3. who invented velcro

He eventually invented the machine that could create the hook-and-loop system so that the material could be mass-produced. It started to roll out in the s, and industries—and consumers—were slow to pick it up.

But soon enough, the aerospace industry adopted Velcro since it made it very easy to take heavy, bulky spacesuits on and off. From there, it took off, and people found it everywhere from military apparatuses to Velcro sandals to the small Velcro cable straps you use to keep your home organized. By that time, Velcro was as big of a success as de Mestral had imagined it would be. He was producing more than 60 million yards of the fabric a year before he died a multi-millionaire in From fashion to engineering to medicine and more, industries have adopted Velcro for its ease of use, durability, and strength.

And Velcro is a great example of how nature can inspire invention, too. Check back with our sites for equally as incredible stories about business, tech, politics, tourism, and more. We strive to bring edgy content from different perceptions, opinions and viewpoints while covering the latest trends in food, travel, style, beauty, life, culture, events and more. And its little loops get clogged with dust from the Afghan and Iraqi deserts.

The so-called "hook-and-loop" fastener was added to standard issue uniforms in , but a plethora of complaints from dissatisfied soldiers led to a year-long investigation, which in turn led to an official decision to remove Velcro from military uniforms starting this August.

After nearly eight years of research apparently it's not so easy to make a synthetic burr , de Mestral successfully reproduced the natural attachment with two strips of fabric, one with thousands of tiny hooks and another with thousands of tiny loops.

He named his invention Velcro, a combination of the words "velvet" and "crochet," and formally patented it in Though the first Velcro was made out of cotton, de Mestral soon discovered that nylon worked best because it didn't wear with use. It seems there just weren't that many removable, re-useable all-surface fasteners back then.

No one says "hook-and-loop fastener," just as no one says "re-sealable zipper storage bag" instead of Ziploc. The invention also played a significant role in the Space program. Fact 3: Who invented Velcro? Fact 4: Who invented Velcro? The early years of George de Mestral were spent in Lausanne, Switzerland where he was raised by his family. His father was Albert de Mestral, a civil engineer and his mother's name was Marthe de Goumoens.

Fact 5: Who invented Velcro? George de Mestral was an extremely intelligent and curious child and received his first invention patent in , at age 12, for designing a toy plane. Fact 6: Who invented Velcro? Following his graduation in he was employed as an engineer in a machine shop of a Swiss engineering company. Fact 7: Who invented Velcro? Like many inventions Velcro was not planned it was an accident, inspired by a common, everyday event.

Accompanied by his Irish pointer they enjoyed a hike but were plagued by cockleburs Xanthium , a tall plant covered with stiff, hooked spines, that stuck to his clothing and to his dog's fur. Fact 8: Who invented Velcro? The cockleburs stuck relentlessly to his clothes and his dog's fur, arousing George de Mestral's curiosity as to why the burrs clung so stubbornly.

The hook-and-loop material became used on the Army Combat Uniform, a lighter version of their original battle attire. However, soldiers disliked the material and caused much uproar through complaints over the noise it created and how the fabrics collected dust.

After an internal inspection of these claims, the Army moved away from the use of Velcro to instead rely on buttons.