4Funeral Home Lighting and Jaundice Techniques

Ideal Reposing Room Lighting

Similar to a warmly lit living room, with flexibility in color and brightness.

Standard Prep Room Lighting

Fluorescent lighting that offers a glaring cool blue-white light.

Best Prep Room Lighting Option

Diffusing a recessed light with plastic panels to eliminate shadows.

Auxiliary Cosmetic Lights (Three Colors)

Blue, red, and green lights which blend in equal strength to create white light.

Torchiere Lamps

A popular but poor choice of funeral home lighting.

Reposing Room Auxiliary Bulbs

Red, blue, and amber bulbs used to adjust for light, medium, and dark complexions.

Casket Veil

A see-through piece of sheer cloth placed over the open side of the casket.

Cosmetic Casket-Veil Color

Poppy red.

Jaundice

Yellow skin appearance from excessive concentrations of bilirubin and bile pigment.

Jaundice Fluids

Special arterial fluids with bleaching/coloring qualities and low formaldehyde concentration.

Goal of Jaundice Embalming

Remove some discoloration, counterstain with red, and cover remaining areas with cosmetics.

Pre-Embalming Jaundice Treatment

Wash the body and apply a massage-cream pack.

Post-Embalming Jaundice Treatment

Remove massage cream, check for color changes, cosmetize, and use cosmetic lighting.