Does universal velcro exist? Or some other non-polar fastener?

October 30, 2016 6:40 AM

I know velcro generally works by having one strip with tiny hooks catch on another strip with tiny loops. Does velcro exist where each piece contains a mixture of hooks and loops, meaning any piece can stick to any other piece?

In general I am looking for a good strong fastener that is: small (less than 1 sq in), relatively strong (about as strong as a velcro dot of this size), without polarity (any piece can stick to any other piece), cheap (current solution is 3 cents each when buying 1000 at a time), fast to install, and can be used by 5-year-old child.

I have been trying snaps and velcro with alternating polarities, but I really wish any piece could stick to any other piece instead of only alternating pieces. Does a fastener that can do this exist?

posted by insoluble uncertainty to Grab Bag (12 answers total)

Yup! Google plastic velcro. 3M makes one called Dual Lock, but I'm sure it's not the only one on the market.

The problem with the plastic peg velcro, though, is that you do really kind of have to mean for the pieces to stick together. With regular velcro, the hooks catch to the loops easily, all they have to do is graze each other. With the plastic kind, you have to press them together to get them to lock.
posted by phunniemee at 6:44 AM on October 30, 2016

Plastic peg Velcro also has a longer duty cycle in my experience- the loops on regular Velcro get worn/broken and don't hold nearly as well after a few hundred rips.
posted by SaltySalticid at 6:51 AM on October 30, 2016

The 3M stuff looks just like the product used to hang EasyPass turnpike transponders from windshields. It is strong, but cost might be an issue; prices I'm seeing are several times what you're paying for the product you use now.
posted by jon1270 at 6:57 AM on October 30, 2016

Thanks guys! Dual lock is what I was looking for, although I think is is probably too expensive. I would still love to hear about any other fasteners that meet my criteria!
posted by insoluble uncertainty at 7:01 AM on October 30, 2016

Maybe Velcro's snag-free option or Omni-Tape would work.
posted by a sourceless light at 7:54 AM on October 30, 2016

can be used by 5-year-old child

This may be an issue with the Dual-Lock type velcro - not only do you have to press them together pretty firmly, as phunniemee says, but it takes effort to get them apart. I use the 3M stuff to hold guitar effects pedals to a board, and even a small section 2" x 3/4" usually needs to be pried apart with a screwdriver. I can lift the entire board full of pedals (probably about ten pounds all told) by picking up just one pedal.
posted by soundguy99 at 8:37 AM on October 30, 2016

If you want to have a setup where any piece can attach to any other piece, then you could always attach two pieces of velcro to each object (one hook, one loop), a fixed distance apart. Then when you attach two objects, the hooks of one would attach to the loops of the other and vice versa. However, this system would fix the orientation of the pieces relative to each other (you couldn't rotate the objects 90° relative each other and still have both pieces attach); and this sensitivity to relative orientation might be frustrating for your average five-year-old child. It also assumes that every object have a flat surface; if the surface is curved, then only one velcro piece on each object will be able to attach.

Alternately, you could just attach one hook piece and one loop piece to each object, and assume that only one of these pieces would be used at a time. if it's not unsightly to have "free" unattached pieces of velcro on the surfaces of the objects, then any object could attach to any other.
posted by Johnny Assay at 9:17 AM on October 30, 2016

I've never heard of dual-lock Velcro but the 3M stuff that does what you want (which others are calling "plastic peg", maybe all the same?) is sold as 3M Command. Ask for it at the hardware store; they'll have a whole display of the stuff.
posted by Rash at 10:38 AM on October 30, 2016

Thanks again, everyone. I ordered 25 meters of Omni-Tape for a really reasonable price. Either it will work well for my project, or I will be doing awesome velcro projects with my children for years. Either way it's a win!
posted by insoluble uncertainty at 9:12 AM on October 31, 2016

I've never heard of dual-lock Velcro but the 3M stuff that does what you want (which others are calling "plastic peg", maybe all the same?) is sold as 3M Command.

For general information, 3M Command strips are adhesives (official website, how to use page) that stick on a variety of surfaces fairly well (AskMe question), generally to hold something on for a while, and definitely not as a repeat on-and-off closure. They are not dual-lock Velcro, which are intended to secure two items together and release with some ease, allowing the items to be re-secured again and again.
posted by filthy light thief at 10:56 AM on October 31, 2016

All true. However, a big offering of the Command system is strips which have that adhesive on one side and the plastic peg "Velcro" on the other. Check out the display at your local hardware store.
posted by Rash at 3:42 PM on October 31, 2016

The stabilizer strips are exactly what you want.
posted by Rash at 7:57 AM on November 1, 2016