Metal zippers

[ohairas]

Does anyone still manufacture metal zippers? If I take the time to make a vintagey dress, I'd prefere to have a strong metal zip instead of those awful plastic ones that bust.
Surely they do, since blue jeans have 'em. But I've not seen them in the fabric stores for dresses.

Also, any advice on caring for metal zippers to keep them smooth? Or, if they are already rusting?

Nikki

 

[Baron Kurtz]

talon still make metal zips. They apparently are rust-proof.

bk

 

[Lady Day]

Oh sure, metal zippers are all over the place. Try some online fabric stores, or check out some tailors that are in your area. They may know.

They are totally out there. I tend to use plastic zippers. I find metal ones too bulky for some of the garments I make, but folks are suggesting I use metal ones....hmmm...I may try it

LD

 

[pretty faythe]

metal zips

I just got on from JoAnns. They had 'em at wal-mart also.

 

[ohairas]

Thanks all! I'll check Joann's again. We have two of them and neither one carries all that the other does. Frustrating!

Nikki

 

[pigeon toe]

My grandma gave me the tip (after a good half-hour spent with her struggling to get zipped up into my vintage prom dress with as few tears as possible) to rub the lead of a pencil along both sides of the metal zipper to make it smoother to zip. Of course, she remembers this after we nearly kill ourselves trying to get me into the dress!

 

[Lauren]

I haven't had too much luck finding ones that aren't metal jean zippers at fabric stores. If anyone has references I'd love to know!

I get mine at estate sales... just stock up whenever I see them and then I have them on hand for projects. That, bias tape, and seam binding are like gold when you need them in a jiffy!

 

[Sunny]

My grandma gave me the tip (after a good half-hour spent with her struggling to get zipped up into my vintage prom dress with as few tears as possible) to rub the lead of a pencil along both sides of the metal zipper to make it smoother to zip. Of course, she remembers this after we nearly kill ourselves trying to get me into the dress!

Of course - graphite! That's exactly what it's for. What a great tip!

 

[Grnidwitch]

My grandma gave me the tip (after a good half-hour spent with her struggling to get zipped up into my vintage prom dress with as few tears as possible) to rub the lead of a pencil along both sides of the metal zipper to make it smoother to zip. Of course, she remembers this after we nearly kill ourselves trying to get me into the dress!

PT,

Be careful doing that. The lead can smear onto the fabric. You can also use soap or a candle. They both work well and you don't have to worry about the smearing. Oh and you can spray alittle WD40 onto a q-tip and rub the q-tip onto the zipper teeth.

 

[Lauren]

You can also use wax to make it zip easier.

 

[BettyValentine]

I don't know if it's what you're looking for, but when I need metal zippers I get them from Greenberg & Hammer or I order them from www.zippersource.com

 

[Elaina]

http://www.sewtrue.com

They carry a wide array of zippers.

 

[redpony]

If you run out of luck, let me know what kind and color you need. I have hundreds collected from estates and I just might have what you need.

I also find that the WD40 pen works fantastic for smoothing out a zipper

 

[mysterygal]

I second JO'Anne's as well! And as always, if your unsure about what length or color you should go with, they usually have great staff that can help you out. I'm not sure if every store of there's is situated the same way, but, the one close to where I live has their zippers right where they cut the fabrics.
zipper care; I don't have the magazine with me, but, I just got done reading an article out of 'In Style' all about taking care of specific things, zippers where one of them. I'll hunt for it and share what it said about it.

 

[Vintage Betty]

One of my gripes about old metal zippers is that many of them don't have the "end" of the zipper.

When you purchase a new vintage item, be sure to check the bottom of the zipper to see if it has an end to stop the zipping mechanism. If not, just quick stich a couple threads to stop the zipper from getting off track.

Now if I can only remember to do that myself...

Vintage Betty

 

[Elaina]

My JoAnn's is awful. The staff...let me say if I could get away with standing out in front to show my unhappiness with this store I would.

Other then pattern sales, and only if I can't get Wal-Mart to honor them, do I step foot inside.

 

[mysterygal]

How to care for your zipper

Keep these fasteners working smoothly by running a piece of natural beeswax (found in hardware stores) over a zipper's open teeth.

 

[epr25]

I have had a couple of dresses that have a metal zipper that slipped out of the track. Is there a way to rethread this? Or does a new zipper have to installed?

 

[Tourbillion]

I've managed to fix metal zippers before, they have to be in pretty slidey condition though. If they get stuck you might as well replace them.

You cut off a few of the teeth (but not the tape) at the bottom (or sometimes top) of the zipper.

Then you rethread the pull onto the zipper, and sew above the place where you removed the teeth so it doesn't come undone again. Usually the zipper breaks again after a while, but this works for an emergency.

Also, I've bought metal zippers at Joanns and Walmart before, so they should carry them, but some stores lack dilligent staff I suspect.

Anyway, I prefer the plastic ones anyway, they get stuck less, and I like the invisible ones.

 

[GoldLeaf]

I kick myself for not appreciating the metal zippers I bought years ago. They were sold about 20 to a bundle for 1.00 at at thrift store in many colors. I bought them and attached them to my punk pants. They are long gone