Crematorium technician reveals the secrets of her morbid job 

A heat proof suit, thick gloves and face mask is the stark uniform of the very last person to handle deceased loved ones as the coffins are pushed into a crematorium.

Responsible for the disposing of a dead body by burning it to ashes, typically after a funeral, the unusual job is considered a mysterious and morbid career for most. 

A crematorium technician shared the secrets of the taboo industry online where she offered her incredible insight into the world partly restricted from the public eye.  

Depending on body size and coffin materials the process lasts longer than an hour as the coffin is burned between 800C and 1000C until ashes are all that remain.

The morbid and hidden reality behind closed crematorium doors has been revealed by a crematory expert (stock image)

At the end of a cremation, ashes are mainly made up of bones and coffin as muscles and fat disintegrates completely and look like 'fine gravel' more than 'cigarette ashes' (stock image)

At the end of a cremation, ashes are mainly made up of bones and coffin as muscles and fat disintegrates completely and look like ‘fine gravel’ more than ‘cigarette ashes’ (stock image)

‘The cremulator is a machine I suppose like a coffee grinder but spins very quick,’ the technician wrote MumsNet.

‘The coffin burns away to nothing and we are absolutely not allowed to open coffins once they have been committed (passed through the curtain).’

While ‘cancer tumours’ make a cremation last longer, elderly or frail people also stretch out the burning time longer than larger people with more body fat.

‘Very thin people don’t have a lot of fuel (fat) so can take a longer,’ she explained.

At the end of a cremation, which does not smell, the ashes are mainly made up of bones and coffin as muscles and fat disintegrates completely. 

‘Flesh, muscle and organs all burn away to nothing so it is just bones and a bit of coffin in the ashes,’ the crematorium worker wrote.

The seasoned technician said there were sometimes ‘calcified bones’ left behind as well as pieces of metal from piercings or surgery – which are then recycled or sent to relatives upon request.

‘Rings, gold and silver melts and solidifies as little balls which go into the recycling with the rest of the metal unless (loved ones) have asked for metal to be returned,’ she wrote online. 

As cremation processes usually go to plan, the expert said sometimes a pace maker explodes or odd objects are found at the end including books without a single burn (stock image)

As cremation processes usually go to plan, the expert said sometimes a pace maker explodes or odd objects are found at the end including books without a single burn (stock image)

The expert also revealed her coffin preference which is anything that is not cardboard or wicker because they are 'too flimsy' and 'create a lot of ash' (stock image)

The expert also revealed her coffin preference which is anything that is not cardboard or wicker because they are ‘too flimsy’ and ‘create a lot of ash’ (stock image)

The technician, who claimed she earned about $31,000 a year in the UK, squashed rumours surrounding the trade about whether the ashes given to family are in fact from their deceased loved one.

‘They are absolutely 100 per cent the correct ashes. An ID card is attached to the remains and stays with them until the ashes leave our crem (sic),’ she said.

‘Your mum’s ashes would probably look a bit like very fine gravel (and) certainly not cigarette ashes.

‘I refer to ashes as their name but I don’t have any emotion as I didn’t know the person.  

‘I get sad at babies, small children (and) people my own age but keep it to myself.

‘It makes me embrace life and live it to the full.’

As the cremation process usually goes to plan, the expert said sometimes a pace maker explodes or odd objects are found at the end including books without a single burn.

CONFESSIONS OF A CREMATORIUM TECHNICIAN

* Black smoke occasionally comes from the chimney if there is something burning that shouldn’t be there

* Pacemakers explode sometimes and can cause damage  

* Any metals from piercings or surgery and melted and sent to be recycled – unless family request to keep them

* Calcified bones are often left after the cremation

* Coffins are never reused – they burn into nothing during the process

*There is no smell because it is all confined within the cremator 

* Cancer tumours and lack of body fat make the cremation last longer

* Bigger bodies cremate faster because of the higher fat percentage which acts as fuel

* Ashes take about an hour to cool down before they can be removed 

* Odd objects sometimes get left behind at end of cremation including a book completely left without a singe

* Ashes look more like ‘fine gravel’ then ‘cigarette ashes’ 

Source: MumsNet  

‘I have raked out (the ashes) before and had a book still intact after cremation. We think it was a bible that had very tightly packed pages and years ago funeral directors used to use bibles as pillows for deceased,’ the technician explained.

Despite cremators being ‘quite wide’ there is a ‘limit’ to the body size they can handle because of weight limits where ‘extremely big people’ have had to be lowered into burial plots ‘with a crane’. 

The expert also revealed her coffin preference which is anything that is not cardboard or wicker because they are ‘too flimsy’ and ‘create a lot of ash’.

‘The way I see it is I’m the last person to touch your loved one and for that I feel very honored,’ she wrote.

‘I always say “see you on the other side, wherever that may be”.’

Despite cremators being 'quite wide' there is a 'limit' to body size they can handle because there are weight limits  and sometimes larger coffins are lowered into burial plots 'with a crane'

Despite cremators being ‘quite wide’ there is a ‘limit’ to body size they can handle because there are weight limits  and sometimes larger coffins are lowered into burial plots ‘with a crane’



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