The invention of Velcro happened when George de Mestral came back from a hunting trip with his dog in the Alps.  He noticed that burrs of burdock were sticking to the fur of his dog, and his jacket.  He studied them under a microscope and noticed that they had hundreds of “hooks” on them that hooked on to anything with loops, such as clothing, hair, and animal fur.  He realized how easy it would be if you could bind things together in such a simple fashion if he could duplicate the hooks.  It took him eight years to mechanize the weaving of the hooks.

Velcro is called “Hook-and-loop” fasteners.  It is made up of two strips, one strip with hooks, which you probably guessed has hooks on it.  The other strip, the loop strip, has smaller, hairier strands that are more abundant than the hooks the hook strip. When the two strips are pressed together, the hooks latch on to the loops and stick together.  When the two strips are separated, the Velcro makes the well known “Ripping” sound.

When Velcro first came out, many people frowned upon the idea.  It got its big break when NASA used it to help astronauts get in and out of big and bulky space suits.  The skiers saw how easy it was to get out of NASA’s space suits, and they adopted the idea for their ski suits.  The idea was going strong.  Scuba, marine gear, and children’s clothing makers all saw the advantages of Velcro.

Today, Velcro is used for a variety of things.  Many people take for granted the modern day Conveniences of Velcro and many other inventions.  Just think, without Velcro, we would not have a simple way to fasten things together quickly.