Content

• To step
• Method 1 of 3: Troubleshoot the fabric
• Tips
• Warnings
• Necessities

If you've ever tried to untie a stuck zipper, you know how frustrating it can be. A broken zipper prevents you from putting on or taking off your favorite clothes and opening or closing accessories such as a bag. Rough handling can also permanently ruin your clothing or accessory. Fortunately, it is usually quite easy to get those small parts moving again with the help of some common household items. The next time you have to deal with a stubborn zipper, just grab tweezers, a graphite pencil, or something you can use to lubricate the zipper.

To step

Method 1 of 3: Troubleshoot the fabric

1. Check for dust in the zipper. Sometimes a zipper can get caught because some of the fabric around it gets stuck in the teeth. Take a good look at the garment or accessory and look for folds, areas of the fabric caught or tangled in the zipper, and other causes of the zipper. You can usually fix these problems fairly easily.
   • When a zipper no longer wants to move, this is usually because a piece of fabric has caught on it.
   • If you don't see anything between the teeth of the zipper, try lubricating the teeth to correct the problem.
2. Find a pencil. Look in your desk, backpack, briefcase or junk for a graphite pencil. For best results, use a traditional wooden pencil instead of a mechanical pencil. The wider tip makes it easier to apply the graphite to the zipper.
   • Graphite is an excellent dry lubricant by nature.
3. Grab a product that you can also use as a lubricant. Search your home to find a remedy you can use to reduce friction between the slider and the zipper teeth. This could be a bar of soap, a tube of lip balm, or even a bottle of glass cleaner. You can undo the zipper with almost any smooth, greasy fabric.
   • Other options are candles, petroleum jelly and wax crayons.
   • Because there are so many improvised lubricants that can solve the problem, you always have a remedy to hand whether you are at home, at work or on the road.
4. Clean the garment or accessory. If the accessory or garment is machine washable, put it in your washing machine with the next load. You can otherwise scrub the zipper and the area around it with a cloth and a mixture of water and mild soap. This is also a good practice to get into to keep your zippers working properly.
   • By cleaning the zipper you not only remove residual lubricant, but also all the remaining dirt from the zipper so that the zipper will continue to work properly for a long time.

Tips

• Use a toothbrush and soap that does not leave a residue to regularly clean the zippers in your favorite clothes and accessories.
• Many apparel manufacturers recommend using a specially formulated zipper lubricant to loosen stuck zippers. However, there is no guarantee that such an agent will work better than an improvised lubricant.
• Test lubricants on a small, inconspicuous area on the fabric first to make sure they won't affect the color.
• A bottle of graphite powder can also remove the zipper, although this method will likely be more messy.
• If you have a zipper that is too broken to be salvaged, consider buying a new zipper or new zipper parts. A zipper is usually simple enough to figure out how it works at home.
• Most of the above methods work better with metal zippers than plastic zippers. That's because those zippers are very reliable.

Warnings

• Trying to lubricate the zipper with an oil-based compound can leave permanent stains in the surrounding fabric.
• Try not to overload bags, take off clothes without unzipping the zipper first, or do other things that put too much stress on the zipper teeth.

Necessities

• Tweezers
• Safety pin
• Graphite pencil
• Vaseline
• Candle
• Bar of soap
• Lip balm
• Olive oil
• Wax crayons
• Lip balm
• Glass cleaner