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Conductive Materials
  • Anti-static Foam
  • Conductive Fabric Substitute
  • Conductive Fabrics
  • Conductive Gel
  • Conductive Paints and Inks
  • Conductive Pen
  • Conductive Play-Doh
  • Conductive Tapes
  • Conductive Threads
  • Conductive Velcro
  • Conductive Yarn - collective purchase
  • Conductive Yarns
  • Fine Steel Wool
  • Graphite Powder
  • Headers
  • Metal Beads
  • Metal Fasteners
  • Metal Poppers
  • Perfboard
  • Resistive Fabrics
  • Resistive Paper
  • Resistive Rubbers
  • Custom Plugs
  • stretch conductive fabric comparison
  • Thin Flexible Wire
  • Velostat

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  • anti-static arduino battery bend button circuit Communication component conductive Conductive Materials conductive thread connection crochet eeonyx example project fabric input knit material metal neoprene Non-Conductive Materials piano pouch power pressure resistive sensor Sensors solder solution sound stretch stretch conductive fabric t-shirt thread tilt tool trace velostat wearable wireless workshop Xbee yarn
    Content by Mika Satomi and Hannah Perner-Wilson


    Hannah is currently a graduate student in the MIT Media Lab's
    High-Low Tech research group


    Supported by Distance Lab

    Anti-static Foam

    also: Resistive foam, ESD foam, black conductive polyurethane foam, dissipative foam
    Comes with sensitive electronic chips and components. Available in various densities, soft or stiff. Good for pressure sensing.

    Resistive Paper

    Black conductive paper used for electrostatic field mapping.

    >> http://store.pasco.com/pascostore/showdetl.cfm?&DID=9&Product_ID=1821&Detail=1

    Metal Fasteners

    Many traditional fabric fasteners are metal and great for making electrical plugable connections. these include hooks and loops, hook clasp, magnetic clasps and screw and socket clasps, buttons, zippers (with conductive zipper tape from Shieldex)…
    These also include metal poppers, which are covered in an extra post.

    Headers

    Come in very handy for making your own simple plugable sewable connections. Though hopefully with time these will be replaced with more sewable alternatives, for now they are an okay solution. It is nice to get the break-away option, as this saves time cutting them with the knife and losing the ones in between.

    Conductive Paints and Inks

    The biggest problem with conductive paints and inks is that they crack and loose their conductivity on fabric because the surface of fabric is porous and uneven. To print on stretch fabrics is an even bigger issue that might be resolved by combining the paints with flexible materials such as latex, silicone or fabric mediums. [...]

    Metal Beads

    Heavy metal beads are great for making tilt sensors. They can be used in combination with smaller metal beads or non-conductive glass, plastic or ceramic beads.

    You can also make your own conductive beads, either by shaping them from some stiff metal wire and possibly soldering them to add enough solder to make them heavy. One [...]

    Custom Plugs

    A series of custom made plugs to be sewable or soft.

    Graphite Powder

    We have so far unsuccessfully used graphite powder to make our own stretchy conductive glue or paint. But it is possible to make non-stretch glue/paint by mixing graphite powder and liquid tape together.

    Conductive Gel

    Conductivity similar to water.

    Velostat

    also: anti-static bag, ESD bag
    Velostat is the brand name for this material manufactured by 3M. Linqstat is the same thing, just manufactured by another company. This is also the material from which the storage bags for sensitive electrical components are made.
    Velostat is made of back, opaque, volume-conductive, carbon-impregnated polyolefin. The electrical characteristics are not affected [...]

    Conductive Velcro

    also: Hook and Loop fastener
    Velcro is the brand name for fabric Hook and Loop fasteners. conductive velcro is highly conductive and good for making switches or connections that might need to be opened and closed.

    Metal Poppers

    also know as: snap, snap fastener, press stud
    also see: Tools >> popper machines
    Metal poppers are great for making electrical connections. They are traditionally a wearable fastener. They are a washable and reliable connection method.
    We have found that not all metal poppers are good for solder to. White bronze, brass, PWP nickle free, silver finish…