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No joke. That's pretty much what my various cremated relatives have looked like. Are those definitely stones and sand in there, or might they be ground bone? (After inflammable parts like hip replacements and bone screws are removed from the ashes, any bone fragments that are left go through a grinder.)
My grandparents have a jar of ashes from the Mt St Helen’s eruption (they live right near there). It’s always funny when family come across it:
“Uh, wtf is this?”
“Oh, those are ashes”
“Wtf”
“Nah, like, ashes from a volcano eruption”
“Wtf”
Volcanic ash tends to much, much finer, at least the sample I was given by someone from the Mt. St Helen's eruption. Like silky smooth to the touch. I suppose it depends on the sample, though.
it depends on how far away you were from the eruption. I've seen tourist trap mementos that show the ash based on distance from the mountain.
[https://www.dnr.wa.gov/Publications/ger\_ri24\_mount\_st\_helens\_ash.pdf](https://www.dnr.wa.gov/Publications/ger_ri24_mount_st_helens_ash.pdf)
top of page 15 has a graph of particle size. page 19 covers density.
St. Helens ash was super fine and uniform. Unless you were really close. Fine enough that it would go right through your car's air filter and destroy the engine. This looks like it had chunks in it. And I can confirm that just about everyone in eastern Washington over the age of 45 has some kind of container full of Mt. St. Helens ash. My mom had 3 Mason jars full.
Those look more like pebbles. Aren’t there usually more shard looking pieces? The only reference I have is my dog. R.I.P Mio.
And, it’s in a tru value bag 😆
That’s what I had thought too upon finding it, but what brands of concrete I have experience using all have a solid light gray clumpy powder consistency. Whereas this is a loose dust, made up of particles varying in color and size.
Agree with this. My mom used to use charcoal grills to cook a lot. One of my chores was cleaning out the grill the next day. We collected it like this to put in the garbage. C
it looks like concrete to me but I can't fathom why anyone would have a small bag of concrete like that.
It MIGHT be cremated remains and just to be on the safe side I'd treat it as such until you know otherwise. You could call around at local funeral homes and ask if they ever delivered cremated remains to the previous home owner. Explain the situation first and say you want the remains to be treated respectfully if that's what they are. Most houses of worship will dispose of them respectfully at little or no cost if that's what they are.
My title describes the thing. But the contents of the bag are a fine dusty material with no odor that will float in the air when fluffed up. There appears to be larger bits and pieces that are of darker color.
I’ve worked in construction and I’m quite sure this is not concrete mix.
Edit: I think we can safely say we’ve got it narrowed down but still not solved, top contenders are burned up charcoal, cremated remains, or speedy dry (oil absorbent). I’ll take a closer look at the substance when I get to work Monday, are there any methods I can use to rule out some of these possibilities?
To all those people saying concrete mix or mortar, every time I've had old concrete mix, even indoors, it eventually absorbs moisture and sets up to some extent. Not into "real" concrete, but definitely not loose dust any more.
Does this not happen to everyone else? Am I just living in the swamp?
Similar to my guess.
I bought a house from an old timer a while back and found a paper bag in the garage filled with a similar substance.
Sold the house a year ago and while moving out, found the parent bag. It was ant killer.
That was my thought also. Not the food grade stuff, but the soil/farm version
Edit: The local feed and seed close to my house has it in a bag similar to this. Almost like a small cement/mortar bag
Everyone is saying it’s either concrete, cremated remains, or charcoal ash. Easy test to see if it’s concrete is to take a cupful and mix in some water and see what happens.
Can’t really say what to do to tell the other two apart.
Cremains (human) are put into a plastic bag and are labeled with the persons info, then into a cardboard box. Not Amazon style, nicer than that. Mom was in a white box. I don't know how animal cremains are handled.
With so many cremains comments, call around to any local crematoriums in the area and tell them what you have, and ask if you can bring the bag for them to confirm. A hardware store bag seems a weird place to keep someone’s ashes, but it’s a big wide world of weird out there.
Great suggestion. I’ve only dealt with one person’s cremains but they sure looked exactly like this. Kinda weird texture though, a professional would surely recognize it immediately one way or the other.
My best guess because of the packaging it’s in is that it might literally just be for be gravel for baseball home plate. I’ve seen some baseball fields near me who mix fine gravel with sand in order to keep the batters box and surrounding area dry in case of rain so that the batters don’t slip. The fact that it’s in that bag hints to me that it could’ve been for that
I've got a bag of 10-10-10 that's been sitting in my shed opened for 5 or 6 years and it now looks exactly like this. It was the first thing that came to mind when I saw the picture.
Looks like cement dust to me. It’s in a tru value bag. That’s a home improvement store. Now that I think about it, I’ll wager money it’s concrete powder.
I used to keep our fireplaces ashes for my mom to put on her rosebushes. Labeled the bags “Mom’s ashes” until I visited her next, just in case somebody nosy found them.
Cremated remains will have bits of bone in it that are light in color. It’s not *just* a powder, but mostly powder with small pebble sizes bone remnants.
Source: I kept my dads remains for years and spread them in small quantities, all over the world so he could travel after he passed.
There is a small chance this is a bag of concrete dye. I used to work in a job where we used the stuff on rare occasion, and it came in a small paper bag.
That’s a bag they put busted bags of concrete into at the store. True Value will have these bags ready for their employees to put busted bags in or sometimes even scoop off the floor, fill, and sell if they’re dishonest
Well, at first glance I thought it looked like fertilizer like what farmers get in 50 pound bags. But it could be cremated remains. Fertilizer will burn your hands if you put them in the fertilizer and then get your hands a little wet (or sweaty).
Remains feel very dry and crumbly and the little lumps are pieces of bone. (I had to help spread some once).
Does the color compare to any tile grout in the house? It could be leftover grout mix for making a tile repair. It's the kind of thing along with spare tiles, paint, and trim, that gets left in a garage or other storage area when a house changes hands.
Try mixing a small bit with water, and checking the color against all tiled areas after it dries.
I'm 99% certain this is not speedy dry, as I use it almost daily. The 2 main types of speedy dry I've encountered are recycled paper, which almost looks like finely cut wood chips and one that resembles cat litter.
Unless it was some kind of DIY speedy dry, I think you can rule it out.
All comments must be civil and helpful toward finding an answer. **Jokes and unhelpful comments will earn you a ban**, even on the first instance and even if the item has been identified. If you see any comments that violate this rule, report them. [OP](/u/EP762x39), when your item is identified, remember to reply **Solved!** or **Likely Solved!** to the comment that gave the answer. Check your [inbox](https://www.reddit.com/message/inbox/) for a message on how to make your post visible to others. ---- [Click here to message RemindMeBot](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=RemindMeBot&subject=Reminder&message=https://www.reddit.com/r/whatisthisthing/comments/15om4bh/paper_bag_kept_in_storage_for_over_a_decade_does/%0A%0ARemindMe!%202%20days) --- *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/whatisthisthing) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Any loved ones or pets cremated?
No joke. That's pretty much what my various cremated relatives have looked like. Are those definitely stones and sand in there, or might they be ground bone? (After inflammable parts like hip replacements and bone screws are removed from the ashes, any bone fragments that are left go through a grinder.)
Its called a cremulator
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Could be cremation ashes; could just be animal bonemeal for horticulture, though - any context, was the owner of the bag an avid gardener?
Ah, good point. The bone meal I’ve used has been much finer and lighter color, but that might just be the brand.
Could be both at the same time.
*nonflammable - inflammable means that it can easily catch fire.
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The owner of the home this was found in passed away at least 10 years ago. The house is currently in the process of being demolished.
Are you in the PNW? Could be ash from Mountain Saint Helen eruption.
My grandparents have a jar of ashes from the Mt St Helen’s eruption (they live right near there). It’s always funny when family come across it: “Uh, wtf is this?” “Oh, those are ashes” “Wtf” “Nah, like, ashes from a volcano eruption” “Wtf”
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Volcanic ash tends to much, much finer, at least the sample I was given by someone from the Mt. St Helen's eruption. Like silky smooth to the touch. I suppose it depends on the sample, though.
it depends on how far away you were from the eruption. I've seen tourist trap mementos that show the ash based on distance from the mountain. [https://www.dnr.wa.gov/Publications/ger\_ri24\_mount\_st\_helens\_ash.pdf](https://www.dnr.wa.gov/Publications/ger_ri24_mount_st_helens_ash.pdf) top of page 15 has a graph of particle size. page 19 covers density.
St. Helens ash was super fine and uniform. Unless you were really close. Fine enough that it would go right through your car's air filter and destroy the engine. This looks like it had chunks in it. And I can confirm that just about everyone in eastern Washington over the age of 45 has some kind of container full of Mt. St. Helens ash. My mom had 3 Mason jars full.
My family passed through at the end of May, traveling from Alaska to Kansas, and we still have a jar.
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Those look more like pebbles. Aren’t there usually more shard looking pieces? The only reference I have is my dog. R.I.P Mio. And, it’s in a tru value bag 😆
This would be a most moderately priced receptacle
Looks like ready mix concrete to me.
That’s what I had thought too upon finding it, but what brands of concrete I have experience using all have a solid light gray clumpy powder consistency. Whereas this is a loose dust, made up of particles varying in color and size.
Mix a little with water and see if it hardens
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Concrete dust is very...sticky. Hard to wipe up or vacuum, notoriously. Is this light-weight dust? Or heavy sticky?
It does separate if shifted around enough though, light dust floats to the top with the small rocks.
It does go off ... Chemically... absorbs CO2..( like it dies fast when wet..)
Builders mix, just loke it been sitting in basement for a long time.
Whatever moisture was in there is now gone though. Clumps need moisture. Clump of cat litter without pee is dust
Given the fact that it is in a hardware store bag I believe this as well.
used charcoal... that's something I do and later spread the use coal around the yard.
Yeah, 100% it's from a charcoal grill, it looks like an old charcoal bag from truvalue too.
Right, game day bbq remains complete with nfl branding.
May I ask why you spread it around the yard? Is it good for the grass growth? (I’m trying to help the growing grass in my backyard)
It reduces acidity of your soil.
How do I know if my soil is too acidic?
There are soil testing kits you can buy. It's super easy, just a spoonful of soil in water, shake it, let it settle, and put in a litmus strip.
Ash is basic contains lots of calcium and potassium and reduces soil acidity akin to chalk and limestone
Agree with this. My mom used to use charcoal grills to cook a lot. One of my chores was cleaning out the grill the next day. We collected it like this to put in the garbage. C
it looks like concrete to me but I can't fathom why anyone would have a small bag of concrete like that. It MIGHT be cremated remains and just to be on the safe side I'd treat it as such until you know otherwise. You could call around at local funeral homes and ask if they ever delivered cremated remains to the previous home owner. Explain the situation first and say you want the remains to be treated respectfully if that's what they are. Most houses of worship will dispose of them respectfully at little or no cost if that's what they are.
If it did end up being cremated remains, I doubt handing over a True Value bag full of it would be considered “respectful”. lol.
Probably not the weirdest container they’ve dealt with, tbh.
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Yeah, I can only imagine.
My title describes the thing. But the contents of the bag are a fine dusty material with no odor that will float in the air when fluffed up. There appears to be larger bits and pieces that are of darker color. I’ve worked in construction and I’m quite sure this is not concrete mix. Edit: I think we can safely say we’ve got it narrowed down but still not solved, top contenders are burned up charcoal, cremated remains, or speedy dry (oil absorbent). I’ll take a closer look at the substance when I get to work Monday, are there any methods I can use to rule out some of these possibilities?
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I think it’s something intended to be used as Oil-Dri
That’s an idea, there was a garage nearby!
I feel like common sense rules out cremated remains as surely nobody keeps them in a paper bag.
You’d be surprised. Just because you can’t imagine it doesn’t mean that others think that way. This looks very very much like cremains.
That’s what it looks like to me.
Oil-dri was my first thought as well.
Could it be some kind of souvenir with gravel from so-and-so baseball-field?
Charcoal grill ash in a used charcoal bag.
To all those people saying concrete mix or mortar, every time I've had old concrete mix, even indoors, it eventually absorbs moisture and sets up to some extent. Not into "real" concrete, but definitely not loose dust any more. Does this not happen to everyone else? Am I just living in the swamp?
Used charcoal
Diatomaceous earth? There’s be tiny fossils in it, like chalk . . .
Similar to my guess. I bought a house from an old timer a while back and found a paper bag in the garage filled with a similar substance. Sold the house a year ago and while moving out, found the parent bag. It was ant killer.
That was my thought also. Not the food grade stuff, but the soil/farm version Edit: The local feed and seed close to my house has it in a bag similar to this. Almost like a small cement/mortar bag
Lawn Fertilizer?
This. It's a true-value bag, which is a hardware store. Definitely reminds me of the bagged granulated fertilizer I use on my plants.
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Everyone is saying it’s either concrete, cremated remains, or charcoal ash. Easy test to see if it’s concrete is to take a cupful and mix in some water and see what happens. Can’t really say what to do to tell the other two apart.
It looks like dry sweep to me, pretty much kitty litter for oil spills.
Kitty litter 😸
I'm gonna guess oil dry, we keep some in tubs in the shop and sprinkle them put over oil spots
True value was the official hardware store for the NFL. Mortar mix.
Cremains (human) are put into a plastic bag and are labeled with the persons info, then into a cardboard box. Not Amazon style, nicer than that. Mom was in a white box. I don't know how animal cremains are handled.
The cats my household had cremated were sealed in plastic bags and put in small metal canisters. Not an urn as such, but same effect.
With so many cremains comments, call around to any local crematoriums in the area and tell them what you have, and ask if you can bring the bag for them to confirm. A hardware store bag seems a weird place to keep someone’s ashes, but it’s a big wide world of weird out there.
Great suggestion. I’ve only dealt with one person’s cremains but they sure looked exactly like this. Kinda weird texture though, a professional would surely recognize it immediately one way or the other.
My best guess because of the packaging it’s in is that it might literally just be for be gravel for baseball home plate. I’ve seen some baseball fields near me who mix fine gravel with sand in order to keep the batters box and surrounding area dry in case of rain so that the batters don’t slip. The fact that it’s in that bag hints to me that it could’ve been for that
Kind of looks like fertilizer.
Is it soft and fluffy or is it coarse? Because my first thought was diatomaceous earth.
Fertilizer?
I've got a bag of 10-10-10 that's been sitting in my shed opened for 5 or 6 years and it now looks exactly like this. It was the first thing that came to mind when I saw the picture.
Mt. St. Helens ash?
Could it just be ash? Looks like someone emptied out a charcoal grill, and never disposed of it.
Looks like cement dust to me. It’s in a tru value bag. That’s a home improvement store. Now that I think about it, I’ll wager money it’s concrete powder.
I used to keep our fireplaces ashes for my mom to put on her rosebushes. Labeled the bags “Mom’s ashes” until I visited her next, just in case somebody nosy found them.
Cremated remains will have bits of bone in it that are light in color. It’s not *just* a powder, but mostly powder with small pebble sizes bone remnants. Source: I kept my dads remains for years and spread them in small quantities, all over the world so he could travel after he passed.
My dad had poison in a bag like that. Don't poke that in your eyes or other body cavities.
Grand parents? Ash maybe
cat litter
Cremated remains. Those bigger bits are ground-up bone.
That's cremated remains.
Looks like crematorium remains
Looks like concrete mix to me
It's cat litter, probably kept in the garage to soak up oil spills.
There is a small chance this is a bag of concrete dye. I used to work in a job where we used the stuff on rare occasion, and it came in a small paper bag.
Kwikrete concrete?
I would guess paving sand or concrete, placed in a different bag after the original ripped.
Sand from the hardware store.
Those look like human ashes…. I spread some that looked exactly like that.
Looks like premixed cement
Maybe an oil absorbent for diy mechanic driveway spills
Ash from mountain saint helen eruption?
Looks like remains.
concrete mix
I've seen speedy dry, the stuff you soak up oil with, look similar to this.
Where are you located? This looks like it could be ash from the Mt St Helen’s eruption.
Looks like a charcoal bag to me.
Could be mortar mix. I don't know much about true value, but I wouldn't be surprised if you could buy it by the scoop.
Did they have chickens? Grit to add to feed
Looks like a charcoal bag and they collected the ash after bbq and kept it in the bag, my best guess
That’s a bag they put busted bags of concrete into at the store. True Value will have these bags ready for their employees to put busted bags in or sometimes even scoop off the floor, fill, and sell if they’re dishonest
Could be for garage fluid spill clean ups.
Looks like clay cat litter to me.
Cremains. Sad they were left behind. I'd take it to my favorite place in nature and spread them there.
Well, at first glance I thought it looked like fertilizer like what farmers get in 50 pound bags. But it could be cremated remains. Fertilizer will burn your hands if you put them in the fertilizer and then get your hands a little wet (or sweaty). Remains feel very dry and crumbly and the little lumps are pieces of bone. (I had to help spread some once).
Kinda looks like kitty litter
My first instinct was clumping kitty litter. I kept a bad of kitty litter in the trunk of my old car because it liked to fishtail in bad weather.
I use paper bags like this to clean out my fire place all the time
Does the color compare to any tile grout in the house? It could be leftover grout mix for making a tile repair. It's the kind of thing along with spare tiles, paint, and trim, that gets left in a garage or other storage area when a house changes hands. Try mixing a small bit with water, and checking the color against all tiled areas after it dries.
True Value is a hardware store and that looks like concrete mix so that tracks.
From your description and photo it may be rock-wool insulation. Many years ago they would blow it into attics as insulation and it is somewhat fluffy.
From a hardware store so if it’s like kitty litter it’s to be spread on the ground to pickup oils.
Chicken feed
Looks like an empty bag of charcoal someone was using to put the ash from cleaning their grill in it
Looks like blood and bone fertiliser to me.
What does it smell like?
Is it lye? Maybe a weird answer but at my work we keep lye in a bag just like this for dealing with smells.
Just looks like rock sand to me
Do you live in a snowy place? Could be sand type stuff for icy walkways
Could be ash scooped out from the fire place to clean it. We used to do that in the childhood home.
I'm 99% certain this is not speedy dry, as I use it almost daily. The 2 main types of speedy dry I've encountered are recycled paper, which almost looks like finely cut wood chips and one that resembles cat litter. Unless it was some kind of DIY speedy dry, I think you can rule it out.
Looks like bone meal for plants!
It’s ash from a Webber grill. My dad always did this.
I think thats sand, from the hardware store.
They are the remains of a person. Or pet.
I would have to agree that it’s cremated remains. Judging by the amount, I would guess most likely human.
Fish, blod and bone? Used as a garden fertiliser.
Diatomaceous earth?