the.com/velcro
the engineering breakthrough that was just a guy staring at burrs stuck to his dog
means A fastening system made of two strips—one covered in tiny hooks, the other in tiny loops—that grip when pressed together and rip apart with that satisfying tear.
from A blend of two French words: 'velours' (velvet) and 'crochet' (hook)—velvet-hook, basically. It was coined as a brand name by the Swiss engineer who, the story goes, came home from a hunting trip and got curious about the burrs clinging to his clothes and his dog's fur; under a microscope he saw the burrs' tiny hooks snagging loops, and reverse-engineered them. Velcro began as a trademark and slid, like Kleenex and Zipper before it, into everyday lowercase use—much to the company's lasting irritation.
- origin
- Inspired by burdock burrs clinging to a hunting dog
- the name
- French velours plus crochet: velvet plus hook
- space tested
- NASA used it to secure gear in zero gravity
- sound patent
- That iconic rrrip is essentially impossible to silence
- trademark fight
- Company begs you to say 'hook and loop' instead
velcro brand fasteners — trademarked adhesive fastener invented by george de mestral in 1941, originally called 'velours and crochet'
nasa spacesuits — astronauts have used velcro to attach tools and equipment inside helmets and suits since the 1960s apollo missions