Country Brook Design Blog - Just another WordPress weblog

We are continuing the theme from the last blog entry because we have another product that is great for summer projects, as well as year round. Country Brook Design carries the Paiho brand sew-on hook and loop Velcro style which is like nylon webbing but with Velcro-like capability. And that means there are numerous uses for our product, from recreational to military.

Our product has an interesting history. According to information from About.com, it was invented in 1948 by Swiss mountaineer and inventor, George de Mestral. One day, he took a walk with his dog and upon returning, discovered that he and his dog were covered with burrs. After looking at a burr under a microscope, he noticed that the burr was covered with tiny hooks which caused the burr to cling to fabric and hair. Mr. Mestral expected his idea to replace zippers and buttons, but it was considered a joke until 1955 when his idea was patented as Velcro.. How it works is that the “hook” side is fabric covered with tiny hooks and the “loop” side is fabric covered with small or hairy loops. When the two sides are pressed together, the hooks and loops catch and hold the pieces together. When separated, the strips make the characteristic ripping sound.

As mentioned before, the uses of Velcro style sew-on hook and loop are varied and numerous. It can be used on clothing, as originally designed, to replace zippers and buttons for elderly people or people with physical disabilities that make it difficult to use zippers of button. Hook and loop is great for holding tools and equipment to walls. Many ideas of how to use hook and loop can be found at the “Cool Tools” website. NASA has been one of the biggest users of Velcro. It is used on space suits, on almost every surface of the Shuttle and Space Station, including holding astronauts to the floor of the space vehicle in weightlessness. Another big user of hook and loop is the military which uses it in uniforms, equipment and vehicles. However, the characteristic ripping sound was not practical when a lot of military operations need to be silent. So a special type of hook and loop was designed to be silent. For all the scientific details of this version, visit the magazine Popular Science .

We have Velcro style hook and loop in 1-inch, 1.5-inch and 2-inch in colors of white, black and beige except beige is not available in 1.5-inch. When you purchase 5 yards of hook and loop, the customer receives one 5 yard roll of hook and one 5 yard roll of loop. They are not priced separately. When on the web page, look to the left side of the page and click on “Velcro, Hook and Loop”. Click on the width desired and the colors available will expand. Click on the color and then choose the length desired. Our shipping policies are easy to find and some of the items have free shipping.

Well, we have plenty of items available now to get started on those summer projects. As always, we would love to hear comments and questions from our customers. Our contact information is at the top of each page of our website.