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Original poster

Crematorium Technician here

686 replies

CodLiverOil556 · 31/05/2018 13:11

I see lots of threads about cremations and Crematoria. I'm currently a crem tech so please ask me questions and I will endeavor to answer them.

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HildaZelda · 31/05/2018 21:29

Thank you so much for this thread OP.

readyforapummelling · 31/05/2018 21:12

@olderthanyouthink thank you! Got it.

Akire · 31/05/2018 21:11

You said metal Handels have to come off but most would be just plastic look alike ones? A quick google shows most as solid metal. Are families told at purchase that these will be given back to funeral home? Who takes them Off after funeral But before they go in?

TwitterQueen1 · 31/05/2018 21:09

irksome I agree. Reading about the funeral pyre on top of a mountain in Colorado would actually be my preferred way now I think. I wouldn't mind being mingled with other people's remains and left on a mountain top (especially in the most amazing state in the US). But I'm not sure my DCs would agree and I tend to think that whatever will help them most is what they should do with my remains.

Angelil · 31/05/2018 21:08

Thank you OP for the care you clearly put into your job. If only more people were like you.

FiestaThenSiesta · 31/05/2018 21:04

Are you allowed to bury cremated bones? So you could bury your loved one in say your backyard (and take them with you if you move?)

Original poster
CodLiverOil556 · 31/05/2018 21:04

@BeachyUmbrella yes we've had a power cut half way through...the back up generator fired up but we had to reset the cremator after the one in was finished. Was a pain all round but the cremation was still done correctly and within the law.

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Parkrunner25 · 31/05/2018 21:03

"I've had a good sob to my colleague before when I've charged a 4 year olds coffin"

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for caring so much. Xx.

Original poster
CodLiverOil556 · 31/05/2018 21:02

@AndIWouldWalk500Yards yes funeral directors are aware and they have this discussion with families. We can fit someone who is 8 feet tall in our cremator so height isn't the issue...it's the width.

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PandaPieForTea · 31/05/2018 21:01

I just think they’d be more interesting to keep than ground up ashes. I guess I’d keep them in a box somewhere - a bit like keeping an urn of ground up ashes. I suppose the converse question is ‘why would you want them to be ground up?’ It’s just a social convention. Obviously you couldn’t really scatter them if they were still bones/big bits as it would be disconcerting if they were found.

Original poster
CodLiverOil556 · 31/05/2018 21:01

@Akire yes absolutely. The cremator is quite wide but there is a limit. Also trolleys have a weight limit they can safely handle as they're all hydraulic.

I've seen people who are extremely big get lowered into a burial plot with a crane as their coffins were too heavy to be lowered by bearers.

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DiabolicalMess · 31/05/2018 21:00

Thank you Kermit for a very touching, insightful and reassuring thread.

BeachyUmbrella · 31/05/2018 21:00

Have you ever been out of power or run out of fuel? Particularly half way through, I suppose.

tass1960 · 31/05/2018 21:00

Fascinating - I have always been adamant that I don't want to be cremated but more recently I have been thinking that I don't want my kids to feel obliged to visit a grave either (I feel horrible guilt when I don't get to my mum's/sister's graves often enough). I feel very reassured now and may have to change the funeral instructions in my Will -!thank you so much for this X

AndIWouldWalk500Yards · 31/05/2018 20:59

Sorry more questions re larger deceased people. Do funeral directors have the measurements for people who can be cremated so families understand what is possible or not from the outset? Clearly it isn't just obese people, it might be very tall people.

Akire · 31/05/2018 20:57

Fantastic and educational thread OP.
IS there a size where you are to
Big/fat to be cremated? Is there a cut off point? Or was it built to cover every possible situation?

Original poster
CodLiverOil556 · 31/05/2018 20:56

@PandaPieForTea I wouldn't have thought so. I've never been asked that question before though. Why wouldn't you want them ground into ashes? Where would you put them?

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LoveProsecco · 31/05/2018 20:54

This is fascinating. Thank you for sharing

PandaPieForTea · 31/05/2018 20:51

Would it be possible to have the bones/bone fragments returned instead of having them ground up and returned?

AndIWouldWalk500Yards · 31/05/2018 20:49

Thank you Kermit. I will pass that information on.

lastnightidreamtofpotatoes · 31/05/2018 20:49

AFAIK you don't have to have any sort of license to carry a corpse yourself, it doesn't even have to be in a coffin in public, but it is an offence to expose it in a public place (it can be shrouded/wrapped up)

An acquaintance's wife had a stillborn baby and they wanted to bury her in Ireland. They took her (in a coffin) and drove all the way themselves.

BrigitsBigKnickers · 31/05/2018 20:46

What a fascinating thread.

I lost my mum 5 years ago and I researched cremation before the funeral and it gave me some sort of strange comfort so I can see why this thread has created such interest.

Please ask for it to go into classics as it will be lost if it remains in chat.

The funeral director we used was just lovely. I remember her telling me she tucked my mum up each night and said goodnight in the days between her arriving there and the funeral.

I love the fact you say cheerio before cremating the deceased- it gives me great comfort to know someone like you is there with our loved ones on their final journey.

Original poster
CodLiverOil556 · 31/05/2018 20:44

@AndIWouldWalk500Yards we have a large cremator and would go by the size of coffin not necessarily the weight. Especially the width and length. If her coffin was too big then she would have to be buried.

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Original poster
CodLiverOil556 · 31/05/2018 20:41

@BeachyUmbrella I'm not sure you do. That's one for a funeral director

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Original poster
CodLiverOil556 · 31/05/2018 20:38

@CookPassBabtridge very thin people don't have a lot of fuel (fat) so can take a longer

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