I’ve had my Montbell Thermawrap jacket since about 2007. I think the zipper has always been stiff, but it seems to have gradually gotten worse.
Any ideas on how to loosen it up?
Topic
Thermawrap jacket zipper–too stiff
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- This topic has 13 replies, 8 voices, and was last updated 7 years, 6 months ago by
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what do you mean by stiff?
too difficult to zip the zipper?
maybe wax to lubricate? maybe there’s some better lubricant
Yeah, it’s very hard to zip. Very resistant. I have to pull hard and I worry that doing that might damage it if I just crank on it impatiently.
Wax. I’ll give it a try. Thanks.
maybe see if someone has a better lubrication suggestion
Have you ever accidentally stepped on the jacket or squeezed it into a tight space?
Some of the sliders are quite weak when chasing an extra gram of weight savings
Try putting a flat screwdriver blade into the slider opening and opening it up a tiny bit.
Edward—Hmm, not that I know of. I’ll take a look at it and see if that seems likely.
I took a look and I don’t think the slider is too tight. Really I think it’s just the design of the jacket. it’s made so when you zip it up the zipper is not visible, it’s so tightly against the fabric.
Anyone else have this jacket? Is the zipper tough to slide?
Make sure it’s clean and try some zipper lubricant. Might be all it needs.
I had a Thermawrap for at least 7 years but I’ve never had a zipper issue.
I’ve used lip balm on fussy ziipers in the field, seems to work fine.
bjc and Wisner—Thanks! I think I’ll try actually washing (by hand, as recommended by mfr) first. Then, if still needed, try lubing it.
I have cleaned all the “teeth” of both sides of a jacket’s zipper, using a tired old toothbrush and Dawn dish soap. I rinsed with the kitchen sink spray thing and let it fully dry overnight. I have used bees wax to insure a smooth glide too, although that may not have been necessary (but a man can’t just have extra bees wax and not use it for something).
Gary—Cleaning the teeth sounds like the best idea. Thanks for the tip.
MLD sells zipper lube
Graphite pencil will lubricate the teeth. Sounds like the zipper is bent, you can bend the zipper a bit to loosen it up or replace it altogether. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pND6-omqt4k
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