Resin Buttons VS Plastic Buttons: Understanding the Differences

Have you ever noticed the small buttons sewn on your clothes? Clothes buttons have a long history and can be seen from as early as the middle ages. Besides being used to fix clothes, they also have decorative effects.

Buttons are made of a variety of materials, including natural materials such as shells, nuts, coconuts, wood, bones, metals, gems, glass, as well as ceramics, and various plastic materials. Plastic buttons have been the most commonly used material since the industrial revolution in the 19th century. They are we widely seen on clothing, coats, shirts or even DIY drafts. In addition to plastic buttons, we will also see some resin buttons. This article mainly introduces differences between resin buttons and plastic buttons.

Differences Between Resin and Plastic

Resin and plastic are of an organic nature, which mainly consist of long hydrocarbon chains. Due to the presence of repetitive units, both have polymer characteristics.

Resins are more of a natural origin since we directly derive them from plant oozes whereas plastics are of synthetic polymeric nature. We mainly derive plastics from petrochemicals. Therefore, this origin is the key difference between resin and plastic. Moreover, another difference between resin and plastic is that the plastics are more stable, predictable and lack impurities, unlike resins in which we cannot avoid impurities.

Furthermore, plastics are slow in degrading, therefore causing environmental pollution. Also, various additives in plastics have toxic characteristics. Whereas the resins remain environmentally friendly. Hence, this is a noteworthy difference between resin and plastic. Apart from that, another difference between resin and plastic is their appearance. Plastics are hard and dense in nature, whereas resins are viscous and gluey substances.

Differences Between Resin Buttons and Plastic Buttons

As mentioned above, in addition to the difference in raw materials, another key difference between resin clothes buttons and plastic buttons lies in their manufacturing processes.

As we have already discussed, the resin raw material is liquid, so this liquid substance will undergo processes such as heating, cooling, solidification, and cutting. These processes are carried out through the mold cavity. Another manufacturing method commonly used is to coat the surface of the roll with liquid resin and then cure it. Then, the solid resin is molded and pressed into the desired form.

On the other hand, plastic buttons are made of solid substances and are made through an injection molding process.

Due to the different manufacturing process, the surface of the resin clothes button looks cleaner and brighter. They are also thicker and heavier and therefore more suitable for various applications. However, plastic buttons have the advantage of being easy in the molding process and therefore can be shaped in various forms. This also makes electroplating plastic buttons easier.

The following are the terms commonly used when discussing resin and plastic buttons and their definitions.

Polyester Buttons

The term "polyester" most commonly refers to a subtype of plastic called polyethylene terephthalate (PET), so polyester buttons belong to the group of plastic buttons.

Urea Buttons

Urea is a completely organic material, very heat-resistant, and belongs to the group of resin materials. Because the raw materials are very expensive, it is very difficult to manufacture urea buttons.

Chalk Buttons

Chalk buttons are made of unsaturated polyester resin materials combined with other chemicals. The chalk buttons can be dyed with paint, and various colors can be provided according to DTM orders.

Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS)

ABS is a thermoplastic polymer material, usually used to make plastic buttons. ABS is a very tough material with high impact resistance and heat resistance, so it is very durable.

Acrylic Buttons

Acrylic is a term commonly used to describe polymethyl methacrylate, which is a plastic material known for its lightness, toughness and transparency.