Something Doesn’t Smell Right! By Ben Whitworth, CFSP, Dip FD, LMBIFD, MBIE, MEAE, MNZEA
W
e all know that smells and odours are powerful things. As embalmers and funeral directors, they alert us quickly if something is amiss. How many times have we recognised the warning smell of tissue gas, before we walk through the door of the embalming room? Turning up at a private residence to make a removal, how often have we smelt the sickly-sweet smell of decomposition and known there may be trouble ahead? Most of us will at some point have had these experiences, but I hear you ask, is this an article about tissue gas or decomposition? My answer is no! I was caught out the other day while catching up with some housework at the firm. We have large stainless steel sinks in both our kitchen and utility rooms and the only thing that really seems to get them clean, and I mean properly clean, is Cif scouring powder. Cif is a UK product and probably not available in the US or Canada. I’ve heard that Bar Keepers Friend also works well on stainless steel. We found this by trial and error, but once a week, both sinks get properly scrubbed and cleaned. The first time I did this, I flipped off the cap and squirted the product round the sink bowl
and got scrubbing. Instantly the smell of the product took me back to my first day in the embalming room. At the time, we had an old ‘Jack Lee’ or ‘Midlands’ embalming table. Jack Lee was an old timer, who in his day ran an embalming supply company and embalming school. He made his own arterial and cavity fluid and among other things, produced a mobile embalming table, with an adjustable top that folded and drained in the middle into a bucket. The table was in many ways revolutionary as the embalmer had independent control over raising or lowering the head and foot of the table. At this point, I should say that I still have one of these tables. It is kept covered over in the garage, and, unless I have a severely edematous case, then along with strong fluid and a good thorough embalming, it is my go-to item. The only downside to this table, was the white fiberglass top, which required no end of scrubbing to maintain a clinical appearance. Enter the Cif scouring powder and my recollection. Was the point of this story to tell you all about my almost vintage table and how hard FuneralTimes | 47
