# DIY Cremation **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 17, 2013, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diy-cremation/653164 "2013-03-17T12:31:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![chris.denning.1961](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@chris.denning.1961](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chris.denning.1961)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2013, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diy-cremation/653164/1 "2013-03-17T12:31:39Z")
Realize it isn’t exactly an activity that lends itself to DIY and I know it will probably vary from state to state, but… Is there any reason why my family members cannot build a funeral pyre and torch my remains after I have joined the choir invisible? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2013, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diy-cremation/653164/2 "2013-03-17T15:56:16Z")
Same reason we can’t burn trash, like we used to when I was a kid: air pollution. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2013, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diy-cremation/653164/3 "2013-03-17T16:28:33Z")
We can burn trash where I live, come on by. ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2013, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diy-cremation/653164/4 "2013-03-17T16:35:35Z")
I’m not sure if every state specifically outlaws it, but you’re probably very likely to run afoul of _some_ sort of rules concerning disposal of human remains because it’s really difficult to effectively cremate someone on a pyre. In most of the cultures that do funeral pyres, they’re to a certain extent symbolic and you still usually end up with identifiable remains to deal with, especially if the family can’t afford the enormous amount of wood required for a proper pyre. See for example all the problems with human remains in areas where the “ashes” being released into the Ganges are often only charred-on-the-outside bodies. The Gram Parsons story might be of interest to you (recounted [here](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1062/whats-up-with-the-strange-end-of-country-rock-pioneer-gram-parsons) by the master). They only ended up getting charged with theft of the coffin (although perhaps could have been charged with littering for leaving Gram’s poorly cremated body behind), but I would guess the rules about such things have changed since the 60’s. ---
**Author:** ![chris.denning.1961](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@chris.denning.1961](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chris.denning.1961)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2013, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diy-cremation/653164/5 "2013-03-19T12:52:23Z")
ok… so of course the next question(s)… How long? How hot? Just how dedicated/motivated would my grieving relatives and friends need to be? It would obviously be easier to turn things over to professionals but they are a parsimonious lot!!! ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2013, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diy-cremation/653164/6 "2013-03-19T14:17:15Z")
In [this previous thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=679132), one poster who had worked in a funeral home said that cremation might cost as little as $600, while others suggested donation of the body for research or education, which might not cost anything for the family. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2013, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diy-cremation/653164/7 "2013-03-19T14:22:19Z")
Make your own pile of wood, soak it in gasoline, climb on top and light a cigarette. Who they gonna charge with a crime? ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2013, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diy-cremation/653164/8 "2013-03-19T14:24:31Z")
I hope you’re not upwind of me or anyone who cares. ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2013, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diy-cremation/653164/9 "2013-03-19T14:40:22Z")
> [@chris.denning.1961](#): > > ok… so of course the next question(s)… > > How long? How hot? Just how dedicated/motivated would my grieving relatives and friends need to be? It would obviously be easier to turn things over to professionals but they are a parsimonious lot!!! If you don’t mind cremation taking some time you could try the “[wick effect](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wick_effect)” - wrap the body head to legs in heavy natural cotton or blankets, maybe smeared with lard or soft paraffin wax (particularly the legs). Light both ends - and stand well clear. It will take several hours, but the fats from the body will maintain burning as water boils away. This process has been known to cause the bones to reduce to ash. It probably won’t work with an athlete or really skinny individual, though. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2014, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diy-cremation/653164/11 "2014-02-03T13:54:00Z")
> [@chris.denning.1961](#): > > ok… so of course the next question(s)… > > How long? How hot? Just how dedicated/motivated would my grieving relatives and friends need to be? It would obviously be easier to turn things over to professionals but they are a parsimonious lot!!! I think they’d have to be dedicated/motivated enough to come up with a 3,000°f fire to cremate you. ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2014, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diy-cremation/653164/12 "2014-02-03T20:20:02Z")
> [@chris.denning.1961](#): > > ok… so of course the next question(s)… > > How long? I couldn’t really say, but some zombies can stagger around burning for quite some time 😉 Thread resurrected by now deleted spam, FWIW. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2014, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diy-cremation/653164/13 "2014-02-03T20:31:19Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > I hope you’re not upwind of me or anyone who cares. Actually, I would rather not be downwind of you. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2014, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diy-cremation/653164/14 "2014-02-03T20:38:55Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > In [this previous thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=679132), one poster who had worked in a funeral home said that cremation might cost as little as $600, while others suggested donation of the body for research or education, which might not cost anything for the family. There was a huge kerfluffle a few years ago when some folks at UCLA were caught selling stiffs for a profit. If corpsicles have monetary value, is there any I can sell dear old Uncle Mort’s body for profit? > [@si\_blakely](#): > > Thread resurrected by now deleted spam, FWIW. I shudder to think what it was an ad for… ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2014, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diy-cremation/653164/15 "2014-02-03T20:48:24Z")
Kingston Cadaver Starter. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2014, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diy-cremation/653164/16 "2014-02-03T20:58:49Z")
> [@](#): > > I think they’d have to be dedicated/motivated enough to come up with a 3,000°f fire to cremate you. As various sources including one of Cecil’s columns established (the one on SHC), it doesn’t require 2-3000 degrees to cremate a body. Those temps are used to do it quickly, fuel-efficiently and with the least noxious gases and smoke. You can completely cremate a large body, down to crumbling bones, with any temperature that will char organic materials. it will just take longer and produce more smoke and gases. (We also dealt with this misunderstanding in discussing the supposedly-missing children from the 1940s fire - both the conditions and the misunderstanding of cremation requirements is what lead to the assumption they were not in the fire. Bodies “cooking” in the charcoal pit of a house collapsed into its basement will be bone ash in hours, even at only 800-1000 degrees.) ---
**Author:** ![48Willys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/db5fbb/32.png) [@48Willys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/48Willys)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2014, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diy-cremation/653164/17 "2014-02-04T07:25:00Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > As various sources including one of Cecil’s columns established (the one on SHC), it doesn’t require 2-3000 degrees to cremate a body. Those temps are used to do it quickly, fuel-efficiently and with the least noxious gases and smoke. > > You can completely cremate a large body, down to crumbling bones, with any temperature that will char organic materials. it will just take longer and produce more smoke and gases. > > (We also dealt with this misunderstanding in discussing the supposedly-missing children from the 1940s fire - both the conditions and the misunderstanding of cremation requirements is what lead to the assumption they were not in the fire. Bodies “cooking” in the charcoal pit of a house collapsed into its basement will be bone ash in hours, even at only 800-1000 degrees.) Once when working on a farm, we cremated a cow in an eight hour fire. We had over 12 acres of brush to clear for a new pasture. We piled the brush up to burn the next day (with a Cat). In the morning, we found one of the cows dead in a pond. With a front end loader, we put her on top of the pile and lit the pile. At the end of the day, we had a smoldering heap of ashes. I stood fire watch all night. The next day we sifted the pile to remove any large rocks from the new field. We did not find any bones in the sifting. Just rocks and ash. Some Native American tribes, and some First Nations folks, burn their dead in a religious ceremony. This used to be allowed on some of the reservations. Join one of these groups before you pass on. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2014, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diy-cremation/653164/18 "2014-02-04T15:48:55Z")
> [@si\_blakely](#): > > I couldn’t really say, but some zombies can stagger around burning for quite some time 😉 > > Thread resurrected by now deleted spam, FWIW. I thought it was mummies, not zombies that were vulnerable to fire? \ ---
**Author:** ![Willy\_Pete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Willy\_Pete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Willy_Pete)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2014, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diy-cremation/653164/19 "2014-02-04T16:49:13Z")
Zombies burn but with little effect. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Small](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee59a6/32.png) [@David\_Small](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Small)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diy-cremation/653164/20 "2014-09-08T22:01:36Z")
I did a DIY cremation for my Dad earlier this year. My brother had been involved with one before so he knew a bit about it. But we had no problem. Got official permits etc… Designed and built the incinerator ourselves. Used firewood for fuel. Reduced my Dad (a big man), his coffin, and a heap of wood down to less than 2 gallons of ash over about seven hours. I’d be happy to offer advice and/or assistance, although I am in New Zealand. David Small