I tried my hand at zipper repair.
An embarrassingly long time ago, a pair of Sonia's jeans developed a zipper problem.
Or maybe they were Zoe's? I don't really know.
The thing is, they sat in my mending pile so long, everyone here has grown out of them.
I couldn't really hand down or donate the jeans in their broken condition, though, so I kind of wanted to fix 'em.
Plus, I thought it would be good to learn how to fix a broken zipper, so I gave it a shot.
(Learning new skills on an item you don't care about is perfect. No stress.)
I knew Pinterest had a few tutorials on this, so I poked through those to figure out what to do.
The basic idea is that you snip between the teeth near the bottom of the zipper, to free one side of the pull.
Then you can rethread the zipper on properly, sort of like you would on a jacket, where one side of the zipper is free.
You can't stop there, though, or every time you zip down the zipper, it'll come apart.
So, you take a needle and thread and whip stitch right across where you cut the zipper, in effect making a new zipper stop.
The newly repaired zipper will only be able to open as far as your new stop, which is is why when you cut the zipper, you want to get as close to the bottom of the original zipper as possible.
My zipper was now lined up, but the teeth were still having trouble engaging.
Boo.
I did a little more reading and discovered that the pull was probably bent out of shape.
Apparently when this happens, it's really best to replace the pull, but since these were outgrown jeans that I didn't want to pour money into, I decided to try using a pliers to squeeze it into shape..
And once I did that, I was able to get the jeans zipped up properly!
I'm not sure how long the pull will stay in shape, but at least I figured out that that's where the problem lay.
So, there you have it. You really can repair a zipper quickly and easily and you don't have to replace it with a brand new one.
(Related: If the metal button on your jeans pops off, that's also a quick and easy repair.)
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Have you ever mended a broken zipper this way? Or do you have another favorite method?
Great job! It's amazing the things I learn at your site. I enjoy reading how you do things I didn't even know could be done!
That is exactly how my mother taught us to repair a zipper over 60 years ago! I've repaired many zippers since with this easy method.
I'm glad you shared this info--I had no idea how to fix a zipper with this kind of problem. I've replaced zippers in jeans before, but this sounds much easier. Zippers can be so frustrating sometimes. This winter one of my nice, black leather dress boots has developed a zipper problem. When I zip it up, it wants to start splitting right around the ankle area. I've checked it all out and I can't SEE a problem, but obviously there's something going on. I've replaced zippers in all kinds of clothing items before, but a boot!? Right now I'm babying it along, and hoping that it doesn't get any worse.
I wonder if maybe there's something wrong with the teeth? Weird that it's happening in just one spot.
Do you have a shoe repair place near you? There's one in a mall near me and when I need work done on shoes, that's where I go. He has super reasonable prices, and if the boots are good quality leather, it would definitely be worth to have them repaired.
That's what I thought, too, but I can't seem to get my eye on the problem. Zippers can be so finicky.
I only wish there were a shoe repair place nearby. There used to be years ago, but those days are long gone--part of the expense of our disposable society. I don't have a lot of money in the boots. I hit the jackpot one day when I found them at the local thrift store. But to replace them--ouch! Leather dress boots are crazy expensive. Right now I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I can just baby them along.
Dawn, try a tailor/altering/miscellaneous sewing kind of place, if there's one nearby. We have a lady in a nearby town (we're rural, so the 10 miles there is just part of life) who fixes everything, and she's got a huge box of zipper parts in all kinds of rainbowy colors. She even fixed a jacket with the zipper doing that exact same thing — split or lost the pull in the same place every time. (In that case it turned out to be the pull, but I think this depends on how the zipper is manufactured.)
I agree it is probably the pull on the boot. I had the same thing just happen to my winter jacket, the teeth were separating and even after I got it zipped the teeth were misaligned.
Yesterday it happened again and the pull ended up coming off in my hand. I got it back on and then used a pair of needle nose pliers to tighten it by slightly squeezing it where it seemed loose. I rezipped and the teeth lined up perfectly and it's as good as new.
Great job! What do you do with outgrown kids jeans where the knees have worn out? It seems a waste to throw out but I can't think of another use for them.
It depends. For the girls, I've cut them off into sort of knee-length shorts with a frayed edge. But Joshua is very not into wearing jean shorts, so when I get enough of his, I've offered them on freecycle, and someone who uses them for quilts (or some other sewing project. I forget!) has wanted them.
My son goes through knees like his kneecaps have teeth! I saved the first pair that wore through, cut them up, and use them to patch other pants with worn knees. I'm sure he won't want me to when he's older, but for a 2 year old it works great! I've also made pillows with the butt part, and in junior high I made a little pocket purse with a back pocket. I'm going to make one of those for my son's first tooth.
Thanks Kristen and Maggie! I don't freecycle but I'll try to use the other ideas.
Maggie, not sure of your age, but growing up in the sixties and seventies they actually used to make pants out of patches. It was a style of the times. Thank God it didn't last, but I just thought it was ironic that kids now don't really want patches and back then (jeez I sound like my dad!) younger people wanted to wear them.
And thanks for all the zipper info because I have a 40 year old leather jacket that looks like it went through three wars and is broken in just perfectly but the zipper has seen better days. I thought I would have to replace the whole thing but maybe with the info I can save the original zipper.
I see Larry below is the other lone male here. The others are chicken to comment! haha
Just cut below the waistband around the front of the jeans - very closely.
then when you get to the seam on each side, cut below the back pockets. when your are done, you should have and apron with pockets and it fastens nicely around the waist because you do not remove the button!
Great timing! I just had a "wardrobe malfunction" this morning when the zipper on my skirt did this. I'll try this before replacing the zipper, though the zipper on my skirt is much smaller than on jeans so I'm not sure I can cut between the teeth...
Do you have a pair of nail scissors? Those might be tiny enough to get between the really small teeth.
Kristen's suggestion of nail scissors is a good one. However the teeth in skirt/dress zippers, unlike jeans are usually made of a small continuous plastic coil rather than individual metal teeth., so the same technique may not work in your case. It's worth a try anyhow, what do you have to loose?
I actually had this happen to a favorite pair more than a year ago. I wish you had done this sooner. I removed the zipper and added velcro. The only time it feels weird is when I got to a public restroom...I wonder what people are thinking when they hear me unvelcro my pants.
I think this is one of those occasions in which you have to choose where to focus your frugality (like the priority-based budgeting you've written about): I nearly panicked when I imagined fixing a zipper myself... I feel like I'd rather do my own root canal. ;-D Lol! But I seriously admire you for doing this!!!!! 😀
I understand. I feel the same way about line-drying laundry...bleh. And I also despise anything related to plumbing.
We allllll pick and choose!
I absolutely love the process of hanging clothes on a line outside. There is just something to watching the wind whip the clothes and see the sun shining on them to dry. I even do it in the Winter with my sheets on a sunny morning. Can't wait for the Spring to dry all my cold-water wash outside. Love the smell of sheets that have been line-dried. I am 72 and still have my Mother's Clothespins.
Aww, Marilyn! You are a gal after my heart! There's nothing better than old -fashioned fresh air to dry clothes in. And making a home-made apple pie and letting it cool off on the windowsill and letting that air freshen the home.
I have one minor thing to add to this tale of success. If a zipper is a coil type rather than a tooth type, cutting it may not render it repairable because it is nearly impossible to get that type to rethread properly. It's still worth a try though.
You learn something new every day! I had no idea those were called coil zippers. So, zippers on jeans could be repaired this way, but not necessarily the kind on boots or skirts.
You're brave, Kristen! I've never tackled a zipper before.
Thanks so much for sharing this. I'm pinning it.
Well done, you! I have never replaced a zipper or fixed one either. Usually the item with the zipper is already so worn out it wouldn't be worthwhile. But it's good to have this nugget of information stored away in my head for possible need in the future.
I have a suspect zipper on my purse. My current work around is to not use that section of my purse very often. After reading this, I'll keep this in mind as a way to fix it. Thanks for the tip.
I don't think I've ever fixed a zipper before. This is a great tutorial, if only for encouraging me to get back to my mending pile!
I tend to wear things like jackets FOREVER, so the zippers always die on me. Your post implies that it's possible to replace the pull... I didn't know that was an option! I'll have to do some research because it would be wonderful to get something better than the safety pins that I'm currently using on a few jackets.
But the thing that always happens to me is that the "insertion pin" (had to go look up that vocabulary - it's the pointy thing on the end of a separating zipper that you shove into the zipping do-dad - I mean the "slider body") Anyhow, it always comes detached from the fabric which pretty much renders the zipper unusable. I haven't found any way to fix that, so I've ended up replacing a few zippers on things like down parkas etc. Anybody know if it's possible to fix that kind of zipper problem?
Also... I've just gotta say that repairing a zipper on something so you can donate it to someone else, now THAT'S an impressive level of frugality!
you can often find zipper repair kits at sewing stores. They have those "insertion pins" in the kits
My wife and I have fixed many zippers in the past on clothing to camping equipment. We have found that the only part you can not replace is the two parts on the bottom of a separating zipper where one long tooth slides through the pull and into the base. All the rest of a zipper can be bought in a repair kit approx. $5.00-$8.00 (may be more now it's been a while) per kit, and will have an assortment of parts in it. Available at most sewing craft stores.
I actually have this problem on a windbreaker jacket of mine, but it's one of those coil zippers, so I'm not sure if the repair kit will work. Gonna check, though...thanks for the tip.
I also use dental floss -its much stronger than regular thread.
Very good information. A few comments. I live in N.Y.C., and once I went to an industrial park in northern N.J. where the zipper company YKK was located. I saw an engineer, who immediately started pulling things apart on my garment, startling me, so I yelled for him to stop it. He turned and said, I am an engineer. This is my business. I design zippers. I know what I'm doing. He did. He also told me that employees of companies located in the industrial park oft came over at lunch hour to have him fix the zippers on their brief cases and bags!
Zippers as fasteners, although good, can be a real problem as related. Difficult to repair yourself unless dexterous. Anyone remember buttons on flys?!?!?!
A warning about using nylon dental floss. It is a good thread, but if, say, a button catches on something, it will stay attached, and one runs the risk of having a patch of the fabric come off with the button attached! Better, said the tailor to me, to lose a button (even if you have to replace an entire set) than have a big patch of the garment material be pulled out.
Mostly women respondents? Some men are among the best of tailors. [I can't sew!]
Zip-pededodah!
That's a good point about the dental floss. Using it is probably only a good idea if the item's fabric is very heavy duty (denim, duck cloth, etc.)
Thank you very much. As a now single man, I am very grateful learning your trick to fix my zippers before I meet someone more skillful.
Nice job. I liked that, and will use that new zipper stop stitch technique.
great advice ..... mended many zippers over time ...... candle wax or soap or baby oil are great when the zipper begins to seize up. Rather than keep tugging away ... lubricate and the one doesnt usually have to use the more drastic methods later. Happy zipping.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. I have had a sweater, that I love, hanging in my closet for over 10 years that I could not wear because of a broken zipper and now it is repaired because of you and your awesome knowledge. Thank you again.
Oh, that's lovely to hear. Excellent.
I've noticed that the dry cleaner places in my area offer shoe repair as well for those with boots that won't zip.
This is a great idea. I'm lucky enough to have a dedicated shoe repair shop near me, but not everyone does. (I'm praying my shoe repair guy never goes out of business!)
Good information. I have been doing Zipper repairs for myself and my family for many years. No one
told me how to do this - I just figured it out for myself. Yes, clothing can be rescued for future wearing and money saved by using this method.
My husband's zipper on his winter coat came apart. It looks like some teeth are broken. I can't get the zipper unzipped or the teeth back together. Can I fix this zipper?
Hmm, a coat I'm not sure about. That would require a different method than the one I used in this post, which works for zippers that don't separate at the ends.
I'd be inclined to check your local dry cleaning shop to see if they could replace this for you, especially if the coat is otherwise in good condition.
I did it! I fixed the zipper on my favorite pair of yard sale jeans! The zipper busted two years ago and I had set them aside sadly, but hadn't gotten around to actually tossing/re-purposing them yet. I'm an avid reader of yours via feedly and saw when you posted this, but last night I actually found the pair of jeans and decided to give it a try. All of seven minutes later, they were repaired!
However, it seems that my hips spread a bit more during my last pregnancy...
I repaired my granddaughters jeans and used your technique and it worked great. Thanks.
Yay! I am so glad!