Need durable shirt buttons

September 23, 2009 9:35 AM

The cleaner sometimes smashes my shirt buttons. Where can I find durable replacement buttons for dress shirts?

This problems occurs with different cleaners, and my current cleaner is probably the least problematic, so switching cleaners is not a viable solution. Nor is laundering and ironing the shirts myself an option - I'd rather pay a dollar a shirt to have them do it, even if it sometimes means I need to sew on a button. I already save buttons from worn-out shirts to re-use, but I would appreciate a better source.

I guess I could ask the cleaner to replace the broken buttons, but it only takes me a few minutes to replace them myself so I'd prefer not to raise a stink with them.

posted by exogenous to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (9 answers total)

You could try these guys (although they are in London), but it looks like they do a fair bit of mail order business.
posted by MuffinMan at 9:44 AM on September 23, 2009

My father owned a dry cleaners for about 1000 years, and I picked up some information on this topic. In general, all buttons are going to be of limited lifetime, unless they're made from brass or other forms of metal. Keep in mind the process involves exposing them repeatedly to heat and being smashed around. My father estimates the average lifetime of men's dress-shirts at 10 to 15 cleanings (!). That being said, your dry cleaner, if they're anything like my dad was, probably has a gigantic collection of buttons in a big tin in the back, and they will happily sort through it to find a reasonable match and sew it on. If not, they should know where to order them.

As an aside: if you buy your shirts from just about any normal mainstream store, they should have extra buttons sewn into them (either near the tags or on the bottom of the front where the buttons or button holes are). You can move those fairly easily.
posted by jeffamaphone at 10:00 AM on September 23, 2009

I just pay the cleaner to replace the buttons. They charge a dollar, and it only happens once in a while.
posted by electroboy at 10:17 AM on September 23, 2009

Jo-Ann fabric ftw. They have stores everywhere. Check the website for a store location near you. Bonus - you can get thread & needles while you're there!
posted by torquemaniac at 10:21 AM on September 23, 2009

Rugby buttons might do the trick. They're made of rubber (or rubbery substitute) so they won't shatter on the field... or, presumably, under the high-heat shirt press at the dry cleaner's.
posted by Elsa at 10:52 AM on September 23, 2009

I believe Lands End used to say that their buttons were unbreakable. This article says that there was a button that was unbreakable, called the Diamond Z button. And this even older article says that different clothes manufacturers were trying to address this issue. Might be worth trying to find these at a fabric/sewing store.
posted by Houstonian at 11:10 AM on September 23, 2009

Response by poster: Interesting, I found the patent on the Diamond Z buttons but can't find anyone selling them. I did dig up some contact information for the manufacturer and sent an email so we'll see.
posted by exogenous at 11:41 AM on September 23, 2009

Some sort of unbreakable button is being used/advertised by clothing manufacturers, so there's something available (and they must buy their buttons from a button manufacturer, but I can't find just the buttons for sale anywhere) but a trip to a sewing store might be enlightening. Generally they are staffed with extremely knowledgeable people.
posted by Houstonian at 11:47 AM on September 23, 2009

My dry cleaner ALWAYS replaced broken buttons as a matter of good service.
posted by Muirwylde at 12:15 PM on September 23, 2009