How do ashes look

To the untrained eye, the gray powder you see in the photo looks like fireplace ashes. The material is not soft and fluffy like wood ashes. They range in color from a pasty white to a deep gray. As you may remember from school science classes, our bodies are mostly water. Inside the retort cremation chamber , temperatures are between and degrees Fahrenheit, so all the water is vaporized, along with tissues, organs, cartilage, etc. Those gases are safely taken away through the furnace exhaust system.

When the cremation process is complete, the bone fragments are allowed to cool, then carefully removed and crushed to a more consistent size of particles. The cremation ashes of an adult will usually weigh between four and six pounds. Even though cremations have surpassed burials in terms of popularity, there is still a significant amount of taboo and mystery surrounding the practice. At our firm, we want to dispel some of the more popular cremation myths so that families can make informed decisions.

The cremated remains that are returned to your family are actually bone fragments that have been processed down to resemble ashes. The cremation process does not actually burn the body and reduce it to ashes like a fire when it burns wood.

During the cremation process, the remains are marked beforehand, and the family is also required to identify the remains before the cremation can begin. Most Religions Forbid Cremation Something we often hear from families when making funeral arrangements is that their religion forbids cremation.

Depending on your religion, this may or may not be true. A: With the rise in cremation, many people wonder what do cremation ashes look like. When you receive the ashes back from the crematory, it will be one of two colors. Why are human ashes different colors? Well, it all depends on how the cremation is performed. In this article, we will show you what do cremation ashes look like and explain why are cremated ashes different colors.

However, first, here is a brief overview of the two forms of cremation. As stated above, the color of cremation ashes depends on how the body is cremated. Most do not know that there are in fact two ways that bodies are cremated today: traditional cremation and water cremation. Most of you know what happens to your body during the cremation process.

If not we can describe it in 3 simple steps:. Also known as water cremation and alkaline hydrolysis, flameless cremation is an alternative method of cremation. Instead of fire to burn the body, water is used. Unlike traditional cremation, there are no harmful by-products of this method.