Velcro Factories

How Hook and Loop Works

A hook-and-loop closure is two tapes working as a pair. The hook side carries thousands of small, stiff hooks cut or molded into the tape; the loop side carries a dense field of soft yarn loops. Pressed together, the hooks catch in the loops and the two tapes hold with surprising strength in shear, the direction a shoe strap or a jacket placket actually pulls. Peeled from one end, the same closure lets go hook by hook, which is why it opens with that familiar ripping sound and why it can be closed and opened thousands of times without the parts wearing smooth.

The Velcro companies are a technologically-driven, global organization and the industry leader in hook and loop fasteners. One of their advances is a unique, patented molded hook fastener called ULTRA-MATE brand HTH (High Technology Hook), which can be manufactured from a number of resins and engineered to achieve specific performance characteristics. Molded hooks matter because their shape, stiffness and resin can be tuned - a gentle hook for skin-contact medical straps, an aggressive one for industrial bundling - in ways woven hooks cannot match as precisely.

Where the Name Came From, and Where It Is Made

Where did the word Velcro come from? From the French words for velvet, "velour", and hook, "crochet". The name is a registered trademark of the Velcro companies, not a generic word for every hook-and-loop tape on the market, although shoppers use it generically every day. Mills and converters selling their own hook-and-loop should describe it by that generic name; the brand name belongs to the company listed below.

VELCRO brand products are manufactured in nine countries: Canada, Mexico, Uruguay, China, Spain, Italy, Costa Rica, the United States, and the United Kingdom. A fastener business spread across nine countries is a reminder that this small closure is a serious industrial product, specified by apparel, footwear, medical, automotive, aerospace and packaging makers who need the same tape, to the same standard, on several continents at once.

Hook and Loop in Clothing and Footwear

Apparel adopted hook and loop wherever fingers, gloves, haste or limited mobility make buttons and laces awkward: children's shoe straps, ski and snowboard boot closures, jacket cuffs and storm plackets, maternity and adaptive clothing, medical braces and supports worn over or under garments, and the adjustable straps on bags, hats and gloves. Because the closure is adjustable across a range rather than fixed at one hole or button position, one size of garment fits more bodies, and a closure can be tightened as a child grows or a swelling changes through the day.

Sewing with it is straightforward but has rules. Sew-on tapes are stitched around their edges to the garment; adhesive-backed tapes suit crafts and temporary fixes but soften in heat and fail in laundering, so garments that will be washed should always use the sew-on form. The hook side scratches skin and snags delicate fabrics in the wash, so experienced makers fasten the closure before laundering and place the softer loop side against the wearer wherever the design allows a choice.

Choosing and Sourcing Fastener Tape

Specifications that decide whether a tape works are width, hook type, loop type, cycle life and peel and shear strength, plus the base material - standard nylon tapes, polyester for outdoor and marine use where ultraviolet and moisture degrade nylon, and specialty fire-retardant or high-temperature versions for protective clothing and industry. Samples should be tested on the actual garment fabric, through the actual wash cycle, because a tape that holds beautifully on a bench can curl, shrink or delaminate against a particular textile.

The listing below gives the one company behind this technology, with its own website link. Hook-and-loop fastening is a one-company technology, held by its trademark owner and its licensees, so this directory lists that one company rather than inventing other suppliers.

Fabric Mills and Factories in This Directory

The listing below gives the company and its website link.