The Cremation Process

 - originally published October 31, 2017

During the course of my career in the funeral profession, if I had had a pound for every time anyone asked, “Do you really get your loved ones’ remains back” I would be a rich person.

People often assume that the deceased are cremated together and that families receive a quantity of what is left over, ie a mixture of people.

The short answer, if you’re in a hurry, is that you DO receive just your loved one plus their clothing, coffin and the coffin fittings. To make this more understandable (in laymen terms) I will take you through the general process.

Once the funeral service at the crematorium is complete, all the mourners have left and the flowers have been removed, the coffin is taken into a holding area.

Depending on the crematorium facilities, it may be moved through a hatch or it may be lowered on the cataphalque (the raised dais the coffin rests on during the service) into the working area.

The coffin then has an identity card attached, and this will stay with the coffin and later the cremated remains for identification purposes as it moves through the process.

The coffins are usually cremated in service order but occasionally, the size of the coffin may mean it is designated to be cremated in a larger cremator if that facility is available.

Occasionally, when the crematorium is very busy or when repair work is being carried out, a coffin may be held overnight for cremation the following day. Your funeral director will explain this to you if it affects the crematorium you have chosen to use.

The coffin at the appropriate time is charged (pushed) into the cremator which has been cleaned following the previous cremation.

The cremators only hold one coffin and it is illegal to cremate more than one body at a time. Exceptions are made for mothers with stillborn babies and for twins – but check with your local crematorium as rules change.

The cremator cremates at very high temperatures, ideally under 1,000 degrees Centigrade if possible, but sometimes going up to 1,200 degrees. This temperature will destroy jewellery as it is reduced to a blackened mass and is totally unrecognisable. The only things that survive are some artificial joints.

The process is run by computer and takes in the region of 1 hour and 30 minutes to complete. The cremator cools down for approximately one hour on completion and is then emptied of its contents. The remains now have metal removed before they are placed in the cremulator.

A cremulator acts like a large spin drier with two metal chains. This process takes just 3 minutes and the remains (which include pieces of bone) are reduce to a fine dense ash.

The quantity of cremated remains varies with the size of the person but can weigh as much as 13lb (over 5kg). The larger the person, the more you get.

The cremulator discharges the ashes into a suitable container in an extractor unit. This protects the staff from breathing in the ash – it should not be inhaled!

Most crematoria provide a suitable container (often named a ‘polytainer’). This resembles and old fashioned sweet jar with a screw top lid and is made of plastic.

You do not have a choice of colours. Some families choose their own container which they purchase separately. There are lots of different styles of urns which can be made from wood, metal, marble, cardboard or plastic.

The cremated remains, once placed in the urn, are labelled with the deceased person's details and logged as being ready for collection. Cremated remains can be collected usually from the next working day.

Questions that the funeral director may ask are:

1. Do you want the cremated remains returning or would you like them strewing in the crematorium grounds? You can choose to be there for the strewing but there may be an additional charge for this.
    
2. Do you want the metal residue returning? This includes nails from the coffin, joints from the deceased and any metal mass from jewellery etc. The majority of families let the crematorium dispose of the metal in an environmentally friendly way.
    
3. If collecting the cremated remains, would you like to collect them from the crematorium yourself or have the funeral director do so for you?
    
4. Do you want brochures on ‘the methods of memorialisation’ provided by the crematorium sent to you? Examples of methods of memorialisation are: book of remembrance; remembrance plaques; sponsoring a rosebush. If you require any of these, you should deal with the bereavement services rather than the funeral director. For advice, enquire at the crematorium.

Please note that, although the above is typical, different crematoria may have different facilities and equipment.