Why do we need velcro

By bringing anonymity to the workplace, Blind allows employees to have unfiltered conversations with coworkers. Download the app and join your coworkers now! See yourself here? A burr just like this one inspired the creation of Velcro.

Selena N. The thing with nature is that, often, it has solved a problem and has lots of examples of it in the wild long before the first human takes any steps to successfully design something that replicates it. Certainly, for example, it was obvious that wings would eventually be replicated in man-made form, leading to aircraft. Birds are everywhere. The idea was apparent with no additional explanation. The issue, really, was technology. But what about burrs? These tiny thorned stems, common to various plants, have this ability to stick to whatever soft, cushy thing passes by—turning anything that passes by into the perfect vessel for distributing seeds, and deterring animals from getting too close, among other things.

But while plenty of mammals have been annoyed by them throughout history, only one was observant enough to figure out that there might actually be a use case to these burrs that makes them awesome. Where most people saw annoyance, George de Mestral saw inspiration. A Swiss engineer who had, strangely enough, invented a model plane as a child, was inspired after a walk in the Alps with his dog in which he encountered a bunch of these burrs.

The burr uses lots of tiny hooks to connect to the fur and clothing of many a passerby, effectively latching onto loops of soft hair or fur. Perhaps the most challenging part of producing the material might have been creating the hooks, which involved heating the nylon using an infrared light, allowing the stiff side of the material to take and keep its shape. Per one of the many Velcro-related patents filed by de Mestral:. But eventually he found a manufacturer in Lyon that was combining relatively tough nylon with cotton — a fabric with the ability to hold its shape that was exactly what he was looking for.

But while de Mestral had found his material and proven that it would indeed work, the problem was that he could only make the hooks by hand — mass-manufacturing remained beyond his grasp.

Running out of money, de Mestral holed up in a tiny cabin in the village of Commugny in the Swiss Alps, trying to devise a solution. With the ability to keep the angle of the cut precise, he could finally build out a loom that would allow him to mass-produce his hook-and-loop fasteners — nearly twenty years after his initial brainstorm.

Why would I even bother? Then NASA came along. Originally available only in black, the tape's aesthetic appeal expanded when the company began offering it in multiple colors.

A fashion show at New York City's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel displayed everything from Velcro diapers to Velcro golf jackets to stylish society matrons; a New York Times report declared it "the end of buttons, toggles, hooks, zippers, snaps and even safety pins. In , Puma became the first major shoe company to offer a sneaker with Velcro fasteners. Other companies caught on most notably Adidas and Reebok and by the s, every child in America seemed to own at least one pair of those three-strap Velcro wonders.

By then, the Velcro company's original patent had expired and companies in Europe, Mexico and Asia were making cheap knock-off versions. Perhaps this is the reason why Velcro fights so hard for its name: these days, anyone can make a hook-and-loop fastening product, but only one company makes Velcro. When the interview was over, he launched himself via trampoline onto a Velcro wall. The invention, named Velcro, was patented in There are various types of Velcro, differing in size, shape and application.

Industrial Velcro, for instance, consists of woven steel wire that provides high tensile bonding in high-temperature applications. Consumer Velcro typically comes in two materials: polyester and nylon. Polyester Velcro is suitable for applications where moisture and sunlight are factors. It does not degrade with excessive exposure to sunlight, and water does not affect the holding strength of its hook and loop fasteners.

Nylon Velcro is susceptible to excessive heat, ultraviolet radiation and moisture. The major difference between these two types is their lifespan. Nylon fasteners can open and close 10, times while polyester fasteners have a lifespan of 3, openings and closings.