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Tina Bjerre Nielsen
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How is your zipper doing? It is among one of the worst nightmares a rider can think of: The zipper in one of your boots is starting to give up. The question is: Should you pay someone to fix it or should you just buy new boots? Either way it will have an impact on your monthly income. Too many riders do not know that it is quite easy to repair, and it is definetely worth the try before you pay someone else to do it.
Here at Malgré Tout Media we have recently had two pair of boots where the zipper did not work any longer. One pair has spent the last year in a closet waiting to be thrown out. However, now both pairs have a new life – the zipper is working and it only took 10 minutes!
A stiff brush
A wet cloth
Some dishwashing liquid
A lighter (optionally)
Universal oil
A small, flat pliers
You may also like to read: Riding boots: 9 easy tips for a longer boot life
The first thing you need to do, is to clean the zipper thoroughly. First, use a stiff brush to wipe away all the dry dirt. Next, find a moist cloth with a small amount of dishwasher liquid on to wash the zipper. Thoroughly rub the zipper on the inside and outside. Make sure to get all the way to the bottom of it at the heel. A lot of dirt is often collected in this area.
Pull up and down a few times even if it is still not working properly. This helps cleaning the zipper on the inside. If necessary also blow to make sure all dirt is removed.
Now find the lighter (if you and adult if not get an adult to help you with it). Turn on the lighter. Let the flame slide up and down alongside the zipper on the outside – not the inside. This way, you will have all the last bits of dirt and fabrics removed. If you look closely you can also see how the dirt disappears. It is of course important that the lighter is used in a pretty frequent speed so you do not melt the metal or plastic slats.
If you are able to close the zipper, put on oil on the closed zipper and all the way down. If you cannot close it yet then try to put on oil on the slats in both the right- and left-hand side.
The last step is basically the one that makes the difference. But the other steps are necessary and important for this number five step to even work. The reason why many zippers break is that they lose tightness in the closing mechanism. After using the boots for a long time, the zipper often cannot close its slats. Therefore, you should try to squeeze it easily together. First by squeezing on the sides and afterwards on the top of and the bottom (see image below). Remember to do it slowly to begin with when you try to close it, otherwise you risk breaking it.
If the zipper still does not work after performing these five steps either the slats or the zipper itself are broken. If the last one is the case then you can buy a new one. If it is the slats you unfortunately have to find your wallet and either change the whole zipper or buy a new pair of boots. However, in most cases it is just the zipper that needs a brush up to function properly again.
A zipper lasts longer if you keep it clean, use oil and do not pull on it too much.
