#grave wax

[chupacabracrafts]

Gently scraping the grave wax (adipocere) from the eye sockets of this nice specimen of a young ram skull.

Number 3 of 3 that a coworker donated to me last December

[hodrakonhomegas]

Grave Wax day

[cupidford]

Grave Wax by CatieBrie

Johnlock Love Letters #1737

Sherlock solves his own murder. (Hopeful ending)

[mggoteater]

Honeycomb Shoes by Aganetha Dyck

[oddarticulations]

Adipocere 101- How to Prevent and Remove Grave Wax From Bones

Adipocere 101- How to Prevent and Remove Grave Wax From Bones

What is Adipocere?

In terms of cleaning bones, adipocere is a white waxy or chalky substance that is sometimes seen on bones after being found in nature or after Macerating. Adipocere, also called corpse wax or grave wax, is formed by fats breaking down in ideal conditions (wet and low oxygen). In human decomposition it can encompass the entire corpse and turn hard, preserving the body for many…

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[alithographica]

The science of soap, with a macabre twist. :)

Forgive me for illustrating the chemical process and not a saponified body. There’s not much to see, it just looks like a rather unfortunate moldy corpse.

Transcript below the cut.

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Saponification

Saponification is a chemical reaction that produces soap from fats and oils. [Illustration: A triglyceride (fat molecule) reacts with an alkali*. Glycerol and soap are produced.] *A base is a compound that can neutralize an acid. A base that can dissolve in water is called an alkali. While the most well-known application of this process is the manufacture of everyday cleaning soaps, saponification can also happen naturally. Nature is full of fats and oils, particularly in the fatty tissues of animals. Under certain conditions, a corpse’s decomposition may be slowed enough to allow for certain bacteria to break down and saponify the body’s fatty tissue. It’s seen most often in moist, slightly alkaline*, oxygen-poor environments, such as in leaky coffin or at the bottom of a lake. The resulting soap is a crumbly white or gray substance called adipocere, also known as grave wax or corpse wax. Human corpses can begin to saponify in as little as a few weeks (though it takes years to convert the whole body). Over time the adipocere can form a protective shell around the corpse, preserving its organs and other soft tissues for hundreds of years.

[shadyufo]

Hello! I ordered a bobcat skull online, and it had grave wax on it and smelled pretty funky. I put it outside on my picnic table in the sun just until I could deal with it, and now the concrete under my table and the hose next to it have grave wax growing on them. (I live in Florida and it's pretty wet here, so the wax is lovin it.) Uhhhh, is this bad?

Hey, sorry, it's the grave wax anon again. I was reading about it a little, is it even possible for adipocere to grow on something that doesn't have fat? Is it something else? I can get some pictures if that helps.

Hi there!

Adipocere (aka grave wax, coffin wax) isn’t really something that spreads or grows like a fungus. It’s basically just the remains of fatty tissue that has degraded after death. In ideal conditions fat decomposes like most other tissue but if the carcass is kept wet and too cool then instead of decaying fat will harden into a white (sometimes brown, grey, or yellow), wax-like substance. It can remain on bones or carcasses for centuries (look up “soap mummies” ) if left alone but it can be remove from bone with hot, soapy water, a sturdy scrubber brush, and some elbow grease.

Is it possible some of the grave wax has just come loose and fallen onto the concrete and hose below it? It’ll stick around for a while on the ground before the elements and local insects take care of it.

Could also possibly be a sort of mold or algae. What color is it? Coffin wax looks like crumbly, light-colored lumps of tissue. Mold or algae can come in a variety of colors (I’ve seen white, black, red, green, brown, yellow, orange, even blue and purple) but will typically look like slime or fuzz.

I’d love to see some photos if you wouldn’t mind submitting some!

[thethcministry]