What is remarkable is that the basic design of the safety pin has remained essentially unchanged for over 170 years. No redesigns. No major improvements. No modern overhaul. The original engineering was simply that good — and the tiny hole in the coil is a key part of why.
The Many Types of Safety Pins You Probably Did Not Know About
Not all safety pins are the same. Over the decades, the original design has been adapted into several specialized variations for different uses. Standard safety pins are the everyday household version most of us are familiar with. Black-coated pins are used in film and fashion shoots where the pin needs to be less visible under stage lighting or cameras. Coilless pins are designed for delicate fabrics like lace or silk that can snag on the spring coil. Pear-shaped pins have a rounded, smooth shape ideal for attaching price tags in retail. Kilt pins are heavier, more decorative versions used in traditional Scottish dress and punk fashion. Laundry pins are larger and reinforced, used in hospitals and hotels to secure laundry bags. Nearly all of these variations retain the tiny coil hole — because nearly all of them still depend on the same spring mechanism to function reliably.
