Materials

This is a list of what materials are good for what purpose and what materials may appear to be useful, but are not. Materials tend to fall under one or more of the following categories. Hopefully, this will become a fairly comprehensive list. If there is something which should be mentioned, but is not, please let me know.

Glue Coat

Without the glue coat, the ball would not be possible. The glue coat is comprised by wrappers which have an adhesive after removing their backing paper. After applying a layer of loose foil, a glue coat is applied to hold it all together.
Peppermint Pattie wrappers
The kind that come in a bag of many, not the individually wrapped ones around 2 1/2 inches or so (I haven't measured) in diameter. So far, these are the absolute best general purpose binding material for ball construction.

Peanut Butter Cup wrappers
Some, but not all of these wrappers are similar to pattie wrappers in that they have a paper backing. See below for those that do not.

Finish Coat

These wrappers have some adhesive, and are sticky enough to stay on for a finish coat. Of course, anything that works as a glue coat also makes a good finish coat, looks notwhithstanding.
Gum Wrappers
These are very difficult to peel, and the adhesive is often just barely adequate, but they make a very nice, uniform, silvery finish coat.

Andes mints
Very weak adhesive, but it's there, nonetheless.

Cloud Nine Chocolates
Somewhat difficult to peel, but by no means impossible. Yields a good-sized piece of foil which sticks weakly.

Klondike Bar wrappers
They are very difficult to peel, and the residual adhesive is weak, but they have a spiffy silvery textured finish, and if all goes well, a largish logo.

Bulk

Pretty much anything that doesn't fall into the above categories, but is, nonetheless, usable falls into this group.
Kisses/Hugs wrappers
Very thin, but also quite popular, thus plentiful. It takes bazillions of these to build up much bulk.

Hershey Candy Bars, Miniatures and Nuggets
These wrappers have the backing paper glued on with something that is more tenacious than the paper itself. The result is that if you are able to peel it at all, it is unlikely that you've gotten all of the way down to bare foil. It is possible to remove the paper from these by soaking them and then rubbing the paper off, but it is an awful lot of work.

Peanut Butter Cup wrappers
Thicker and larger than kisses/hugs. Quite greasy from the peanut butter. These are the ones that are sold many to a bag, not the vending/checkout size.

Dove Promises wrappers
Similar attributes to Peanut Butter Cups, but not greasy.

Creme Egg wrappers
Largish piece of foil. The eggs are quite expensive, though.

Sandwich Wrappers from certain restaurants
These are generally at least 1 square foot and backed with paper which is attached by water-soluble adhesive which dissolves in seconds. There are exceptions to that, though. Wrappers from Wendy's require more soaking, and then one must labor to actually rub the paper off.

Generic food service foil
At least one Mexican restaurant in my area wraps tortillas in these with certain meals. These are a general food service item, packed in a box like facial tissues. The surface is usually textured in a diagonal pattern of squares. These are pure foil, no paper to peel off.

Aluminum lids from certain beverages and similar products. These flatten out well, and are relatively thick. At the current size of the ball, they have to be torn into strips to be used.
Dannon yogurt
Minute Maid orange juice (I got one from the golden arches, for instance).
Watch out, since some of these (I've found a bunch from apple sauce) have a plastic lining which cannot be removed.

Stuff that doesn't work

Peppermint Patties (individially wrapped, approx 2 1/2" diameter)
These wrappers are made of aluminized Mylar, and contain far too much plastic to qualify for the ball. After all, they are really plastic with a bit of aluminum deposited on them to make them shiny.

Salem Lights cigarette wrapper (Probably many other brands, as well.)
See above about aluminized Mylar.

The outer wrapper from Trident gum
It is allegedly possible to produce usable foil from these, the work (soaking and scrubbing) far outweighs the benefit.

Some foil beverage lids
As previously mentioned, some of these are lined with plastic. While they would technically work, I'm trying to keep as much foreign material out of the ball as I can.

Soda/Beer cans
They are lined with plastic.

The inner wrapper from Velveeta or from cream cheese
I see a pattern here. This, too, has a plastic lining, which does not seem to be removable.

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