Zip Code Debug

December 23, 2019 10:10 PM

Fix a Zipper that Doesn't Close. Fix a Zipper that is Stuck on one side of the Track. How to Put a Slider back on the Zipper Chain. With these new powers you may rescue Articles of Clothing that would previously have been discarded. But lest you become arrogant, consider the Zipper Problems that Cannot Be Fixed.
posted by storybored (16 comments total)

I didn't realize how much I needed these videos (but if I get to be picky, I wish there was more detail on how the pin and box are stamped - just to be thorough)!
posted by 99_ at 10:33 PM on December 23, 2019 [2 favorites]

Oooh ... My Xmas and my wife's birthday presents I was bringing back from the US were, um, "borrowed" yesterday by someone between when I checked them at SFO and when I got them in customs in Auckland, grrr ..... But they also busted the zip on my suitcase ... here at least I can probably recover some of the damage ... thanks!
posted by mbo at 11:09 PM on December 23, 2019 [1 favorite]

This is excellent. I have a beloved top-loading backpack with cursed zips. Now I at least know I can give it a try before I take it into Macpac for repair.
posted by Foaf at 11:22 PM on December 23, 2019

Storybored, you just gave me the power to fix my kid’s sleeping bag instead of hauling it to REI. Hooray!
posted by centrifugal at 11:36 PM on December 23, 2019 [3 favorites]

It's 2019. Zippers have been around for over 100 years. I always amazed (and annoyed) that no one has yet invented anything better, or at least made some big improvement.
posted by still_wears_a_hat at 5:04 AM on December 24, 2019 [3 favorites]

Thanks for posting this. I just fixed the zipper in a beloved coat I thought was un-fixable. Thanks again!
posted by james33 at 5:15 AM on December 24, 2019 [1 favorite]

I fixed my daughters jacket last year with a new pull and felt like a super-hero. There's something incredibly satisfying about fixing something yourself.
posted by Defective_Monk at 5:18 AM on December 24, 2019 [1 favorite]

In all confidence and arrogance recently bought a thousand piece zipper repair kit off ebay for $15.95 (not actually 1000 but so so many little bits of metal) only to not find the little doohickey that was needed and on more careful research the little tab at the bottom is the one part not repairable without a $50,000 machine.
posted by sammyo at 5:45 AM on December 24, 2019 [2 favorites]

With these new powers you may rescue Articles of Clothing that would previously have been discarded.

If you can't fix a zipper and no one else can fix that zipper, remember than you can pay someone to replace the entire zipper. It will cost you more than you want to spend, but it may be better than throwing away your favorite thing and trying to find and buy a replacement you like as much.
posted by pracowity at 6:08 AM on December 24, 2019 [2 favorites]

I need this! Jacket's zipper gave up yesterday night and I had to pretend that I'm totally cool walking home with my jacket unzipped when it's 40F outside.
posted by Foci for Analysis at 8:38 AM on December 24, 2019

Seems totally possible to make a replacement stopper on an reinforced insert that could be sewn into the fabric to repair that unfixable problem.

Lot of value engineering in zippers, I think..
posted by joeyh at 8:46 AM on December 24, 2019

This post seems to be about neither file-archiving utility defects nor poorly-delineated post office delivery zones, as the headline led me to believe. I am disappoint.

(Actually it was very interesting and informative)
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:07 AM on December 24, 2019 [1 favorite]

nice memento mori
posted by thelonius at 9:32 AM on December 24, 2019

Well, I'm disappointed that the only "unfixable" examples are both ones that I have fixed. He doesn't address the case where one side loses a bunch of teeth, so the slider lets go of that side, and the thing unzips. So far as I know, that's unfixable.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 9:40 AM on December 24, 2019 [1 favorite]

My wife picked up a cashmere blend zip up cardigan that would have cost me like $900 new for $12 at a thrift store because the zipper was messed up. The alterations person was like "it's going to be expensive to fix" and charged me something like $30.
posted by BrotherCaine at 11:28 AM on December 24, 2019 [2 favorites]

Nice videos but I am a little disappointed that it's stuff I've been doing intuitively all my life. I was hoping for some life changing zipper tricks I would never think of myself. Oh well.
posted by donio at 12:16 PM on December 24, 2019