One, the teeth on your zipper may be worn down or damaged. There could be two things wrong in this situation. Happy zipping! Will it slide but not stay closed? Work it in until it's coated, but not caked, the teeth. Apply any of these with a Q-Tip, but be sure not to get the cotton stuck. Lubricants like graphite (aka pencils), olive oil, and other cooking sprays work well, too, if you're just dealing with stubborn teeth. Tweezers are your best bet here, and a bit of vaseline. First, check to see if it's caught on stray fabric, on the garment itself, in hair, or.on skin. This is the most common issue with typical zippers. Slight pressure might be needed if the teeth aren't catching. Guide the teeth into either side of the zipper's mouth and slide it up and down as you would normally. You don't need to replace or really even mend the zipper, just reattach it. To fix it, guide the slider back down to the bottom stop. The bottom stop does just as its name implies: stops the zipper from falling off the chain. If it's hanging on to the opposite side's teeth, you're lucky you didn't lose it. Didn't go? Can you even get it halfway? Assess the situation and find your problem below.
#INSTEAD OF FIXING A ZIPPR PLUS#
You'll find the slider, pull tab, teeth, and the bottom stop, plus the tape (not literally but it's what the fabric here is called) attached on either side.įiguring out what's wrong with yours is as easy as identifying its fault. Its job is pretty simple - so are its parts.
Unlike with cars, there's only so much that can go wrong with a zipper. From lubricating the teeth at the sign of a snag to tightening the slider to reconnect unhooked ones, these solutions require little effort beyond a few resources you probably already have access to: pliers, vaseline or dish soap, Q-tips, pencils, and paper clips (in no particular order) - plus, just a little know-how. No matter the malfunction, there are countless ways to fix a broken zipper. Is it stuck? Has it separated from its teeth on either side? Is a tooth missing? Have the teeth worn down? Did the pull tab fall off? Is the whole system under too much pressure? (Are you sure that suitcase is under 50 lbs? For the sake of your zipper, please don't force it closed.) To do so, though, it's important to understand how your zipper broke. And don't you dare trash those jeans scrap that suitcase or hand-me-down that hoodie. Be patient and try your best.ĭid your zipper break? You're not alone. A Broken Zipper Can Be a Headache A broken zipper on your backpack, jeans, jacket or suitcase shouldn't be that item's death sentence. That being said, the zipper's foremost problem still plagues it to this day: Even the best ones can break. First, it's simple yet incredibly effective - even more so than buttons. It'd never stick.īut the zipper did, a marvelous invention for many reasons. Until then it was known as a "Separable Fastener." A little too technical, not too catchy. Goodrich's credited with calling it a "zipper" first, in 1923. Crazy, right? Zippers on clothes isn't even a 100-year-old idea yet. The contraption was first used on boots, then tobacco pouches, and then leather jackets (by Schott in 1925).