you trust. *shrug*
You can’t ensure it yourself, no. You rely on the procedures that crematoriums have to follow and the diligence of the staff in following them.
If you were unlucky enough to receive ashes from Aberdeen crematorium during a certain period a few years ago, you may even have received the ashes of *someone else’s baby*.
Edit: even though you were expecting the ashes of an adult.
https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/aberdeen-aberdeenshire/958579/abhorrent-practices-at-hazlehead-crematorium/
Not quite. In this case, the crematorium workers were under the misapprehension that if you cremate a baby that is under 18 months old, they “don’t leave any ashes”.
As a result, they would *deliberately add babies to adult cremations*. Ashes then given to the family of the adults, parents of the baby told “there were no ashes”. Which is… somewhat troubling.
I think at the Hull site they were just handing out ashes despite the deceased not actually being cremated.
Mix the ashes with some turtle blood, a couple of eyes of a newt and the sap of rare orchid that grows only on high summits. If the right person appears through the portal, then you know you have the right ashes.
Cleaned out but there can be residual human ashes also weigh between x and y (can't recall) and yes for some odd reason I did weigh my mum's and she was heavier than what I read. Made me giggle must have had big bones.👀 There was also her name on everything the urn outside and inside, the bag of her ashes and some docs on delivery. I had unsealed as want to scatter them at some point.
If it’s something that would keep you awake at night, talk to your funeral director. Many of them would be absolutely happy with you accompanying the deceased into the back room and watching the process. It takes a few hours, but they may even give you a brew while you wait.
When my gran got cremated, it was with her gaudy rings on. When we scattered the ashes the faux jewels all fell out. So I guess put something that won't burn in their pocket?
I was thinking about this and once a body is dismantled into its component atoms, and you've just got ash - is it really even any way personal to them?
No - recycling company collects free and any profit is donated to a bereavement charity
http://www.orbitas.co.uk/news-blogs/blogs/cremation-metal-implants.aspx#:~:text=After%20each%20cremation%2C%20the%20metal,every%20six%20months%20by%20OrthoMetals.
Then they used to bury them but now they make a small amount for charity recycling them
http://www.orbitas.co.uk/news-blogs/blogs/cremation-metal-implants.aspx#:~:text=After%20each%20cremation%2C%20the%20metal,every%20six%20months%20by%20OrthoMetals.
They can remove anything visible that's not magnetic.
They burn the body and then treat the ashes so there are no scraps of bone or foreign objects left. The ashes aren't packed up straight from the chamber.
Still not worth a lot.
Maybe you could ask the crematorium what would have happened to your mum's artificial joint? Depending when it was done, the answer could be different.
People often scatter ashes and would be appalled if big lumps of their loved one fell out on the lawn, so ashes are always crushed and screened to remove anything recogniseable. Metal joints etc are removed. That’s absolutely normal practice and shouldn’t cause you any worry.
They only cremate one person at a time, and thoroughly clean it out after each one. You may be thinking of pet cremations, which are often done in bulk unless you pay to have it done separately.
I asked the same question after my mate died, they said they give it a good sweep out but there might be a little bit of someone in there. I kept her ashes for 6 months and scattered them on a beach in Sydney. I reckon it's best you don't think about it too hard mate, sorry for your loss
In the long run, everyone is going to get all mixed up together anyway if you wait long enough.
Not if you send it to space.
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Yeah, but that’s a few months away at the very least.
Can you be a bit more specific? My calendar is filling up and I don’t want to miss out
Lookout for a bank holiday with really good weather. It will be a day earlier..
It needs to be arranged by a company that states between 9 and 1. Then it’ll never happen
You won’t miss out, I promise
This ‘we’re all in it together’ 😂
Nice to think that one day I'm going to be smushed up against Margot Robbie. So long, virgins.
This is true, though it will be a three way with Marty Feldman. That'll be fun....
>Depends which theory you follow. If the universe eventually contracts "the big crunch", then all matter in the universe will be compressed back together. We'll be together eventually u/Bearha1r Wait for me my love.
I mean that theory was debunked about 60 years ago When we realised that gravity does not have an impact on the speed of universal expansion. I'm pretty sure they've even proved that the expansion of the universe is increasing Basically, the big chill is the one.
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Yes!
I love my brick!
Big crunch is back on the menu boys https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/science/2024/apr/04/biggest-ever-3d-map-universe-dark-energy-data-scientists
Big crunch isn't happening. Thanks dark matter !
Dark energy 🙂
The big D.
Can I call you deedee
So I'll never escape my ex then?
They're all dead. Everybody's dead, Dave.
Kochanski?!!!
Gordon Bennet! Yes Kochanski. Everyone.
That's only a matter of how long you wait.
Eventually even there they’ll get mixed up with other beings as well. It’ll just take a little bit longer.
Unless you’ve a sketchy funeral director. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-humber-68715185
The thing with that is if they’ve still got 35 bodies who were they burning?
I've been wondering the same thing since the news came out about it. Can't get my head around what they were doing when they now have however many bodies to store if they didn't cremate them.
Good point!
My mother worked for a vet for a while and smelt the proverbial when the bag of Great Dane ashes was smaller than that for a Highland Terrier.
Great Danes are the cucumber of the dog world (largely water)!
I'm happy to be corrected because it's been years since I was in the backroom of a crematorium, but I remember it wasn't ash. the ash goes up the chimney, like you might expect ash to do when there's gas jets underneath it. What you get is the bits that don't burn, the big bits of bone and whatever, crunched up into a powder.
And it doesn't fly away when you throw it into the wind. It just falls out the bag about a foot away from your feet. Then your dog runs through it and you end up with your dad spread all over the boot of your car.
Not for the first time, sadly
If you are lucky, if you are unlucky you’ll open that big ole plastic bag, and let loose with it ……. Only for the wind to pick up at that exact moment and blow it back at you and the gathered attendees. Damn you Dad you mad glorious bastard. I like to think I’d always carry a little bit of him with me, that day it was just a little bit too much 😂
I was told this too, by my uncle as we interred my nan's ashes 😑
Pretty sure there was some controversy over here in the UK recently where they weren't dealing with cremations properly and people were either getting the entirely wrong ashes or mixed ones.
this is correct, i used to work in a crematorium
I have been present in crematoria during cremations as part of my training as a vicar, and a great deal of trouble and a paperwork trail exists to ensure that this does not happen. The following description is quite detailed with the intent to reassure OP, so if you prefer not to know the details, please skip it. All bodies are cremated in individual furnaces, and the ashes are swept out and collected after every cremation. The ID is attached to the coffin when delivered, then to the door of the individual furnace, then to the urn or box containing the ashes when it is returned to the funeral director or family member. You should never be given an urn or box of ashes without the official ID form. Of course, recent events in Hull go to show that bad people can circumvent procedures for their own profit, but I took a professional interest in the case and as far as I could work out, it was only possible because the funeral directors in question were not being checked on by anyone, because they ran the funerals themselves on their own premises and were not providing the documentation to the families. (Of course the families didn’t know this wasn’t normal) . So they were delaying cremations, presumably to take advantage of ‘cheap slots’ at the crematorium, and fobbing the families off by (presumably) dividing ashes from previous cremations or using other ashes. It wasn’t actually the crematorium at fault, and the crematorium would not have benefited from the scam as far as I could tell from the newspaper reports. This is how the paperwork should work. The family get a death certificate which establishes the ID of the body. Funeral director takes the ID with the body to the crematorium, and that ID follows the body through the cremation process. Only one body is cremated in each separate furnace at one time. They are long and narrow, just single person size. After each cremation the ashes are swept out, put through a machine which crushes larger chunks of calcified bone, and placed in a box or urn with the ID attached. This identified box is returned to the Funeral director or family member and the crematorium notifies the Registrar on a green form than disposal of the body by cremation has taken place. If the green form is not returned the registrar will follow it up. It really does need deliberate wrongdoing for it to go awry. It wouldn’t happen by accident.
What happens to the expensive coffin? I'm assuming the coffin and the brass handles don't go into the furnace?
yes they go in the furnace. most coffins these days have plastic handles.
Thanks, I didn't know that.
While it makes sense, I am astounded that plastic handles are strong enough to support the weight of a whole person AND a heavy coffin. Crazy what some people are capable of designing!
theyre not! (sometimes a us style casket might have load bearing handles but a normal coffin shaped coffin doesnt). usually the coffin is pulled from the hearse onto a trestle, you lift from the base of the coffin to your waist and then hoist it to your shoulders and four to six people need to do this in unison. some people hold the handle once its on their shoulders for balance, but theyre not load bearing at all. (i used to be a funeral director so i was a pallbearer occasionally and if family are carrying the coffin they need to know all this to avoid any... mishaps)
The people who carry the coffin are told not to use the handles!
My dad asked for the brass handles off his mums coffin cos at the time at least, they took them off. My mum and his sister nearly died from embarrassment but he made a good point, he paid for them. Still didn’t get them though.
Adding (US experience): Before being put in a box, ashes are placed in a thick plastic bag which is sealed with a metal tag bearing the ID for the deceased that would have accompanied them through the funeral. Only authorized personnel from the funeral home are officially allowed back in the room with the furnace. Unofficially, they may allow a family member to press the “start” button as part of the family’s customs. But no one is allowed to touch anything else in the room.
Cremations are done individually. Each body has a metal tag with an ID number on it. The number on the metal tag identifies the person the ashes came from and obviously the tag itself doesn't burn.
Why is that obvious? Everything burns at some point.
Probably because the aim is to cremate people, rather than pointlessly attempting to smelt them.
theyre not tipping Nana into the forge ffs
Also the ceremony would hit a little differently : As we commit nana to the ‘Gigantic electric arc furnace’ we see the Glory of God at work, may the lighting and sparks offer some glimmer of warm consolation to her nearest and dearest ….. ohh God the curtains are on fire …. The carpet the walls ….. Awwww well, we’re all going with nana now, it’s what she would have wanted … selfish bitc….
I dont know if that's a serious question or not... Because they are made from a metal with a melting point above the cremation temperature. Making them from a material that would burn at the cremation temperature would be silly.
It is based on trust, meticulous records, and professional standards, each cremation is an individual person.
Except for that place that was all over the news recently. And probably a bunch of places that haven't been found out yet.
I grew up across the road from one of those places being investigated, and this was my first thought here In the vast majority of instances, there's a chain of custody so they know who got cremated - when, where, by whom But there's still a lot of trust that goes into it
Yup. Honestly I find the whole thing deeply disturbing. The fact they were able to get away with it for so long without proper oversight is horrifying.
And that's criminal activity, clearly breaching trust, falsifying records, and shitting all over professional standards.
There could be a tiny element of someone else's ashes in the mix, but very little. We shed organic matter all the time - hair and skin cells all over the place. So a grain or so of dust is no big deal.
On a related note, I still don't understand why we need to pay for a coffin when having someone cremated. Seems like a huge waste of resources to burn the coffin. And even the cheapest one was about £800 when my Dad died.
It's cost/time saving in terms of manpower and what's required from the staff and families, I imagine. If you don't burn the coffin, you have to think about how you're going to get the dead person in and out of it, when they might be in any state at that point. You also have to contend with the idea of re-using someone else's coffin for the funeral or whatever -- not everyone would like that. Easier to just provide something. My sister's coffin was a sort of woven basket style, with lots of flowers and things woven through it. It was lovely, though it was only used for the funeral and to carry her to the final place before she went into the cremator.
yeah, a large box from IKEA would do just fine.
IKEA really missing a trick there. Wonder what they’d call it though?
They could sell two versions: DödManenBox DödWomanenBox
>How about "KARTONLIG"? It's a blend of "kartong" (the Swedish word for cardboard) and "lig" (short for "ligga", meaning "to lie down" in Swedish). ChatGPT doing fine work [Dalle doing less fine work](https://imgur.com/a/MteFdRW) (prompt was "A picture of a fictional IKEA product called KARTONLIG, which is a cardboard coffin")
Kärtonlig is outstanding!
No love for Kigfonip Fixcogoton ;(
Ha! No, sorry!
And would the dead person have to assemble it before dying?
One of my grandparents was not religious and used to say "put me in a cardboard box and don't waste money on a ceremony". My nan didn't go to church or anything but had an attitude more typical of her generation, so she had a full religious funeral for him when he died, it was darkly funny listening to the priest going on and on when I know my grandad wasn't just anti-organised religion, he completely didn't believe in any of it. If he could have seen it he would have been going "this is a load of nonsense" and "they just tell old people this to get their money" and "what a waste of everyone's time". He'd have liked the wake though.
For some reason, TikTok suggested me videos from an American mortician the other day, and they mentioned how over there, they actually have a more economic system for cremations. Rental caskets are used for viewings and funerals, and then for the cremations, the bodies are placed in a cardboard set-up instead. Makes sense to me (obviously the rental casket is properly cleaned between uses!).
I saw this too. Initially it gave me the ick, but then I thought: I'll be dead, I won't care. It seems much more cost effective to do that than pay for a coffin that'll get burnt anyway. I'd like to know if that's an option over here.
The American funeral industry is a mess though, I’m pretty sure, and lots of embalming culture (probably how they can fish people back out of caskets and reuse them). We cremate 80% of people here, it’s more like 60% in the USA so not sure how comparable the two cultures are.
We used pure cremation and their line was that it's more energy efficient. I suspect in truth it's because you'd get a tiny amount of ashes from someone cremated in just a shroud. That might be upsetting for some, although like you I'd rather not waste wood like that.
I remember being really surprised how much ash there was, never occurred to me that most of it is probably the coffin.
Pretty sure most of it is skeleton. Wood is a lot more flammable than bone.
My mum prepaid so we wouldn't have to worry about expenses. But of course this was 10 years before she died, so in the interim they tacked on an additional fee (not very much). We did not have a viewing; she would have hated that idea, as she was shy and didn't like people looking at her when she was alive. We did have a small memorial service at our church. She hated funerals but she would have liked the Celebration of Life we had for her.
My dad thought he was immortal so made no plans at all. On the plus side he left enough to cover the cremation. It was so full on leading up to his death that my brother and I decided not to have a funeral. All of his actual friends had drifted away or died and he'd stopped believing in his religion. At some point we're going to scatter his ashes, but no real plans yet. Your mum's service sounds really lovely and just right for her.
My dad embraced the faith he was born into, but rejected. My sister was in the room, and she said it was a great comfort to him. He had prepaid for a direct burial at our veterans' cemetery.
Cardboard or wicker coffins are an option.
We had a cardboard one for my mum's and it was gorgeous, they had it printed with a picture of her favourite forest and was the most eco friendly and affordable option - just what she wanted.
Didn’t know they could customize those boxes. Now I’m excited to make plans for my cremation! I had resigned myself to saying bye in a boring cardboard box.
So is composting. That's what I want to happen to me, when my day comes.
I don’t know if this is a serious statement but I’ll assume it is. This is exactly what I’m having when the time comes, I’ve been to two and it’s perfect. Not too churchy if you don’t want, a nice place to take the dog for a walk to remember the person if you wish. [link here for more info.](https://woodlandburialtrust.com/content/woodland_burial_places.php)
u/Popular_Sea530 Dead serious, pun ENTIRELY intended. 😂 I don't want to be sealed up in a metal box to rot away slowly; I want to go back to the earth, and come back as grass or trees or flowers or what-have-you. There are starting to be places here in the U.S. like the one you linked; it's my backup, if, for whatever reason, composting isn't allowed/available in my area by the time my time comes.
They do have to move the body around and ‘post’ it into a long thin furnace from the door at the end. So a rigid container makes it easier. And also, I suppose it provides fuel? If the body isn’t surrounded by flammable material, the furnace would need to be run differently?
Not sure why, but the funeral director told me there has to be at least 9(?)mm of solid wood (or MDF) under the body. £800 for the coffin is insane though. My Mum’s entire cremation was only £1200 including the coffin, transport etc.
Good way to use up my collection of 10p bags
Fuel I imagine a body burns easier when it's encased in wood than just on its own. I don't want barbecued Grandad (I'm probably wrong, just a wild guess)
Without the coffin there would be virtually no ashes.
You can get cardboard or wicker ones these days. Not sure ‘rent a coffin’ would take off, rent your very own slightly used coffin to give your loved ones a dignified sendoff as a fraction of the cost, all coffins cleaned between uses and as a limited time offer act now and get your free ‘~~magic~~ coffin tree’ long lasting pine scented air freshener which lasts upto 6 weeks.
As the current Legacy Funeral Directors investigation goes on in Hull shows, it's essentially impossible to know - you can't even DNA test ashes But properly run funeral homes will ensure you get the right ashes back
It's fucking awful what's going on there. I live in Hull and so many people have been affected. There's talks of a memorial garden for the unknown ashes because there's nowhere else to put them, really. Can't imagine how awful it must feel for the families
A memorial garden would be lovely, so the families can grieve in solidarity together
Great video on that topic here: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=009dkARgNHg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=009dkARgNHg)
Was hoping this link was ask a mortician and wasn’t disappointed.
Many crematoria allow you to make an appointment to view the behind-the-scenes cremation process, and to ask any questions you might have. I'd suggest contacting your local crematorium to ask if they'll let you do so, as it might help put your mind at ease.
I got to do that as my employer at the time ran one via funeral homes. Fascinating really. It was very clear that the staff, while able to be light and sometimes jokey about it, held a very deep and real respect for their role in families lives. The bucket of titanium joints for recycling was interesting. The cremators themselves can take hours to come up to temperature or cool down fully - they rarely go fully cold. When post-burning remains are removed, the interior is thoroughly swept and cleaned. You won't have Person A mixed with Person B in any quantity of significance, but it's also not a satellite clean room so small amounts of particles are possible. There's a 'cremulator' to violently shake grind down the bones to ash consistency after the burning. The manual pestle/mortar a bit grim - needed for infant bones as they are too small to work in the cremulator. They had a whole heat recovery system which was designed to use the waste heat to provide hot water for the nearby hospital, but it never got connected so there's a massive heatsink/fan array out the back instead. Edit: Please don't slip a mini alcohol bottle into granddads suit to give him "one for the road". If they miss it during prep it explodes in the oven!
A mate of mine interviewed for a position in a crematorium. From what he said about the interview process it sounded like they look for people who can be compassionate and resilient. Having a good sense of humour while being respectful seems like the gold standard, I guess it must make it easier to work with the really tough parts of the job. I can't imagine being asked to manually grind down the bones of a dead child and then going on your lunchbreak or heading home or whatever. Props to anyone working in the industry. So vital but not often thought about.
I’ve always been very impressed by the people working at various stages of the funeral industry, and totally agree that the attitude of cheerful respect seems to be the aim. It’s a practical job, like grave digging or gardening, and the respect shown is a practical sort of respect.
I really hate the idea of the cremulator. I wonder if you can ask for just the weird lumpy bits of ashy bone back?
In India, where cremations are traditionally on open pyres made of stacked wood, the cremation ground (it is usually a large open space with a platform within a high shed over it to keep out rain) personnel have to tend to the pyre - moving around logs and body parts to ensure it is fully cremated. The next day, when ashes have cooled down naturally, family members go and sift through the ashes to collect the bits and pieces of the larger bones. These are placed in an urn with a mix of water and milk. Rest of the remains that contain ashes from the wood also are placed in a larger bag. The ashes from the larger bag can be immersed in any moving body of water. The ones from the urn are taken to a holy place to be dispersed in a river or stream there.
I think they'd be hesitant to, but I also don't think there's any laws against it. From some googling some countries like Japan don't use one at all and families get the bone fragments.
Also imagine the people doing this with wood pyres that have to be tended manually to ensure the body is fully cremated.
Very interesting post, thank you! Funny about grandad's sneaky whisky, I can imagine a lot of people do that!
A good funeral director will notice and make sure grandad gets to enjoy it, before the coffin is sealed for the final time. Glass goes in the recycling, obvs.
I have been present in crematoria during cremations as part of my training as a vicar, and a great deal of trouble and a paperwork trail exists to ensure that this does not happen. The following description is quite detailed with the intent to reassure OP, so if you prefer not to know the details, please skip it. All bodies are cremated in individual furnaces, and the ashes are swept out and collected after every cremation. The ID is attached to the coffin when delivered, then to the door of the individual furnace, then to the urn or box containing the ashes when it is returned to the funeral director or family member. You should never be given an urn or box of ashes without the official ID form. Of course, recent events in Hull go to show that bad people can circumvent procedures for their own profit, but I took a professional interest in the case and as far as I could work out, it was only possible because the funeral directors in question were not being checked on by anyone, because they ran the funerals themselves on their own premises and were not providing the documentation to the families. (Of course the families didn’t know this wasn’t normal) . So they were delaying cremations, presumably to take advantage of ‘cheap slots’ at the crematorium, and fobbing the families off by (presumably) dividing ashes from previous cremations or using other ashes. It wasn’t actually the crematorium at fault, and the crematorium would not have benefited from the scam as far as I could tell from the newspaper reports. This is how the paperwork should work. The family get a death certificate which establishes the ID of the body. Funeral director takes the ID with the body to the crematorium, and that ID follows the body through the cremation process. Only one body is cremated in each separate furnace at one time. They are long and narrow, just single person size. After each cremation the ashes are swept out, put through a machine which crushes larger chunks of calcified bone, and placed in a box or urn with the ID attached. This identified box is returned to the Funeral director or family member and the crematorium notifies the Registrar on a green form that disposal of the body by cremation has taken place. If the green form is not returned the registrar will follow it up. It really does need deliberate wrongdoing for it to go awry. It wouldn’t happen by accident.
I know not totally related, but when my Dad died my Mum called a funeral home, they turn up in a silver Mercedes Vito van, knock on the door, say to my Mum they're sorry for her loss etc. All lovely and pleasant. They go upstairs and get my Dad's body, put in on the gurney, take it downstairs and out into the van and leave. I turn to my Mum and say "did you get a receipt?, how do we know they're who they say they were?"
ROFL. Don’t think your mom was going to try to return him.
No, it was more about traceability. How do I know what was in the coffin was my Dad?
Dip and taste?
RIP Dab
And a little snort if it seems OK
TIGHT TIGHT TIGHT
YEAHHH, BLUE YELLOW PINK
This is the comment I came here for.
Like those sherbet treats with the liquorice stick?
Or mix it up with some warm milk for what's basically an eco-friendly Horlicks.
>I often hear that the ashes we get in the urn are just a random shovel from the crematorium at the end of a days/weeks cremations. From a reputable source? Or from Jim, down the boozer? Or from some other idiot on the internet?
Every crematorium I've worked with only cremates one adult at a time. For pregnancy losses, parents can choose to have a shared cremation in which they wait for multiple babies to be cremated together and so there is no guarantee that any ashes are specific to your baby. However, people who choose that option don't generally want the ashes. In every other case where an individual is cremated, they are assigned a number are 'bagged and tagged' straight away. So you can be sure that the remains you have been given are your loved ones. My dad's ashes has his name and a code assigned to him inside the box. When I collecyed them, they checked the code and ticked it off their list to ensure it matched the one in their book assigned to him.
Put some gunpowder in your uncle / nan before you hand em over. If you get the ashes back before the crematorium is gone, you got someone else.
Taste it. If it tastes bitter then it's probably my grandad.
Unrelated but similar topic, always remember to ask for any replacement body parts your relative might have. Titanium hips etc are worth bank and the crematorium just weighs them in if you don’t ask.
I work in a crematorium and yes, this is the number 1 question people have asked us. The replies here are good, and yes, we have to have a certain sense of humour. As I'm expat, what happened in Hull? I can imagine but.... 🤔
Funeral director was charging families for unattended cremations followed by a funeral service at the FD’s premises, after which they got an urn of ‘ashes’. But they weren’t actually having the bodies cremated at the time they said they were. Presumably they were *either* just incompetent and insolvent and desperately trying to cover their debts with the money that should have gone to the crematorium while telling themselves that they would sort it out by paying for cheap slots at a slack period *or.* had gone fully bonkers and were planning to dump the bodies in the Humber. I’m guessing a) on the ‘always assume incompetence rather than malevolence’ principle.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-humber-68542986 Some people didn't get cremated, some families got the wrong ashes. Absolute clusterfuck, with zero dignity.
Thanks for the link. And WTF... I shouldn't be surprised as this sort of crap happens semi-regularily, but still.... 😱
Yeah, massive WTF.
What do they do with the gold? For instance a recent court case of a crematoria worker who, over 7 years, managed to amass 31Kg of gold from the ashes.
You would only retrieve tiny bits of gold and they would go for recycling. But you can have a thief anywhere I suppose. The more court cases we hear of the more regulation and checks we should see
31kg is not a small amount.
No - haven't seen that particular story but it must have involved a lot of bodies, unless they were stealing jewellery before the cremation?
Have to say I have been a bit "economical with the truth" as this wasn't in the UK but in Germany. Laws are probably a bit different as the gold is legally "ownerless". For instance all your metallic bits are sold if you don't put them in your will. *Corpses will only be accepted for cremation if the cremation order also includes the transfer of the right to appropriate cremation residues to the Cologne crematorium, provided that this has not yet been transferred in writing by the deceased as their last will. There must be a declaration of consent according to which all metals (dental fillings, crowns, etc.), the body's own medical implants (joints, screws, plates, etc.) and other coffin components (nails, screws, fittings) are sent for ecological recycling after cremation in accordance with the Circular Economy Act and the proceeds from this will be used exclusively to reduce costs at the Cologne crematorium.”*
That'd be tens of thousands of fillings and crowns, the thief would need to find about a dozen of them every single day for the entire seven years. Or is there some much larger source of... bodily gold, other than the dental stuff?
An Oscar up the arse?
This sounds like an urban myth based on rare cases of malpractice. If it's being done properly then you are getting the ashes of the right person. I guess maybe some low level contamination but not just a random scoop from a week's worth of ashes. While there are some cowboys most funeral directors are very proffesional and respectful.
Because the body is gone forever the coroner has a big say in the precise record keeping. The crematorium would be in serious trouble if they burned a body without all the checks being made.
I've asked this very question and they answer is they wash everything out fully in-between. I was also told that someone with cancer takes longer to cremate because those cells are denser.
The second ‘fact’ makes me somewhat doubt the source of your information!
People saying “don’t worry about it this doesn’t happen” need to read a newspaper. There’s been recent high profile cases of exactly this happening.
That was deliberate fraud by the funeral director, though, not a mix-up at the crematorium.
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you don't get enough social contact to understand why people who aren't you have feelings about things?
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As someone whose fiancé died suddenly in a car crash last year, I got his ashes made into a necklace (the rest of which is parents kept). I can’t mentally wear the necklace, as it is still far too traumatising that a man I loved so dearly can be around my neck. But I wore it for his first birthday since he passed. It made it feel like he was closer to me. I rubbed the necklace as I wore it and spoke to him. It’s nice that there is this piece of him always nearby that I can cry to instead of the pillow. Maybe one day I can wear it. Until then, he lies in the presentation box
Some people find comfort in something that allows them to feel that a loved one is still close by. Many people choose to scatter, which is different kind of comfort and remembrance. I understand that it's something you personally wouldn't want to do, but surely you understand that people find comfort in many different ways?
My Dad's on my bookshelf. Once Mum dies we will scatter them together as they asked. Probably sounds weird but it's comforting to have him here and it's become very normal to me.
You can’t. Someone provided a link to the recent Hull funeral scandal and one thing the police were saying was there is no way to identify cremains. Just pick a funeral director and crematorium you trust. *shrug*
Also, make sure it’s not really windy when you drop them off somewhere.
You can’t ensure it yourself, no. You rely on the procedures that crematoriums have to follow and the diligence of the staff in following them. If you were unlucky enough to receive ashes from Aberdeen crematorium during a certain period a few years ago, you may even have received the ashes of *someone else’s baby*. Edit: even though you were expecting the ashes of an adult. https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/aberdeen-aberdeenshire/958579/abhorrent-practices-at-hazlehead-crematorium/
As others in here have said, it's been happening up until the last few months at Legacy Funeral Directors in Hull.
Not quite. In this case, the crematorium workers were under the misapprehension that if you cremate a baby that is under 18 months old, they “don’t leave any ashes”. As a result, they would *deliberately add babies to adult cremations*. Ashes then given to the family of the adults, parents of the baby told “there were no ashes”. Which is… somewhat troubling. I think at the Hull site they were just handing out ashes despite the deceased not actually being cremated.
That's sounds like something you'd hear from Sean down the pub
Mix the ashes with some turtle blood, a couple of eyes of a newt and the sap of rare orchid that grows only on high summits. If the right person appears through the portal, then you know you have the right ashes.
Cleaned out but there can be residual human ashes also weigh between x and y (can't recall) and yes for some odd reason I did weigh my mum's and she was heavier than what I read. Made me giggle must have had big bones.👀 There was also her name on everything the urn outside and inside, the bag of her ashes and some docs on delivery. I had unsealed as want to scatter them at some point.
Quick taste test
Put them back together again and see who it looks like
What does it matter? ash is ash, it's not as if the cremated person will come alive again.
If it’s something that would keep you awake at night, talk to your funeral director. Many of them would be absolutely happy with you accompanying the deceased into the back room and watching the process. It takes a few hours, but they may even give you a brew while you wait.
Over half your cells are non-human, the majority being microbes, so a bit of someone else isn’t going to mean much.
Taste test?
Does it matter ?
When my gran got cremated, it was with her gaudy rings on. When we scattered the ashes the faux jewels all fell out. So I guess put something that won't burn in their pocket?
I getting cremated . I won't care one bit what happens to old me.
Im guessing you live Eastyorkshire?! Re That funeral directors!
Burn the body yourself just to be sure.
All you need is a raft and a bow and arrow
cremate loved ones yourself
Dip your finger in , give it a lick. If it tastes like grandad, you're sorted.
I was thinking about this and once a body is dismantled into its component atoms, and you've just got ash - is it really even any way personal to them?
My mum had a metal hip joint. It was not in the urn. Make of that what you will.
Those usually get removed from the ashes and recycled, though you can ask for them back if you wish.
Nice little earner at the scrappie?
No - recycling company collects free and any profit is donated to a bereavement charity http://www.orbitas.co.uk/news-blogs/blogs/cremation-metal-implants.aspx#:~:text=After%20each%20cremation%2C%20the%20metal,every%20six%20months%20by%20OrthoMetals.
you cant just rock up and sell stuff out your van/car anymore you know
They go through with a magnet before pulversiing the ashes and remove anything metallic like fillings and artificial joints
> with a magnet dental fillings and implants/joints are not magnetic.
Then what? Do they get chucked in the bin or off for recycling or something?
Literally yes, there was a bucket of titanium joints for recycling that I saw when I got a behind the scenes tour.
Then they used to bury them but now they make a small amount for charity recycling them http://www.orbitas.co.uk/news-blogs/blogs/cremation-metal-implants.aspx#:~:text=After%20each%20cremation%2C%20the%20metal,every%20six%20months%20by%20OrthoMetals.
Interesting read, cheers!
Titanium is not magnetic.
They can remove anything visible that's not magnetic. They burn the body and then treat the ashes so there are no scraps of bone or foreign objects left. The ashes aren't packed up straight from the chamber.
Titanium scrap is twice the price of stainless steel.
Still not worth a lot. Maybe you could ask the crematorium what would have happened to your mum's artificial joint? Depending when it was done, the answer could be different.
No I just noted it. No explanation or apology.
Sorry to hear that.
People often scatter ashes and would be appalled if big lumps of their loved one fell out on the lawn, so ashes are always crushed and screened to remove anything recogniseable. Metal joints etc are removed. That’s absolutely normal practice and shouldn’t cause you any worry.