Fixing a broken zip?

squeaky

As you pull the zip up the teeth are squeezed together as the "puller bit" narrows at the bottom...



There are two main possibilities...

1) The "bumps and cups" that lock together are worn - so that'd pretty much be the end of the zip

2) The low end of the "puller bit" has opened up and isn't quite locking the "bumps and cups". Take a look at the puller and if you can see that it has opened up - you "might" be able to gently squeeze it back square with a pair of pliers.

Zips these days never seem to last more than five minutes. Or is it just me?

kinkyjinks

I'm going to try squeaky's suggestion on my favourite backpack and if that doesn't work I'm going to try this. Hopefully one of them will work because it's a really sturdy bag otherwise

adelight

That's frustrating! I was hoping to find out how to mend a zip too, not to find out they're just rubbish quality

McKneff

New Zip, you can buy them quite easily.

Ive never been able to mend a zip successfully

kinkyjinks

kinkyjinks wrote: »

I'm going to try squeaky's suggestion on my favourite backpack and if that doesn't work I'm going to try this. Hopefully one of them will work because it's a really sturdy bag otherwise

I looked at my zip and it looked like it needed realigned so I used the link I gave before. The zip had a bit of material covering each end, which I had to remove and either end of the zip was open. After 1 1/2 hours of trying to work out how to get the zipper bit back on and sewing the material back on each end, it works :j

If it's something you really like then it's well worth having a go at fixing it.

esmy

Gently pull the zip down as far as you can so it's open almost all the way. Pull up slightly so you can see about an inch or so of the fastened zip. With a strong needle and thread oversew over the fastened bit as close to the bottom as you can with lots of stitches. Pull the zip to the 'new' bottom and fasten up again. I've repaired many zips like this including boots which are still fine over a year later.
HTH

Little_Miss_Determined

Thanks for everyones posts. My OH's zip broke on his hoodie yesterday and we were going to throw it away (I really must get better at being OS) I'm going to have a look at it tomorrow.

Valli

TBH I pay a friend to mend my zips - she's done me a coat and a pair of trousers recently but she's a very experienced seamstress (I'm a bodger) and the job she does, removing the old zip and replacing it with a new one, is so professional it's worth it.

She's also got a VERY expensive pair of lined curtains (which my sister paid a few hundred for) to take up for me at the moment - I'm also hoping to get a 'runner' to drape across the bottom of my bed and maybe some cushion covers out of the offcuts. A job I probably could have done tbh BUT I decided that as the curtains were such top quality, not to take that risk.

Pink.

Hi Red Doe,

As your thread has dropped down the board I've added it to the main thread on fixing zips to keep the advice in one place.

Pink

Str4berr3

Hah! I was just googling about repairing another broken zip, this time it is my beloved leather Bertie boots. The slider has come off one side of zip.

6 years on from this original post I have chuck the old handbag away.

Been such a long time here, I can see MSE has grown so much! :T