Sugru, Helping the World Fix Itself

Sugru, Helping the World Fix Itself
Jane Ní Dhulchaointigh, Sugru Co-founder, with some examples of how the product may be used (Courtesy Sugru)
4/30/2014
Updated:
4/30/2014

While studying an MA in Product Design at the Royal College of Art in London, Jane Ní Dhulchaointigh felt that a lot of items being designed were geared towards making people want new things.

“My instincts were, mmm I’m not sure that this is always necessary, there’s a tendency to upgrade, the newest version; trends like this to make us feel all the time that we should have the latest, I felt that actually there is so much creativity in the general population that doesn’t get used at all. I thought if there was an easy way for people to fix things or improve things themselves, then they would do it; it’s also fun,” explained Jane.

Jane elaborated, “Perhaps in the past if you mended an item it might have implied that you couldn’t afford a replacement, but that shouldn’t be the case; you shouldn’t waste or throw away a perfectly good item just because it’s slightly damaged. “Why not repair it,” says Jane.

She thinks that many appliances are perhaps not built to last these days, so when a nob falls off, we replace it not just the nob, however, Sugru (Sugru is derived from the Irish word súgradh for play) is changing that mindset.

“There are a growing number of people in the world who feel that it’s actually a crime to throw out their toaster just because a nob has fallen off of it. What if there was an easy way to fix it; that’s what Sugru is all about, it’s about making, fixing, mending and modifying.

“The idea was to have a material as simple as play-dough or clay that humans have played with since the stone age to fix things.“

Jane commented that maybe over the past decades people have lost certain hand skills, but believes with some practise and motivation people will regain them and enjoy playing and fixing with Sugru.

Jane came up with the idea for a material that was like clay, but was really durable; dishwasher proof that could withstand cold conditions and bond to any other material.

“I kind of dreamt of this space-aged silicon material, so I contacted some scientists and after a six year development process, we launched our independently branded product Sugru.”

Jane says the product is brand independent and is produced in their own factory in London. The product was initially sold on the web and now they are in talks with retailers to stock Sugru in 1500 stores across the UK.

“The whole thing about Sugru is still about the story and connecting people that do feel strongly about being able to fix and repair their things … a whole community has grown up around this on the Internet.” Initially it was very much an online thing (currently sold in 153 countries).

Jane believes that some day Sugru should be as common as blue tack or sellotape; “cheap and useful, in everyone’s kitchen drawer in case something goes wrong... we are step by step getting there.”

From Design to Silicon

Jane’s first degree was in Arts, then she studied design and that’s where she came up with the notion that Sugru can turn anybody into a designer. “I knew the material didn’t exist but I felt so confident that if it did and if it had the properties that I was thinking of that it would be really so useful to so many people. I just knew that that was really important … I felt that I should do whatever it took to figure out how to make it; yes it was really challenging but the key I think was bringing together the right team of people.“

Jane didn’t have a science background but with the help of Roger Ashby (co-founder and Executive Chairman at Sugru) she met the “Incredible scientists and engineers” who helped her realise her Sugru dream.

“I think they were just motivated to help me because they thought it was interesting and they could see the potential of the idea so we developed the material together and they helped me write patents … the science is only half the story.”

“If you develop a material and it isn’t attractive then no one will buy it, hence it comes in lots of different colours.”

Jane says that this helped tremendously because users may want the product to blend into the background when they repair say a pair of shoes, black on black or they may want it to stand out in a kind of statement way, so if they repair an iPhone cable they may choose to put red on white.

“We have quite a strong belief; we are on a bit of a mission, we aren’t about selling any old product. We feel really strongly that more people should be able to fix things; I think there is a growing number of people connecting with that.”