Can You Be Cremated in Your Own Clothes?

In most cases, yes. The Cremation Association of North America (CANA) says the family can decide whether clothing, jewelry and other keepsakes go with the body for cremation or come back to the family. The limits are practical. Everything in the container has to be safe to cremate, and jewelry and watches are normally removed and returned to you.

Can someone be cremated in their own clothes?

Usually, yes. When there is a viewing, CANA says the family selects the clothing, jewelry and casket, and the funeral home prepares the person. After the viewing, the family can decide what stays with the person for cremation.

Where there is no viewing, such as a direct cremation, nobody may think to ask about clothing. See what direct cremation includes. Ask the provider what the person will be wearing or wrapped in, whether you can supply an outfit, and by when it needs to arrive.

What should you avoid putting in?

CANA says families sometimes ask for items of significance to be cremated with the person. In some cases that can be allowed, but in many it cannot, for safety reasons. Not everything is combustible, and anything that is not can damage the equipment or the operator if it is left in the container. The funeral director will advise on what can and cannot go in.

In practical terms, check anything with:

• Metal. CANA says metal from jewelry that was not removed, from implants and from casket handles can end up in the remains. It is separated from the remains before processing and typically recycled. Metal zippers, belts, buckles, pins and buttons are in the same category.
• Batteries or electronics. CANA says not everything is combustible. Ask the provider before including a phone, hearing aid or anything else with a battery.

CANA does not publish a list of approved or banned fabrics, and crematory policies differ. If you are choosing an outfit, ask the provider whether it has any rules about fabric, shoes or accessories before you decide.

What happens to jewelry, watches and glasses?

CANA says jewelry, watches and other personal items are removed from the container and returned to the family if you arrange it ahead of time. If you would rather leave a wedding ring on the person, ask whether the crematory allows it. Metal that is not removed ends up mixed in with the remains, then gets separated and recycled, so you may not get the item back. Our guide to cremation with jewelry covers rings, watches and other pieces in more detail.

If your loved one has a pacemaker or other implant, tell the funeral home. Implants are a separate safety issue from clothing. See pacemakers and cremation.

What if there is a viewing or service first?

CANA says the family selects clothing for a viewing and the funeral home prepares the person. Where a rental casket is used, CANA says clothing, jewelry and keepsakes can either stay with the body for cremation, or be returned to the family or, for the casket, to the funeral home.

Plan the outfit with the end in mind. If the person will be cremated in it, avoid anything you want to keep, anything with metal that you would rather not lose, and anything you are not sure the crematory will accept. See funeral before cremation options and rental caskets.

If your family wants to dress the person at home, washing and dressing a body explains how.

Do faith traditions affect what the person wears?

Sometimes. The Hindu American Foundation advises that the body be dressed in traditional unstitched clothing, such as a dhoti or saree, signifying the shedding of one's worldly identity. It also says it is ideal, if practical, for the ceremony to be held within 24 hours. Customs differ by family and region, and other faiths have their own practices, so ask your faith leader and tell the provider early. See Hindu cremation in India for more on that tradition.

What do you get back?

Clothing is not part of the remains. CANA describes the remains as bone fragments, mostly calcium phosphates with some minor minerals, white to gray in color, and says the average adult weighs between four and six pounds. See what happens during cremation for how the process works from start to finish.

What to do next

1. Ask the provider what it allows in the container and what happens to clothing in a direct cremation.
2. Choose a simple outfit with little or no metal, and set aside any jewelry or watches you want back.
3. Tell the funeral home about any pacemaker or implant.
4. Get the clothing to the funeral home by the time the provider asks for it.