List of raw materials used in button-making

Please see external links for images of buttons (front & back) made from the material(s) in question. ("NBS name" refers to labelling used by the National Button Society, USA.)

Natural materials

animal-derived

• bone^[1]
• horn^[1]
• horsehair^[2]
• ivory^[1]
• leather^[1]
• pearl
• shell ^{(Images of buttons made from all the shell types listed below)}

seashells:

• abalone
• conch
• cowry
• helmut
• mother of pearl
• mussels
• nautilus
• operculum
• oyster
• pearl oyster
• pinna
• trochus
• turbo snail

land shells:

• emerald green snail shell

plant-derived

• coconut shell^[1]
• bamboo^[1]
• gourd^[1]
• gutta percha^[1]
• Tagua Nut
• natural, woven fabrics and/or textiles^[3]
• linoleum^[4][5]
• paper (e.g. papier mache)^[1]
• rubber^[1][6]
• vegetable ivory^[7][8]
• wood^[9]

Rocks and minerals (or predominantly mineral-derived substances)

• bauxite
• catlinite
• cinnabar^[1]
• coal^[10]
• enamel^[11]
• glass^[12][13]
• gypsum (a.k.a. plaster of Paris)^[1]
• marcasite
• metals:^[14]

aluminium

brass^[15]

pot metal

sterling silver

steel^[16]

• whiteware ceramics:

earthenware^[17]

• china^[18][19]

Synthetic materials

plastics

• acrylic resin
• bakelite^[20]
• catalin (NBS name: phenolic or bakelite type)^[21]
• celluloid^[22][23][24]
• galalith, a.k.a. casein^[25] (NBS name: casein)^[20]
• lucite
• melamine formaldehyde (NBS name: amino resin)
• phenolic resin (NBS name: phenolic or bakelite type)
• urea-formaldehyde (NBS name: amino resin)

synthetic fibres

• synthetic textiles

See also

• Button collecting
• History of technology
• Seashells in personal adornment