- How big are the extra-large zippers on this site?

Our “large” zippers are #10 gauge (comparable in width to aluminum biker zippers), our “XL” zippers are #20 gauge, and our “giant” zippers are #30 gauge. To give you an idea compared to normal zipper sizes: #3 through #8 are regular everyday zippers that can be found in sewing stores.

The #10 zips have a 3/8 inch width across the teeth, when zipped closed, plus 1/2 inch of fabric zipper tape on either side. The #20‘s have a 1/2 inch zipped width, plus 5/8 inch for each tape side. The #30 zips are a full 1 inch wide across the teeth, plus an extra 1 inch on each side of tape.

- What is a “fully-separating” zipper?

“Fully-separating” means that the zipper just doesn’t unzip from one side like a bag-zipper, but each side can separate completely like a coat-zipper. Each side detaches to allow easy access, but the slider will stop at the top when the teeth are zipped together. At the one end of the length of teeth is a feeder end-stop (pin+box) which holds the slider pull in place on one side when unzipped and also allows the other side of teeth to quickly slot in when zipping up. This is great for long trench coats or corsets, or anything you might want easy daily access into.

The slider pulls on fully-separating #30 zips can also be reversed, if you prefer to use the spiky zig-zag triangular flip-side of the teeth as the outside for your zip.

- What is a “top-separating” zipper?

“Top-separating” (a.k.a. a bag or pants zipper) are also called a “one-end open” zipper – which means that the zipper is not meant to open up completely. They will unzip from one side (referred to as the top) to the very bottom, and the slider will be stopped when zipped, but the two sides will not detach from each other. Zips with a solid end-stop are a little cheaper, and they’re perfectly suitable for luggage bags / backpacks / purses / etc. as well as any garment that normally is pulled over the head or stepped into such as hoodies, dresses and skirts. They’re also great for decorative design elements such as the lower leg of bondage or raver pants or jacket sleeves.

- What does “zipper chain” mean?

“Zipper chain” is just the plastic zipper teeth mounted on the fabric zipper tape, without solid bottom end-stops, open top-stops or separating feeder-stops. This is a cheaper and lighter-weight alternate for specific costuming projects or decorative areas in clothing or interior design when the zipper is meant to be there “just for looks” and doesn’t need to actively be zipped. It is, however, possible to pull the two sides apart and also to “snap” the teeth back into the zipped position by hand without the need for a slider at all. (Or, an individual slider can be slotted on the end later…see video below.)

- How do I sew-in (or otherwise attach) the giant zips ?

• Tips when attaching to fabric or vinyl
• Tips for attaching to plastic or other rigid material can be found in the Anti-Sora shoe tutorial

- Can these zippers be shortened?

Yes, they can, provided you apply Fray-Check or Fray-Bloc to all of the cut areas of the fabric tape to avoid fraying. Keep in mind that if you pull the slider too close to the zipper end that now does not have an end-stop, it will come off…however you -can- add a jewelery crimp in between the second and third teeth on each side to hold the slider in place as before. (See video below to reattach if this happens.) For separating zippers, be sure to cut down from the top in order to retain the useful feeder pin+box on the bottom of the zip.

- Can these zippers be lengthened?

Kind of. If you’re making an Organization coat for someone tall, or have another design plan that must include zipper teeth to fill a particularly long length, there is a trick to add extra zipper chain at the end of the “real” zipper, to visually extend the look of the zip. (Obviously, you won’t be able to physically zip this second section with the same slider pull, as the two tracks are separate pieces.)

Side-note:
A while ago, when we had less of a selection of zips to work with ourselves, we spliced together various bits of zippers into a combined track. (The extremely long zippers seen in the set decorations for the MAC displays, as well as many of the first batches of Organization coats – including our own – were done via this method.) We no longer offer this service because it was hazardous fumes for us and had extremely variable successes – which depended on individual batches of epoxy, temperature while setting, fabric/material attached to, manner of attaching, accurate measurements &/or stretch of fabric, storage, care when zipping over the joins, and so on.
We do, however, still have the tutorial up here if you’d like to try joining zips on your own.

NOTE = we now have extremely long lengths (up to 10 continuous feet) of zipper chain available on an individual piece basis, due to popular demand, so splicing multiple bits should no longer be necessary.

- Help, I pulled the slider pull off!

This is actually really fast to fix. If you are working with plain zipper chain &/or one of the normal zips that have been spliced/hacked up/etc. so it no longer has a solid end-stop (or separating feed bottom)…and then you accidentally pull the slider pull off…it can be reattached like this:

Just set the slider pull flat on the top of the connected teeth track, then twist each side of the side tape to pull the slider down. (Click on the video box to view larger.)

If you’d like, you can keep a slider permanently on the chain by clamping on small crimps, like the sort usually used for jewelry. Just place them in between the second and third teeth from the edge on each side, and you have a self-applied zipper stop.

- Can these zippers be painted?

It is possible, especially if you do not intend to be zipping it for use in your project. For most durable results, use a flexible spray-paint specifically meant to adhere to plastic surfaces, such as Krylon’s “Fusion for Plastic.” When testing on the #30′s, for the most part, the fabric tape will not greatly change in color, but the plastic teeth will. (Note: do not use car body spray-paint.)