Who invented Velcro?

Velcro, the “zipperless zipper,” exists on a variety of products from children’s shoes to laptop bags to blood pressure gauges to airplane flotation devices. While the term is used synonymously to describe the hook-and-loop style of binding, it’s actually the name of the company that produced the technology from which now many thousands of imitators trace their products’ origins

In 1948, Swiss engineer and amateur mountaineer George de Mestral went hiking in the woods with his dog. Upon arriving back at his home, he took note of the burrs that clung to his clothes and he wondered if such an idea could be useful in commercial application. He studied a burr under a microscope only to discover that they were covered in tiny hooks, which allowed them to grab onto clothes and fur that brushed in passing. After more than eight years of research and work, he created what is known now today as Velcro, a combination of the words “velvet” and “crochet.” Made up of two strips of fabric, one covered in thousands of tiny hooks and the other with thousands of tiny loops, the materials gripped together firmly while still allowing easy release.

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99 Comments

Egide Victor Beaudoin

Not velvet, but velour, and he could not manufacture the idea, so after 7 years of trying to make the product, he came to New Hampshire that had a long history of weaving. The company originally tried making both the hook and the loop from the same kind of material, but what they did was to starch the loop material to make it stiffer. That did not work, because after about 10 tries to open and close, the loop became soft. BUT (and here is the answer to why we have a product, that everyone calls VELCRO today) the supplier of their yarn sent them some Nylon instead of Dacron, because the part numbers were close to the same. One of the development engineers said Hey why don't we try making the loop out of Nylon and see if that works. They did try it and the rest is history. But the author of this question forgot to mention that the reason George was curious, was because he had a straight haired dog,and he was wearing black and red hunting pants. The dog had no burrs on it, and George was covered with burrs. That is why he investigated, why his hunting pants were full of burrs, since they both went on a walk in the very same area.

harmbrust

The other answers were obviously incorrect

Player

Through careful observation, great inventions are made.

Jackie

I knew it was not the other three!

dawn jones

Should be a time limit so people play honest don't use google

tinaloflin

Egide Victor Beaudoin, thank you. Wow.

tinaloflin

I LOVE Velcro. Better than a zipper. Zippers break!

gibeaudarsijo

I actually enjoy the questions that I get wrong almost as much, because you should never stop learning

tsugacanadensis

Talon zipper company really dropped the ball on this one by not adding it to their hookless fastener business. Talon commercialized the zipper, with Gideon Sunback taking the protolite and perfecting it into a commercial product. Too bad they didn’t go after Velcro. Talon is no longer in business, a loss to Meadville PA.