Eureka ! God bless those benevolent burrs
Written by Christopher McCaa
God bless those benevolent burrs
How an ordinary day hunting led one Swiss engineer to discover Velcro.
In the early 1940s, a Swiss engineer by the name of George de Mestral embarked on hunting trip with his dog in the Swiss Alps. It was an outing like any other, marked by natural beauty, quality time with his canine companion and the primal thrill of the hunt
But the trip was plagued by the presence of burdock burrs—affectionately known as “hitchhikers” in the Southern United States— that relentlessly cling to clothing, hair and animal fur.
With the aroused curiosity of a scientific mind, de Mestral returned home, intent on examining the physical properties of the tenacious seeds. What he discovered would lead to a revolutionary invention in modern day convenience, known as Velcro.
Through the eye of a microscope, de Mestral observed hundreds of hooks on the seeds designed to latch onto anything with a loop-like structure. He immediately recognized the fastening potential of the pestilent burrs, and attempted to recreate it using synthetic materials.
De Mestral embarked on a mission to turn the potential fastener into a reality and sell it to the public. To this end, he traveled to Lyon, France, then the silk capital of the world, to seek guidance in his inventive quest.
One weaver gave de Mestral a hand, and with his help he began his creation using strips of cotton. However, the usually durable fabric quickly wore out as a result of wear and tear.
De Mestral turned to nylon, which he discovered was tailor made for his product, and Velcro was born. He came up with the name by combining the French words, velours, which means velvet and crochet, meaning hook.
After obtaining the patent for the product in 1955, de Mestral opened shop in locals across Europe and in the United States.
The device was marketed by a Montreal firm, Velek, Ltd, as the “zipperless zipper,” and it was predicted the invention would be a bigger phenomenon than the zipper. But Velcro encountered a road block when it was introduced to the marketplace at large. In the early 1960s, the textile industry wasn't sold on the device because of its cheap and haggard appearance.
It wasn't until the use of Velcro by a high-profile and unlikely client that de Mestral experienced his professional breakthrough. NASA first put the product to use as a fastener for their astronauts' space suits and in the process, single handedly turned Velcro into a hot commodity.
After witnessing its effectiveness in the aerospace industry, the skiing community saw the potential of de Mestral's design. They too found Velcro beneficial to their cumbersome outfits, designed for protection against the elements.
It was clear that Velcro was here to stay.
Soon, everyone from the child clothing industry to the U.S. Military was jumping on the Velcro bandwagon. The invention was even used in the first artificial heart surgery to hold a human heart intact.
But it's the most recent use of Velcro that would fill de Mestral with boundless pride.
Inspired by astronauts, who used the material to fasten themselves to the walls of their spacecraft, the founders of the sport, known as “Velcro Jumping,” began to launch Velcro-clad inebriates through the air onto Velcro-covered walls in bars around the globe.
After a journey that led it from the Swiss Alps to outer space, Velcro had finally found its true home.
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