When Burrs Became Buttons
Rea,
What sticks better than glue, needs no heat to work, and makes a satisfying ripping sound when you pull it apart? What’s strong enough to hold equipment in place on a space station but gentle enough for a kid to use on their shoes? Velcro, of course! But here’s the really interesting part: nature had been making something just like it for millions of years. It just took one curious person to notice.
That person was George de Mestral, a Swiss engineer who went hiking in the Alps with his dog in 1941. When they got home, they were both covered in burrs - those annoying little seed pods that stick to clothes and fur. Most people would have just pulled them off and thrown them away. But de Mestral wondered why these tiny hitchhikers were so hard to remove.
He put one burr under his microscope and found something fascinating. Each burr had hundreds of tiny hooks. These hooks could grab onto the loops in fabric and fur, creating a surprisingly strong grip. But unlike other sticky things in nature, these hooks could attach and detach over and over without losing their strength.
De Mestral saw the potential in this natural design. He spent the next eight years trying to recreate those tiny hooks artificially. He tested different materials. He adjusted the hook shapes. He tried various ways to weave the loops. Most people thought he was wasting his time - after all, buttons and zippers already existed.
By 1955, he had created something new: two strips of nylon fabric, one with tiny hooks and one with tiny loops. Press them together, and they stuck tight. Pull them apart, and they separated with that distinctive ripping sound. He called it “Velcro” - combining the French words “velours” (velvet) and “crochet” (hook).
At first, people didn’t take Velcro seriously. Then NASA discovered it. Astronauts needed a way to keep things from floating away in zero gravity, and Velcro was perfect. They used it in spacesuits, in spacecraft, and even on the moon. Today, Velcro is everywhere - from kids’ shoes to hospital equipment to military gear.
De Mestral’s curious observation of a simple burr led to an invention used by millions. But the real invention wasn’t just the hook-and-loop fastener - it was the act of looking at an everyday annoyance and seeing the possibility hidden inside.
Love, Abba
