Give up your tricks for freeing up zippers!

I rinse and have zipper wax but have had zippers stick. I use the gear in saltwater. I had a seals paddle bag and released it with PB Blaster after soaking it a day. Now jacket hood is stuck.


I tried some vinegar also. Thanks

Zip-Tech… https://www.gearaid.com/collections/care-repair/products/zip-tech

Be careful. Some penetrating lubes intended for automotive use will damage Gore-Tex and similar laminates, and probably nylon, too.

Best thing is to rinse gear right after paddling or getting home. Prevention is easier than the alternatives.

Paddle fresh water. :wink:

If there’s one thing I learned from my first (and so far, only) experience paddling in the ocean, it’s that salt water is very hard on gear! I ended up with some aluminum carabiners that might never work the same, some rust on the zipper pull of my drysuit (the zipper, fortunately, works just fine still), and various other small signs of corrosive attack.

I disagree with any advice that was given to me that gear can sit for a while without being rinsed. RINSE IMMEDIATELY AND THOROUGHLY AFTER SALT WATER. The only things that were thankful in my case were my eyes and sinuses. Salt water wins that one.

I do rinse well. Not my dry suit just paddling jacket at the hood. I have 2 McNett waxes, one soft one hard for brass zippers and one McNett zipper cleaner. Really don’t need it to work to remove hood but it bugs me it doesn’t.

Rinsing is not enough… Immerse in a tub of water.Immediately Then do not ignore. Over the next week use the zippers. If you ignore the zippers for months you find trouble.
Don’t avoid salt water. It has given me many good trips over the last 40 years.

I like salt no fresh water brain eating amoeba!

I am soaking it in white vinegar tonight.

Are the teeth locked up or is it just that the fabric is jammed in the zipper pull? It’s hard to tell from your photos.

If it’s the former I think I might try a little CLR.

Tooth lock. LOL yeah CLR may work. Have to see if I have any. It’s acidic like vinegar. I’ll see what happens over night. Thanks.

PB Blaster is great I use it all the time but it takes time. Use it on a lot of cars and heavy equipment.

@kayamedic said:
Don’t avoid salt water. It has given me many good trips over the last 40 years.

I won’t. In fact, I’m already looking for the next opportunity. I really enjoyed the dynamic environment, and you don’t get those conditions on the great lakes. I’ll be doing some better planning ahead next time though to take care of equipment post paddle.

I’ve been underwhelmed by zipper waxes and plan to try using Boeshield drops next time I use the gear that tends to get sticky zips. Boeshield is a water resistant lube that won’t degrade synthetics – Boeing developed it to use in aircraft without damaging wiring or other components. I’ve used it for 15 years on the aluminum frame joints of my folding kayaks to keep them from corroding together and on my bicycle gears and cables. Don’t know if it would help on already “frozen” zips, since I don’t have any right now to experiment on.

@willowleaf said:
I’ve been underwhelmed by zipper waxes and plan to try using Boeshield drops next time I use the gear that tends to get sticky zips. Boeshield is a water resistant lube that won’t degrade synthetics – Boeing developed it to use in aircraft without damaging wiring or other components. I’ve used it for 15 years on the aluminum frame joints of my folding kayaks to keep them from corroding together and on my bicycle gears and cables. Don’t know if it would help on already “frozen” zips, since I don’t have any right now to experiment on.

I have boeshield in the garage also.

Read few other things to try I think the white metal corrodes not really stuck with salt. Soaked in vinegar over night . Hot water next then maybe naval jelly and more PB Blaster

Well vinegar did the trick overnight. Now wash and lube up.

The key is that you want your gear to have plastic or brass zippers. Aluminum or “pot metal” zippers corrode and once that happens, there’s not a lot you can do to save them. It’s just a matter of time until they become completely non-functional. Careful rinsing and lubrication help, but in my experience, it just prolongs the inevitable.

OTOH, I’ve had good success freeing seized aluminum carabiners. Hot water and lots of “sweat equity” will free them eventually. Careful rinsing and lubrication will keep them working indefinitely. Boeshield is a good lube choice, but there are also anti-corrosion lubes that work even better, such as Corrosion-X.

I it’s a stohlquist probably 100 or less 8 years ago when I started. Spray lubes make a mess. I guess they could be applied with tiny brush. Dropped in washing machine. Then I’ll put waterproof / DWR back in. Just really a windbreaker for splashes. Thanks all.

Good info all…

I think I have corrosion x to for boat or I saw it in store.