How To Fix A Separated Zipper With This Simple Trick
How to Fix a Separated Zipper – with this simple trick, using a common household product, it can be easy to repair a zipper with little effort!
The other day my son came home from school, his jacket zipped up. As I began to assist him in taking it off, I realized that towards the bottom of the zipper it had separated. I zipped and unzipped for a while until I slid the coat down his body and made him step out of it.
This was not going to be as easy as I thought to fix. A little more difficult because it was a nylon zipper, and I could see the teeth pulling a bit…I was afraid of them breaking.
I headed to the computer to search How To Fix A Separated Zipper without doing any damage and found this simple tip…
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There are a few ways to fix this, but this tip was easy ans no damage done to the zipper! Yay…this was a new coat!
As I said, I had zipped and unzipped many times, but could not get the zipper to the bottom with both sides equal. One side was longer than the other, and it would not budge.
How To Fix A Separated Zipper
I applied a decent amount of liquid dish soap to the longer side of the zipper, making sure the teeth were covered well and gave the zipper a good tug downwards.
It instantly slid the zipper pull to the bottom aligning both ends – a good start to saving the zipper!
Next, I turned the jacket inside out at the bottom and grabbed each side with both hands – thumbs on both sides of the zipper. I could not take a picture of that since I had a hand on the camera, but where my ring finger is was where my thumb from my right hand was placed.
I gave a few good tugs with my right hand holding the left hand steady and the zipper separated at the bottom!
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Then rinse away any soap residue. I was so happy not to have to take apart the zipper and thrilled that I did not break it entirely. You learn something new every day! Hooray!
This is something we needed this morning. My daughter left the coat home, and grabbed another one. I will have to try some dish soap on it. I was a little worried that I might wreck the zipper trying to work on it. Thanks!
Hi Rebecca! I hope you were able to fix the zipper and save the coat! Zippers can be so frustrating and you never know if they are going to brake on you while fixing them.
I have the same problem with my winter coat. I zip it up it’s okay but when I get it the car it opens up from the bottom how can I fix this
Great to know , it’s so frustrating when this happens! Pinning to save for later! 🙂
Yes it is, Erin! Thanks for the pin!
Pinned this to my sewing tips board – thanks so much for these tutorials! Sadly,I have thrown away perfectly good clothing because of a broken zipper.
Thanks of pinning! I know it’s frustrating when zippers break and can cost a great deal to have replaced.
Holy cow! I don’t have kids at home anymore and I need this! I’m often getting hand-me-downs (yes me…I love them). Sometimes with zip up sweaters I run into zippers that do not zip just right. Have such a time with them! Thank you
Awesome, JT! Nothing wrong with loving hand-me-downs. Give this a try and hopefully it will resolve any future zipper troubles!
Such a great tip! I can;t even tell you hoW many times I’ve thrown something away because of this!
hi, I guess you need to dumb it down a little for me. you lost me when you wrote about your thumb on your ring finger finger and then pulling. i’m such a visual person and since you didn’t have a picture, you lost me. and it’s such a great thing to have as zippers separate on occasions esp on a piece you really like. thanks
Thanks much, my wife jammed her jacket just like you show, did not have liquid dish soap, so used liquid hand soap. I pulled down a couple of times, nothing, pulled down hard ,it worked. I am an 88 year old guy, when my wife (86) comes home from shopping, she will think I am really smart. I will tell her about your info. Thank you a lot.
WOW! I am so glad this trick worked for you. Great idea using the hand soap…you are very smart indeed!
Help…the liquid soap got the zipper down. But I tried it on a metal zipper the soap did get the zipper down but after cleaning all the soap off but when I tried pulling up the zipper again it it separated again. Is it just time for a new zipper?
Hi Helen,
So I think the problem is that your zipper pull is worn on the inside and no longer closing the teeth. You could try using a zipper pull repair kit like these https://amzn.to/2os9U3I (affiliate link) However, I have no experience with these so I can’t recommend a specific kit. You might look on youtube for a tutorial. The other option is to replace the entire zipper at a tailor shop. I hope this helps!
I’m going to remember this for the next time I’ve got a broken zipper! Usually I just cuss and then hand the jacket to my husband to fix. I’ve got a Craft Gossip post scheduled for tomorrow evening that features your tutorial: http://sewing.craftgossip.com/?p=91185 –Anne
I was on the road and my young son was desperate for me to fix the zipper on his favorite cold weather vest. I didn’t have dish soap so I used chapstick instead. It worked…Thank you!
THANK YOU! You helped me fix an expensive coat whose zipper had gotten off track. Can’t thank you enough!
That’s awesome! It’s such an easy trick!
Zipper separated on my new bathrobe after 3rd wear. Tried this trick and it worked perfectly! Thanks!
That’s awesome! I’m so glad it worked for you!
Thanks! You saved a rather expensive sleeping bag this morning with this tip! Much appreciated.
Awesome! I’m glad you found this easy tip useful! Thanks for letting me know!
Thank you so much! My daughter’s jacket did the same thing as your video. One side of the zipper was longer. I followed your instructions and said a prayer and the zipper was fixed. This was a Christmas gift, a Michael Kors jacket. You would expect greater quality being a name brand coat, I have a M Kors jacket just like my daughter;s and I have had problems with the zipper also. That is how I know ikt was not an isolated problem.
Yay! I’m so glad this trick worked for you and saved your daughter’s jacket! Thanks for letting me know!
thank you! this happened to one of my favorite robes, in the wash. The dish liquid was all it took. Then I was able to get it zipped. So glad I found your tip! Most of the tips were very complicated, with cutting and sewing and pliers and whatnot. This was simplicity itself.
I love it! I’m so glad it worked for you! Thanks for letting me know!
Thank you! I searched the internet and was just about convinced I’d have to get out my pliers when I found your instructions. Worked perfectly!
I’m so glad it worked for you! Thanks for letting me know!