Use A Kitchen Essential To Make Your Coat Zipper Glide With Ease

"Mom/Dad, my zipper's stuck!" The days of your parents coming to the rescue during zipper catastrophes are over. More than likely, it's now you who's doing the rescuing. As long as you haven't irretrievably closed the teeth over a scarf or the like, a trusty piece of wax paper can help you fix a stuck zipper.

If the zipper is just sticky and already open, or if it's having trouble closing, this trick should work. Tear off a piece of wax paper, and fold it into a little book shape — this part isn't required, but it will make a more durable little "packet" to wrap around the teeth. Rub the packet over each set of teeth, making sure to hit each section on both sides. Give the zipper a few trial runs, opening and closing it fully a few times. With any luck, the coat conundrum will be a thing of the past. Of course, more than just coat zippers can be saved with this trick. Boots, purses, luggage, tents, and anything else with an uncooperative zipper is a candidate for the wax paper treatment.

Lots of people recommend candle wax to get a sticky zipper moving, which can get you out of this literal bind. But where wax paper improves on this trick (and a few other clever and affordable hacks to fix the stuck zipper on your jacket) is that there's no mess. Rubbing a candle, a bar of soap, or another solid but flaky material over zipper teeth can leave you with shards of wax clinging to the teeth and send flurries of it onto surfaces around you. The thin layer of wax on the paper is just enough to get that pull sliding over the teeth but not so much that excess crumbles everywhere.

This thin wax layer obviously doesn't provide a lot of lubricating material, so you may need to reapply the wax frequently. Since it's easily portable, take this way to repurpose wax paper on the road with you. Pocket a folded-up sheet to have on hand while you're away from the kitchen. Lightweight, disposable, and no-mess, wax paper can give your zipper a touch-up when needed. Just refold the paper so that fresh wax surfaces are available for a zipper rubdown.