Coil zipper on a rain jacket, about four years old. It zips up fine and then the teeth part again a few centimetres below the slider as I walk. I squeezed the slider gently with pliers top and bottom, which fixed it for about two days. No missing teeth that I can see and the tape isn't torn. Do I keep squeezing or is this a replace-the-slider job?
Before you swap it, run the zip closed and look closely at the coil under a lamp. Worn or flattened coil sections give the same symptom and no slider will fix that. If you can see the coil is squashed or the individual loops look uneven in one stretch, you're replacing the whole zip.
Getting the old slider off: snip one of the top stops with flush cutters, slide the old one off, put the new one on and then either fit a new metal top stop or, if you're not fussy, do three or four tight hand stitches across the coil where the stop was. The stitching version has held on my work jacket for two years.
It works, just make it dense and use a strong thread. A weak stop and the slider comes off in the rain, which is a bad day.
The stitched stop sounds much less intimidating than crimping metal onto a jacket I quite like.
Also worth cleaning the coil before you do anything else. Grit and old detergent residue in a coil makes the slider ride badly. Old toothbrush, warm water, dry it fully, then a rub of candle wax along the teeth.
@hem_keeper_hana · 7mo ago · 3 replies
Replace the slider. Squeezing works because it temporarily narrows a slider whose channel has worn wider, and the metal springs back or wears again within days, which is exactly the pattern you're describing. A new slider of the right size and type costs very little and takes about 20 minutes. You need the size number, usually stamped on the back of the old slider, and you need to know it's a coil zip rather than moulded, which it sounds like you do.
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@hem_keeper_hana · 7mo ago
Size 5 coil, plus whether it's an autolock or non-lock, plus single or double pull. For a jacket you probably want autolock. Buy a couple, they're pennies and the first one always goes flying across the room.
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@hemline_hank · 7mo ago
Found a 5 stamped on the back. Is that the whole spec or do I need to worry about the shape too?
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