Who invented velcro?

Velcro was invented by George de Mestral a Swiss electrical engineer in 1941. This idea of inventing Velcro came to him when one day he returned after a walk from the hills and found cockleburs stuck to his clothes and his dog’s fur. George noticed its natural hook and loop quality and started making a fabric fastener on the same quality. He named it Velcro from two French words velours and crochet meaning velvet and hooks. He got the patent for “Zipper less zipper” in 1955. It took eight years to George to perfect his invention and it was in 1952 that George started his own Velcro Company and finally left his job. The beginning was tuff, the loops and the hooks were difficult to fix because of the size variations. George tried with many fabrics but finally with the team of the French weavers, he tried to get the fabric exactly like the natural burs.

Velcro was in production in 1950s but it got disappointing grades from the public because of its shabby appearance but George kept on trying and took Velcro to Lyon the then center of weaving and with the help of one weaver he improved upon his product.

Aerospace industry was the first to accept Velcro. Slowly and steadily Velcro conquered all the fields and became a great utility item. It is into sports, clothes, bags, shoes and was even used in first open heart surgery and has also been credited as the century’s best invention. Today the Velcro is a multi- million dollar industry.