---
title: "What stationery and paper things are made of"
description: "10 stationery and paper objects broken down component by component, with the reason behind each material choice."
url: https://atoneplace.net/made-of/stationery/
site: "At One Place"
---

# Stationery and paper — what they are made of

10 stationery and paper objects, broken down.

| Object | Made of |
| --- | --- |
| Pencil | Graphite mixed with clay and fired, glued inside two grooved halves of softwood. No lead, ever. |
| Paper | Cellulose fibres from wood pulp, plus up to a third mineral filler, sizing and brightener. |
| Ballpoint pen | A tungsten carbide ball a millimetre across, rolling in a brass socket, fed by thick oil-based ink. |
| Glitter | Aluminium-coated polyester film, colour-coated and chopped into fragments — by definition a microplastic. |
| Crayon | Paraffin wax with pigment stirred in, poured hot into a mould and cooled. Almost nothing else. |
| Cardboard | Two flat kraft paper liners glued either side of a fluted paper medium — the flutes do all the work. |
| Eraser | Either natural rubber with fine abrasive and oil, or plasticised PVC — two different ways of lifting graphite. |
| Blackboard chalk | Mostly calcium sulfate — plaster of Paris — rather than the calcium carbonate the name suggests. |
| Playing card | Two sheets of paper laminated around a black glue core, then coated in plastic — or solid PVC. |
| Postage stamp | Coated paper with phosphor bands, printed in security inks, on either water-activated gum or a self-adhesive. |

- [Pencil](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/pencil/) — Graphite mixed with clay and fired, glued inside two grooved halves of softwood. No lead, ever.
- [Paper](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/paper/) — Cellulose fibres from wood pulp, plus up to a third mineral filler, sizing and brightener.
- [Ballpoint pen](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/ballpoint-pen/) — A tungsten carbide ball a millimetre across, rolling in a brass socket, fed by thick oil-based ink.
- [Glitter](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/glitter/) — Aluminium-coated polyester film, colour-coated and chopped into fragments — by definition a microplastic.
- [Crayon](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/crayon/) — Paraffin wax with pigment stirred in, poured hot into a mould and cooled. Almost nothing else.
- [Cardboard](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/cardboard/) — Two flat kraft paper liners glued either side of a fluted paper medium — the flutes do all the work.
- [Eraser](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/eraser/) — Either natural rubber with fine abrasive and oil, or plasticised PVC — two different ways of lifting graphite.
- [Blackboard chalk](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/chalk/) — Mostly calcium sulfate — plaster of Paris — rather than the calcium carbonate the name suggests.
- [Playing card](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/playing-card/) — Two sheets of paper laminated around a black glue core, then coated in plastic — or solid PVC.
- [Postage stamp](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/postage-stamp/) — Coated paper with phosphor bands, printed in security inks, on either water-activated gum or a self-adhesive.