Example Projects
Workshops
Announcements
Actuators
Connections
Power
Sensors
Traces

Circuits and Code Wireless

Meet the Materials
Conductive Materials
Non-Conductive Materials
Tools
Techniques
Thinking Out Loud
Conductive Materials
  • Anti-static Foam
  • Cheap Electronic Toys
  • Conductive Fabric Substitute
  • Conductive Fabrics
  • Conductive Gel
  • Conductive Paints and Inks
  • Conductive Pen
  • Conductive Play-Doh
  • Conductive Tapes
  • Conductive Threads
  • Conductive Velcro
  • Conductive Wool
  • Merino Wool conductive yarn from Bart and Francis
  • Conductive Yarns
  • Conductive/Piezoresistive Leather!
  • Elastic Conductive Thread
  • Fine Steel Wool
  • Graphite Powder
  • Headers
  • Meet the Materials
  • Metal Beads
  • Metal Fasteners
  • Metal Poppers
  • Multi-Conductor Fabrics
  • Perfboard
  • Resistive and Piezoresistive Fabrics
  • Resistive Paper
  • Resistive Rubbers
  • Shopping List: Basic E-Textile Materials
  • Sparkfun finally selling Eeontex!
  • stretch conductive fabric comparison
  • Thin Flexible Wire
  • Velostat
  • Zebra Zebra Fabric (X-Zebra, Y-Eeonyx)
  • Support the creation of content on this website through PATREON!
  • About
  • E-Textile Events
  • E-Textile Spaces
  • Newsletter
  • Print & Publications
  • E-Textile Shopping

  • SEARCH
    Content by Mika Satomi and Hannah Perner-Wilson
    E-Textile Tailor Shop by KOBAKANT
    The following institutions have funded our research and supported our work:

    Since 2020, Hannah is guest professor of the Spiel&&Objekt Master's program at the University of Performing Arts Ernst Busch in Berlin

    From 2013-2015 Mika was a guest professor at the eLab at Kunsthochschule Berlin-Weissensee

    From July - December 2013 Hannah was a researcher at the UdK's Design Research Lab

    From 2010-2012 Mika was a guest researcher in the Smart Textiles Design Lab at The Swedish School of Textiles

    From 2009 - 2011 Hannah was a graduate student in the MIT Media Lab's High-Low Tech research group led by Leah Buechley


    In 2009 Hannah and Mika were both research fellows at the Distance Lab


    Between 2003 - 2009 Hannah and Mika were both students at Interface Cultures
    We support the Open Source Hardware movement. All our own designs published on this website are released under the Free Cultural Works definition
    Conductive Materials

    Velostat

    also: anti-static bag, ESD bag

    Velostat is a piezoresistive material, meaning it’s electrical resistance decreases when pressured. When sandwiched between two conductive layers, it has a wonderful range for making pressure and bend sensors. It can also be used for resistive sensing over distance, position sensing.

    Velostat is a back, opaque, volume-conductive, carbon-impregnated polyolefin. The electrical characteristics are not affected by age or humidity (but they do change when melted under the iron).

    Velostat is the brand name for this material manufactured by 3M. Linqstat is the same thing, just manufactured by another company, Caplinq. This is also the material from which the black anti-static storage bags for sensitive electrical components are made. Although not all anti-static electronics bags have the same piezoresistive properties as Velostat! From experience we have found that silver and transparent bags are not pressure sensitive, and unfortunately not all black bags are either. But your chances are high, if the bag is black. Bring your multimeter to the store and maybe you can test them before you buy them.

    It is also used to make helmets to protect against alien abduction.
    >> http://www.stopabductions.com/

    Anti-Static Plastic Bag Links

    >> http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320843661626 (UK, thanks to Tom S. for this link)
    >> http://www.packagingknowledge.com/Anti_Static_Bags.asp
    >> http://www.esdjournal.com/techpapr/ryne/esdbags.htm
    >> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrostatic_discharge
    >> http://www.huebner-elektronik.de/ (Anti-static Lagebeutel, Erfurt, Germany)

    Suppliers of Velostat and Linqstat

    >> http://www.lessemf.com/plastic.html (New Jersey, USA)
    >> http://www.blockemf.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=762&products_id=5247
    >> http://www3.3m.com
    >> http://www.caplinq.com/blog/linqstat-volume-conductive-film-for-emf-shielding_37/ (Canada)

    14 Comments so far

    1. CAPLINQ on August 13th, 2009

      The film thickness we recommend for this purpose and for pressure sensors is 4mil (0.1mm). We also have 8mil (0.2mm) thickness available, but other tahn being less flimsy than the 4mil thickness, we don’t see any real advantage, and it is a more expensive material.

      We currently offer the 4mil thickness by the meter, but if there is significant demand, we could consider selling the 8mil thickness also by the meter.

    2. HENRY on December 22nd, 2009

      hi, you have to understand from the Internet sales of black conductive bags, we are a Hong Kong company has plants in Dongguan, China, specialized production and processing all kinds of conductive bags, able to reach any port terminals, hoping to have the opportunity to co-operation, thank you

      Product Brief:Our conductive bags are ideal for packing explosives and sensitive electronic components. These are made of high quality raw material using latest technology. Moreover, these are tested on various parameters before being supplied to our clients. The salient features and specifications are as follow:
      • Carbon impregnated polyethylene of 40-200 micron thickness.
      • Surface resistance less than 10^6 ohms/sq

    3. Alison on February 6th, 2010

      Hi I am finding it really difficult to find anyone who sells velostat in the UK, any pointers please?

      Thanks Alison.

    4. admin on February 8th, 2010

      Hi Alison,

      i don’t know of any places in the UK but try asking MUTR (www.mutr.co.uk) to consider stocking it. and i will look into it and let you know if i find anything. alternatively you can order Linqstat from Caplinq or try to get your hands on some black plastic electronics anti-static storage bags. these tend to be made from Velostat.

    5. admin on February 8th, 2010

      Feedback from Caplinq:

      CAPLINQ offers a Velostat alternative called LINQSTAT and we stock it in both Canada and the Netherlands. You can see the link here: http://www.caplinq.com/linqstat-vcf-s-series-linqstat-volume-conductive-film.html We will soon be offering standard sizes in 2mil, 4mil and 8mil. Check the site for updates. Due to popular demand, within a month, we are also going to offer a silver conductive Velcro (Hook & Loop) as well and anti-static fabric. Contact us for status

    6. […] 9月16日に行われた第1回ワークショップの写真です。ネオプレーンと導電性のVelostat素材を使って曲げセンサーと圧力センサーをつくりました。 #gallery-1 { margin: auto; } #gallery-1 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 33%; } #gallery-1 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-1 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } […]

    7. gary on November 19th, 2010

      Hi, I tried electrostatic foam as a pressure sensor, high density 1/2 inch from Techni-Tool. It doesn’t conduct at all, let alone exhibit variable resistance with pressure. Is that impossible? Please recommend a source for foam that can perform as a variable pressure sensor. Thanks!

    8. ahsan on January 5th, 2011

      ASSALAM U ALEKUM !
      i m doing project regarding velostae in surveillence system . plz give me any details about its working and its usage with respect to security.
      i’d b very grateful 2 u all
      regards

    9. rizwan on November 16th, 2011

      Hi,
      I cant find velostat in Malaysia..anyone know the closest place i could get it from?

      Thanks,
      Rizwan

    10. Tom on February 6th, 2012

      Hey there, there is an alternative to using Velostat or Linqstat that can be found on quite a few electronics sites across the world; the alternative can also be found on ebay! Black conductive bags work as a very good replacement for Velostat, it works just the same way and it’s cheaper than Velostat too. I got 50 10″ x 12″ black conductive bags from this link for £4.25 (might be dead by the time you click it) http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320843661626

      That’s 2500x3000cm or 2.5 x 3 metres of material that you could use, whereas Velostat costs more than that for usually about 1 x 1.2 metres or something! There are similar deals on ebay sites across the globe, so don’t miss out if you can’t get your hands on Velostat or Linqstat. I’m from the UK, so ebay’s a great resource for me =)

    11. Marek Salaquarda on February 13th, 2013

      does anybody know resistance of the Velostat (ohm.cm)?

    12. goutham on February 25th, 2013

      can we use conductive foam instead of velostat?

    13. Martha on September 2nd, 2013

      Hi, I’m thinking of making a knock sensor that’s basically a girdle (someone knocks you around, and it sets some things off). Would this be a good choice for that kind of project? I was using a little normal pizeo sensor in a pocket on a belt, but its range is somewhat limited. Thanks!

    14. Sebastián on February 10th, 2015

      Good evening.

      I want to know what the result is delivering Velostat material when subjected to pressure.

    Leave a comment