There is no better example of an embarrassing situation than your zipper breaking at work. The embarrassment trails you and lingers on till you get a workable solution at least, in the interim.
But, can a zipper just decide to break on its own, just like that? Can there be reasons why they break? What then are the possible causes of a zipper failure in random places like the work environment?
Signs that your zipper might break and quick fixes when they do
Contents
The slide is drifting off the track
This often happens as a result of obvious wear and tear of the pants. Wear and tear in this case, does not necessarily mean only old and worn out, if you have been rough handling the zipper often, it is bound to break sooner or later.
Also, if your pant fabric is not of very good quality, there is a possibility that the materials used, like the zipper for instance are of low quality too.
Thankfully, this is not so much of a big deal and can be fixed in no time using a screwdriver. When the slider drifts off the zip track, the logical thing to do to get them working again is to reattach them back to the right track.
To do this, simply go to the bottom of the zip and manually feed the teeth using a screwdriver from the bottom back into the slider. As soon as you successfully get the teeth into the two sides of the slider, you can use the zip puller to drag them up and down, to lock and open again.
Dividing teeth
This is one of the commonest zipper issues. That moment where you are trying to zip up but, the slide would not just put together the teeth of your zipper.
Instead of closing it as you slide it up, it just moves without doing it. This mostly happens when the slider loses its firmness and becomes too free or, the teeth become crooked and shift out of shape. Other times, it might be because there is something stuck within.
The pull is getting yanked off the slider
This is a difficult one and might need an outright replacement. How do you get a hold of the zipper to either close or open if the pull is either yanked off or threatening to pull?
One of the major reasons why this happens is because the materials used in making the zipper are not durable. If what you have are iron zippers, then, it might occur if and when they get rusted. Additionally, if you handle your zipper forcefully, you might also get it damaged this way.
Slider getting stuck midway
This happens to the bulk of us. When this happens, instead of forcefully pulling it to slide up, we should instead, scrutinize every inch of the zipper to ascertain if the resistance is as a result of something stuck within it.
Another reason for this might be because the teeth have shifted away from its normal position or has broken in one place or another.
The solution isn’t farfetched, is it? If you have anything stuck in the sliders that hinders you from easily zipping up and down, it is only normal that you look into removing whatever is within right?
Some of the items that can get stuck in the slider include rope from other materials or threading from your pant too. Try as much as possible to remove whatever it is using your hand or a pair of tweezers.
You can also pull the puller upward and downwards intermittently to help push out the item.
Missing teeth
When some parts of the teeth on the sliders are missing, you find out that your zipper gets stuck as soon as you get to that exact point. Missing teeth happens most times due to rough or forceful usage of the zipper or its quality is flat out inferior.
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What are the causes and possible solutions for zippers that seemingly work but, open up after afterward?
Instances where you are walking down the road and someone calls your attention to your open zipper. You look down to find out that it is true then wonder what could have happened because you are sure you had them zipped before leaving the house.
The problem lies majorly with the slider. The slider is meant to hold the closed teeth firmly and keep them in place. Now, trouble begins to loom when these sliders become too loose and not so compact anymore.
When you notice this, expect to experience a broken zipper soon if, you don’t get them fixed or better still, replaced. If you happen to be at work and this happens, you can look around for a tool called pliers and have a quick fix done.
With the aid of your pliers, pinch the top and bottom plate simultaneously. The front side of the slider where you can see it hinged to the puller is the top plate while behind is called the bottom plate.
Pinching the top and bottom plates together would close the gaps so as for the teeth to slide through easily. Be sure to do it with caution though, gently not forcefully so the slider does not break due to too much pressure.
How to prevent your pant zipper from damaging again
One of the proven ways of preventing your pant zipper from breaking is by handling it with care. Yep, it is as simple as that.
Do not use it forcefully; even it seems to get stuck. Applying force would only make things worse. Instead, stop and reevaluate so as to see what is getting in the way.
Sometimes, if the zip proves too stubborn to zip up, it might be an indirect way of telling you that your pants are too tight.
Do not still attempt to forcefully pull it up because the zip might end up breaking open still after all your struggles. The ideal thing to do is to change to bigger and well-fitted pants instead.
FAQ’s
What are the parts of a zipper called?
The major parts of the zipper are the slider, puller, and teeth. The slider is the zipper itself that locks when you pull up or opens up when it is being pulled down. It is as important as every other part of the zipper for, if anything comes in its way, it would automatically stop functioning effectively.
The puller on the other hand is the handle you grip when you make it to either zip up or down. They are usually in metal or plastic form.
If roughly handled, they might break and when that happens, zipping up and down becomes a lot more difficult as opposed to when it was done with ease before. This is because a part of it has broken or chipped off and you might not be able to get a good grip on it anymore.
We’re finally down to the teeth. The teeth can be found on the sliders, they are lined on it, all the way up. It is that component that makes the slider close up or open. As a result, if any of the teeth gets broken, you face a challenge with the zipper because you would not be able to slide past it.
Easy way to get zippers fixed
First of all, you need to be equipped with some basic tailoring skills else, you just might find this somewhat complex. It would be beneficial to you if you did learn it though. Fixing a broken zipper is one hack that you would be thankful you know.
I know it’s easy for you to just get them to a tailor for fixing but, how about if the zipper springs up as a surprise to you at work? How then do you intend to contain the embarrassment?
For people that are not too versed with tailoring gimmicks, we can simply get an alternative zipper in the form of zipper pull replacement tools.
Now, this works very easily. You just need to hinge it upon your zipper and zip-up by sliding all the way up.
Pants Zipper Broke At Work – Conclusion
Pant zippers breaking is something that we all can relate to. A lot of us must have experienced it. If not from work, then probably in the comfort of our homes. Even if it has not happened to us directly, we might have been able to see someone else experience it.
Words cannot adequately convey how embarrassing it is for our zipper to fail at the work place. While we might have knowingly or unknowingly caused it, it is wise to equip ourselves with useful tips that can help us prevent a future occurrence or, run a quick fix whenever it happens.
We must however, take note of the fact that these fixes are temporal and cannot stand the test of time so, we must endeavor to get the pants to the tailor to either fix properly or change the entire zipper.
