A while back, I pulled our old daypack out of its storage place and found it was totally salt-encrusted and water stained. None of the zippers would budge. That wasn’t going to work.
A couple years ago we’d won a new one and this one got thrown under the bed and forgotten; now we wanted to use both. Oops! I was afraid it was just a goner.
Figuring that I had nothing to lose, I soaked the daypack in some hot vinegar water for an hour, and that got the two largest of the three zippers working.
I used a 5 gallon bucket and put almost a quart of cider vinegar* in it, then added boiling water (I’m guessing about 3 gallons — it’s not rocket science) and then added the daypack and used our grill tongs to push it down into the water. A couple of times during that soak time I used the tongs to swish things around.
On the third zipper, Dave squirted straight vinegar into the zip pull and then used pliers to pull. Now it works too!
Figuring that the daypack was already totally wet, I ran it through the washer on gentle then dried it in the dryer (normal heat). Looks great and all works perfectly — I just put a bit of ZipCare on the zippers to keep them from having problems again. Woo-hoo! (Read about ZipCare here; buy it from Amazon here.)
*Cider vinegar is more acidic than distilled white vinegar, making it a better choice for dissolving salt encrustation.
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Carolyn Shearlock has lived aboard full-time for 17 years, splitting her time between a Tayana 37 monohull and a Gemini 105 catamaran. She’s cruised over 14,000 miles, from Pacific Mexico and Central America to Florida and the Bahamas, gaining firsthand experience with the joys and challenges of life on the water.
Through The Boat Galley, Carolyn has helped thousands of people explore, prepare for, and enjoy life afloat. She shares her expertise as an instructor at Cruisers University, in leading boating publications, and through her bestselling book, The Boat Galley Cookbook. She is passionate about helping others embark on their liveaboard journey—making life on the water simpler, safer, and more enjoyable.
Jan Bogart says
Good to know. i’ve thrown quite a few items out. thanks….
Chris&Janet says
A light coating of Chapstick on the teeth will delay a recurrence for quite some time. The crystals generally won’t form, or they will fall off. Also the coating includes UV shield.
Carolyn Shearlock says
The biggest problem with using Chapstick is that it will attract dirt and sand, which in turn can jam the zipper. All depends on where you are whether that’s likely to be a problem.
Barbara Lowell says
Wow so great. I use vinegar a lot but didn’t know that ACV was more acidic. Thanx great rehab story. I like WD40 for zippers sometimes too depending on the situation, more for metal corrosion.
Louise says
Great tip! It would have never occurred to me to try this. Oh, vinegar, is there anything you can’t do? 🙂
Frank Collins says
Go to your dollar or any cheap store and get some candlesticks. Rub the candles on the teeth of the zippers and they will work good as new
Carolyn Shearlock says
Wax will work in a pinch, but I’ve found the liquid gets down in the zipper much bettter and doesn’t hold dirt in.
Charlotte Caldwell says
We just had a zipper issue with our Bimini. It was a test of will to get them unfrozen despite the (intermittent) care we gave them. The issue was not the big fat plastic zipper, it was the metal zipper pull which had corroded, on all of them. We used vinegar, WD40, rust remover, and the damn things just stayed shut. It took liberal amounts of zipper grease, plus one person holding and one person pulling( with pliers) before they budged. Never again! I really thought we were going to have to cut them open ( of course this was hurricane prep, otherwise the Bimini stays on). Why don’t they make the zipper pulls stainless or heavy plastic, for marine use?
Cathy Coyne Wehle says
Good info
Pauline Kussrow says
Dylan Kussrow