# can you freeze dry a person? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 8, 2008, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-freeze-dry-a-person/455682 "2008-07-08T13:27:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![nephish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/8e7dd6/32.png) [@nephish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nephish)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-freeze-dry-a-person/455682/1 "2008-07-08T13:27:25Z")
hey there all, this is my first post after reading this board for years. I had to ask about one of the weird urls from the straight dope main page that linked [here](http://www.perpetualpet.net/index.html) , and i wondered if this could be done with a person. Is there something illegal about it? imagine never having to really say good-bye to grandpa ! ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-freeze-dry-a-person/455682/2 "2008-07-08T14:08:24Z")
I’m sure you _could_ freeze-dry a person. Freeze-Drying is used for taxidermy all the time. There are certainly chambers large enough for the purpose. Just be sure to put glass or plastic eyes in, because the eye is mostly water, and without the eye, Grandpa’s face won’t look right, even with closed lids. As for whether you’d get in trouble, I don’t know. I have no idea what federal, state, or local regulations you might run afoul of, and what requirements are. Also note that, even though freeze-drying is a great way to preserve things, once you stick freeze-dried Grandpa in moist soil he’ll rehydrate, and interesting decay issues will arise, which might be subject to those ordinances I noted above. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-freeze-dry-a-person/455682/3 "2008-07-08T14:45:59Z")
[QUOTE=nephish] hey there all, this is my first post after reading this board for years. I had to ask about one of the weird urls from the straight dope main page that linked [here](http://www.perpetualpet.net/index.html) , and i wondered if this could be done with a person. Is there something illegal about it? imagine never having to really say good-bye to grandpa ! [/QUOTE] How do you feel about [plastic](http://www.cafebabel.com/eng/article/23854/gunther-von-hagens-dead-bodies-plastinator.html)? Using this technique, you can pose the bodies or slice them up like canned cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-freeze-dry-a-person/455682/4 "2008-07-08T15:04:00Z")
Can I freeze dry a person? No, I don’t have the equipment. I do have a regular standalone freezer though, if you want me to just regular freeze someone. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-freeze-dry-a-person/455682/5 "2008-07-08T15:49:25Z")
Of course you can freeze-dry a person! You didn’t think the freeze-dried ice cream they sell in the gift shop of the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum was really freeze-dried _ice cream_, did you? ---
**Author:** ![chocolatefrog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/41988e/32.png) [@chocolatefrog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chocolatefrog)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-freeze-dry-a-person/455682/6 "2008-07-08T16:25:40Z")
I’m getting images of Han Solo here… ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-freeze-dry-a-person/455682/7 "2008-07-08T16:47:03Z")
I seem to recall a news story a couple of years ago, about a company in Scandinavia that would freeze-dry cadavers, then grind them into mulch that you could plant a memorial tree over. They claimed that it was more eco-friendly than cutting down trees for cemetaries. ---
**Author:** ![freekalette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/50afbb/32.png) [@freekalette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freekalette)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-freeze-dry-a-person/455682/8 "2008-07-08T17:27:35Z")
[QUOTE=mbh] I seem to recall a news story a couple of years ago, about a company in Scandinavia that would freeze-dry cadavers, then grind them into mulch that you could plant a memorial tree over. They claimed that it was more eco-friendly than cutting down trees for cemetaries. [/QUOTE] That’s fantastic! Hopefully this idea catches on in more places. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-freeze-dry-a-person/455682/9 "2008-07-08T17:46:56Z")
Well, that bronze-age fellow they found in a glacier in (ISTR) Switzerland sure looked freeze-dried to me. He had been frozen for millenium, but was pretty well dried out into the bargain. What was his name again? ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-freeze-dry-a-person/455682/10 "2008-07-08T17:51:51Z")
I find that it’s generally best to send them through a woodchipper first. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-freeze-dry-a-person/455682/11 "2008-07-08T17:58:06Z")
[QUOTE=teela brown] Well, that bronze-age fellow they found in a glacier in (ISTR) Switzerland sure looked freeze-dried to me. He had been frozen for millenium, but was pretty well dried out into the bargain. What was his name again? [/QUOTE] Ötzi, and he was found in the Alps between Austria and Italy. ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-freeze-dry-a-person/455682/12 "2008-07-08T17:59:32Z")
[Yep](http://www.cryonics.org/) ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-freeze-dry-a-person/455682/13 "2008-07-08T18:17:53Z")
Not too long ago, I saw a show about an expert taxidermist that invented a freeze drying technique for animals even bigger than humans. The process takes a few weeks but it looked like it worked great. ---
**Author:** ![AlmondJoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@AlmondJoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlmondJoy)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-freeze-dry-a-person/455682/14 "2008-07-08T23:07:54Z")
um ew… i’d refer grandpa 6 feet under… that’s just a bit creepy ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-freeze-dry-a-person/455682/15 "2008-07-08T23:10:20Z")
I keep hearing a deviant version of the Folger’s commercial, where they substitute Grampa for the coffee the normally serve in Taven On The Green… ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2008, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-freeze-dry-a-person/455682/16 "2008-07-09T00:44:10Z")
Flay him and tan his hide and make a grandpa skin rug to frolic about on in front of the fireplace. What? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2008, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-freeze-dry-a-person/455682/17 "2008-07-09T01:11:39Z")
Watch episode 1 of [Eerie, Indiana](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eerie,_Indiana). ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2008, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-freeze-dry-a-person/455682/18 "2008-07-09T01:13:23Z")
[QUOTE=Cluricaun] Flay him and tan his hide and make a grandpa skin rug to frolic about on in front of the fireplace. What? [/QUOTE] o/` "Tan me 'ide when I'm dead, Fred. Tan me 'ide when I'm dead..." So we tanned 'is 'ide when 'e died, Clyde, and that's it 'angin' on the shed! o/`