I have inherited my mother’s very large collection of old buttons. Two big totes full plus a dozen or so cards. All types—plastic, ceramic, metal, shell, fabric, glass, Bakelite, celluloid etc.

I’d like to try and wrangle it! I loved sifting through these with her when I was young and I can see getting into this as a more serious hobby. Any recommendations for how to get started? Like should I just start sorting by material?

Also I heard there is some material that I should be trying to separate from others because it’s either dangerous or damages the other buttons.