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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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Original poster
CodLiverOil556 · 31/05/2018 14:48

@cjt110 I think that would be down to doctor as to whether it would explode or not. Pacemakers certainly do and they can cause really bad damage.

OP posts:
Crumbelina · 31/05/2018 14:48

Brizzle! Grin

Topseyt · 31/05/2018 14:47

Actually, I have also wondered whether the ashes of already cremated pets were allowed in the coffin, like a previous poster.

Are they allowed? Or will the family have to sort that out afterwards, and scatter the pet at the same time as they scatter me?

cjt110 · 31/05/2018 14:47

Plastic/rubber with some metal bits and bobs.

ScarlettSahara · 31/05/2018 14:46

Thank you for this thread OP- very informative & thank you for the work you do too Flowers. Hated my mum’s cremation service -very ‘gothic’ looking building with the coffin disappearing on a conveyor belt -just horrid. Probably not helped by my mum & me being so young.
Dad’s was better- Coffin stayed in place with just the curtains closing around it & light & airy building & the funeral directors staff (old family business) were superb. One lady member of staff told me she had been playing my Dad’s fav song & talking to him.
Interesting that you are not keen on the wicker coffins-was something I had been considering (planning ahead so not all left to family)

Original poster
CodLiverOil556 · 31/05/2018 14:46

@TaighNamGastaOrt they go through a process of cremulation where they are crushed into ashes. Takes around 1.5 minutes.

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Original poster
CodLiverOil556 · 31/05/2018 14:45

@cjt110 what is it made of?

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Original poster
CodLiverOil556 · 31/05/2018 14:44

@TimeIhadaNameChange all natural things can be put in. Any man made fibres are not really allowed. No glass/alcohol. The funeral directors have to sign to say there is nothing untoward in the coffin. Photos and letters are fine for example but whole books are not. Not too sure about pet ashes in the cremator but they can certainly be put into your ashes after cremation but that would be down to your family.

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TaighNamGastaOrt · 31/05/2018 14:42

Sorry if this has beeen asked, but once the body has finished burning and you're left with calcified bones, do you then crush those too?
Fascinating thread OP, you sound like a lovely person. (I would have sobbed at the 4 year old too)

Original poster
CodLiverOil556 · 31/05/2018 14:41

@QuimReaper yes they are and yes the doctor has to sign to say it has been removed. We can reject a person if they have one in.

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Topseyt · 31/05/2018 14:41

Thanks for the thread. It is very informative.

All of our family funerals over the last two or three decades have been cremations, and DH and I have stated in our own wills that we are to be cremated when the time comes.

However, it is generally a mystery as to how it all works behind the scenes, so a thread where you can ask anonymously is good.

I think most questions I would have had have already been asked and answered. Thank you.

brizzledrizzle · 31/05/2018 14:41

@crumbelina you should have seen the thread when a tax credits official volunteered :-)

Original poster
CodLiverOil556 · 31/05/2018 14:40

@ciderhouserules we have a metal rake that sweeps the cremator not a sweeping brush

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cjt110 · 31/05/2018 14:40

I have hydrocephalus and used to have a shunt. I still have a resevoir in my skull. On the lines about pacemakers, are all "foreign bodies" removed, or just certain ones?

TimeIhadaNameChange · 31/05/2018 14:40

What are you allowed to put in a coffin with the body? I really want to put the ashes of my dead pets in with me, but someone told me this wouldn't be allowed. What's the truth of the matter?

Original poster
CodLiverOil556 · 31/05/2018 14:39

@ciderhouserules it metals along with any other fluids and evaporates away. We cremate at 1000 degrees c

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QuimReaper · 31/05/2018 14:38

I was under the impression that pacemakers were REALLY dangerous in crematoriums, and that crematoriums required a signature from a doctor certifying that there isn't one before they'll accept a body?

Pinkroses18 · 31/05/2018 14:38

Not only a fascinating thread but just so touching by the respect you and your colleagues show the deceased. I’m sure a lot of people grieving will be greatly helped by your thread. Thank you. Btw I also believe in life after death as well.

Original poster
CodLiverOil556 · 31/05/2018 14:38

@cjt110 it may have slipped through the net but we run a magnet through the remains but tongue bars are surgical steel aren't they? Depends on how big it was tbh

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ciderhouserules · 31/05/2018 14:37

How do you 'sweep' the cremator clear if it doesn't ever cool down?

Original poster
CodLiverOil556 · 31/05/2018 14:36

@PandaG I've never known a coffin to be hired

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ciderhouserules · 31/05/2018 14:35

Does a fat body melt? I imagine the fat to render down... Shock

I think looking through that spyhole would be like looking into hell. I'm in awe of you doing that all day. Star

SomeDyke · 31/05/2018 14:35

"I've heard a pacemaker go off and it was a very large explosion but fortunately didn't damage the cremator......"
So the opening scene from The Crow Road (Iain Banks), where his grandmother exploded was (sort of) true!

"I always say Cheerio and wish them well when charging a cremator."
That's just so nice!

Do you have any thoughts about the alkaline hydrolysis 'water cremation'? Seems to take longer, and not used here because effluent not approved for going into sewers (yet). Personally, I'd rather go up the chimney than down the drain..........

cjt110 · 31/05/2018 14:33

Kermit My cousin lost his best friend and when they had received his ashes, they were putting them into a rocket/firework to send up as a memorial to him. He said he found his friends tongue bar in the ashes. Based on what you read, this cannot be true that such metal would have survived?

PandaG · 31/05/2018 14:33

I had read you could hire a coffin, and then just be cremated in a shroud. That seems a more environmentally friendly method to me, as I wouldn't want to waste all that wood, and I truly don't want a lot of money spent on my funeral, unless it is to help my loved ones grieve. I suppose my question is, have you known coffins to be hired?

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