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The zipper is getting its first major upgrade in 100 years

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Re: The zipper is getting its first major upgrade in 100 years

#101

Post by stavros »

tempestn wrote: post #63
konart wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Roughly nobody does this anyway. I had at least z dozen zippers replaced through my life. Some times you a very good product with poorly chosen zipper, some times it is some sort of an accident. I find the idea of buying a new coat instead of fixing a small part of the old one weird.

I'm in my 40s and don't think I've ever replaced a zipper. I'm sure a handful have broken over my lifetime, but never on something nice enough to be worth repairing. I wouldn't buy clothing based on the possibility of this (to me) extreme edge case.

> nice enough to be worth repairing

I guess it's just cost of repair vs cost of garment. I always opt to spend $15 replacing the zipper than to buy another coat or whatnot.

Re: The zipper is getting its first major upgrade in 100 years

#102

Post by rootusrootus »

OptionOfT wrote: post #40
emptybits wrote: post #30

"Major Upgrade" for the fast, disposable fashion crowd. Major downgrade for maintainability and ability to repair. This "upgraded" zipper will be impossible to replace if broken at home, by hand or with a machine, or even at a typical professional repair shop. YKK documents say a "dedicated AiryString® sewing machine" is required.[1] [1] https://ykkdigitalshowroom.com/assets/AiryString_202507_en.p...

Fabrics have gotten a lot thinner, and thus develop holes a lot more quickly. I have t-shirts from 2010 which are faded but have 0 holes. Whereas t-shirts I bought half a year ago have holes in them. Also, you mentioning the inability to repair stuff at home makes me sad. My mom, 72 year old, repaired my nephew's jacket the other day. Brand new zipper. The machine in that PDF you shared makes me feel YKK is going in…

> I have t-shirts from 2010 which are faded but have 0 holes. Whereas t-shirts I bought half a year ago have holes in them.

One of the little things I find most satisfying about getting old is hearing the same proclamations about quality going to shit today that I heard when I was much younger, only now the supposedly-good baseline of the comparison happened well after the complaints I grew up hearing. I, too, want everyone to get the hell off my lawn.

Re: The zipper is getting its first major upgrade in 100 years

#103

Post by oblio »

stavros wrote: post #101
tempestn wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm in my 40s and don't think I've ever replaced a zipper. I'm sure a handful have broken over my lifetime, but never on something nice enough to be worth repairing. I wouldn't buy clothing based on the possibility of this (to me) extreme edge case.

> nice enough to be worth repairing I guess it's just cost of repair vs cost of garment. I always opt to spend $15 replacing the zipper than to buy another coat or whatnot.

That's $15 including new zipper and cost of labor?

Re: The zipper is getting its first major upgrade in 100 years

#104

Post by stavros »

oblio wrote: post #103
stavros wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> nice enough to be worth repairing I guess it's just cost of repair vs cost of garment. I always opt to spend $15 replacing the zipper than to buy another coat or whatnot.

That's $15 including new zipper and cost of labor?

Yes, but I live in a LCoL country.

Re: The zipper is getting its first major upgrade in 100 years

#105

Post by Our_Benefactors »

dingnuts wrote: post #82
Danieru wrote: post #25

This is a big deal for YKK. Until a few years ago they had a hold on the upper end of the market. The chinese competitor's quality was unreliable enough that clothing manufacturers were willing to pay a premium to ensure a failed zipper does not trash a garment. That situation has been changing, and chinese companies are offering zippers which are getting used on progressively higher end products. By releasing a new…

why would China respect a Japanese patent?

They won’t, but clothing manufacturers will or they’ll be subject to Japanese lawsuits.

Re: The zipper is getting its first major upgrade in 100 years

#106

Post by portaouflop »

Gud wrote: post #73
portaouflop wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The fix is easy: Don’t buy new clothes from fast fashion brands or stores. If you only buy quality from small stores and independent designers you still get the same quality you got 15 years ago. Sure it’s 2-3 times the price but it’s worth it.

I don’t know if it’s that easy. I have a few favourites t-shirts I rotate around. My H&M Iron Maiden t-shirt for $20 has surpassed much more expensive t-shirts by a long shot.

It also helps to avoid synthetic fabrics in my experience.

But you are right it’s not that easy…

Re: The zipper is getting its first major upgrade in 100 years

#107

Post by em-bee »

bobthepanda wrote: post #58
nmeofthestate wrote: post #44

Looks very cool, but absolutely laughable that they tried to sell an environmental angle. I don't say that because it's "actually the opposite" or anything like that - the impact either way will be fuck all.

In the grand scheme of textiles, which actually are a major source of environmental harm, it’s probably the choice of textile that would impact emissions the most. Cotton is one of the most water hungry crops we grow and resulted in the drying up of the Aral Sea; animal products have all the emissions associated with animal farming; and synthetics are generally petroleum based.

what's the best alternative to cotton?

Re: The zipper is getting its first major upgrade in 100 years

#108

Post by em-bee »

iancmceachern wrote: post #61
konart wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right now zippers have a piece of fabric. You can sew it with any machine or even by hand. This new one requires a special machine to sew it.

I bet it could be done by hand by an experienced hand

and turn a 5 minute task into a half-hour one.

Re: The zipper is getting its first major upgrade in 100 years

#110

Post by mycall »

constantcrying wrote: post #77
pavon wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This looks much harder to seam-rip to me, as the stitching is going between the individual zipper teeth.

But you can just cut it off entirely, with minimal losses to the fabric, which is preferable to pulling out the seams, which will leave damaged fabric behind.

Cutting it off is even easier since one side is fabric and the other side is metal (for which you can push against).
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