Hook & Loops have revolutionised the Velcro company for being an intuitive and innovative form of fasteners, creating convenient equipment for securing and placing items to surfaces with ease.
Velcro’s Hook & Loop fasteners utilizes the hook and loop closure system, usually found as tapes, dots and more, while Hook & Loop tape refers to strips of fabric which utilizes the hook and loop closure system.
Due to this fastening system, the material has exceptionally managed to provide innovative ways to allow residents to look at signals for specific pets, allowing us to heavily provide health and safety signals from our beloved pets at home.
History and use of Velcro’s Hook & Loop system!
Velcro was patented back in 1955, when a Swiss engineer known as Georges de Mestral.
George was a well-known inventor back in the day, whose thoughts always landed on the application of innovation and convenience. One day as he took a gentlemanly walk, he noticed the burrs clinging on to his trousers, as well as his dog!
This got him thinking… What if people could fashion an attachable device that lets you stick one item to another, with ease?
Being the thoughtful mind that George was, he experimented with the synthetic burr (and started to observe the thousands of tiny hooks on one material, and thousands of tiny loops in another), he was able to successfully reproduce the natural attachment with two strips of fabric!
Evolving throughout the years (with nylon being used instead of its initial material as cotton), we now know Velcro as it is today, a smart way for securing and placing items around our homes!
Products that can benefit from the Hook & Loop system
The multitude of use of Velcro’s Hook & Loop system is extensive, allowing it to be used in dry or wet surfaces, within harsh environments or dangerous hazards, which include:
- Technological products e.g. wires, mouses, cables etc.
- Attachments e.g. pet collars, doors, bags
- Placements e.g. hanging items from cupboards, showers etc.
Why use the Hook & Loop?
The variety of uses that Hook & Loop fasteners, tapes, what have you, are enough reasons why these appliances are preferred over different types of adhesives.
For instance, their lack (or scarcity) of chemical use makes their products a much more environmentally-friendly alternative in comparison to a lot of different products that use harmful chemicals to simply stick, apply or secure things together! Not to mention safe for you and your pets as well.
It’s applicability with different products is also something to use these amazing items for! As mentioned before, the Hook & Loop system is applicable with so many products that their use are almost endless. What’s more, is that you can outfit your pets by using them, as with hook and loop closures, pets can be wearing everything from Halloween costumes to Christmas sweaters. Fun, and safe!
Speaking of safety, did you know that a Hook & Loop fasteners are strong and reliable? So strong and reliable that simply a two inch square piece of this material is enough to support a 79 kg person! Just a two inch square piece! Hook & Loop-based products won’t ever fall off from the neighbour’s dog, that’s for sure.
Future of hook & loops
We now know the validity of Hook & Loops, from its historical background to its present innovation, so what’s left for Velcro and the future of Hook & Loop closure systems?
In creating solutions for future products, it’s clear that the current team working on innovative products look to gain insights within each market’s consumers. Global Innovation MAnager Chris Gallant had this to say:
“To create a solution, we get as good of an understanding of what we call the ‘voice of customer’ as we can. Then you get a team together and brainstorm solutions.”
It’s always a treat to know that those who produce and utilize Velcro products are always actively looking to provide solutions, for the improvement of their product and convenience of consumers!
This means, more products that can be used for the safety of our pets, as well as other fun and exciting wearables that make your pets comfortable (and “instagrammable” depending on the type of thing you buy for them!).
What do you think? Does the future look bright for the Hook & Loop System? The good thing is, there are a variety of Velcro companies looking to construct more interesting and secure products. Check out MPD Hook & Loop for one of the UK’s top suppliers for genuine Velcro Brand products!