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28-01-2018, 11:46
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#1
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Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2017
Posts: 42
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Best way to replace zippers
All of our stateroom waterproof bed covers zippers are not in working condition.
Top of bed is valor type material and the bottom is a waterproof plastic like material.
How do I order zippers to fit each mattress?
And any other tips are appreciated
Thanks in advance
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28-01-2018, 12:05
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#2
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֍֎֍֎֍֎֍֎֍֎
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 15,136
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Re: Best way to replace zippers
Typically you would measure the zippers for length, then decide on the type (metal tooth, plastic tooth, plastic helicoil) and size (zipper might might say "YKK #5" for instance) that you want. Most sellers can give you advice on how to identify what you've got, and perhaps better options to replace it. A brand name like YKK will cost you more--but they hold up.
A stop to a fabric store, or the sewing department in WalMart, etc. can usually turn up someone to give you advice on this.
You may also find that you can simply remove the covers, go to a dress shop, seamstress or dry cleaner, and say "Can you replace these?" and leave the job to them.
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28-01-2018, 14:37
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#3
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Registered User
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: W Carib
Boat: Wildcat 35, Hobie 33
Posts: 13,480
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Re: Best way to replace zippers
Velcro
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28-01-2018, 14:56
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#4
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Moderator
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: aboard, cruising in Australia
Boat: Sayer 46' Solent rig sloop
Posts: 28,438
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Re: Best way to replace zippers
Fwiw, I don't like velcro for replacing zippers, because the fabric doesn't have much overlap, and I find zippers easier to work with.
I would replace with YKK #5 zippers, available through marine trimmers in Aus, or even zipper stock, available from Spotlight stores, here. Use the latter, only if yours is a dry boat. If you have doubt to its dryness, it is not a dry [enough] boat. Pay the extra, and those zips will most likely last the lifetime of the fabric, and then be re-usable for the new cushions. A tip: if you sew them in with a zig zag stitch, they are very easy to un-pick and re-use. In indoor use, those YKK #5's will last a very long time. For outdoors, they need flaps to protect them from UV.
Ann
__________________
Who scorns the calm has forgotten the storm.
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28-01-2018, 15:15
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#5
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Registered User
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Skagit City, WA
Posts: 25,483
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Re: Best way to replace zippers
Velcro. make a flap to overlap the gap. Let's face it, how often do you unzip cushion covers? once in ten years? and that time is guaranteed to be unzippable.
__________________
"I spent most of my money on Booze, Broads and Boats. The rest I wasted" - Elmore Leonard
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28-01-2018, 15:50
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#6
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Moderator
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: aboard, cruising in Australia
Boat: Sayer 46' Solent rig sloop
Posts: 28,438
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Re: Best way to replace zippers
Cheekako,
It really depends on how often you like to wash your cushion covers, I guess. Any time they get dirty, maybe. For mine, on our first Insatiable, I did replace the melted aluminum zip pull and zip, with velcro. And it does work. Still, I find zips easier to work with, if the boat is a dry one. I have never had a problem with YKK #5's or #10's. I use the larger ones for outside use.
If this is Kamalolo's first zip replacement, it will probably be easiest for them to take it to a seamstress or a marine canvas place to have it done. Cheapest, to buy plastic zipper stock, here, maybe velcro cheaper in the US.
Anyhow, how I do it, is to use double stick tape to secure the zip to the fabric, (this will work very well with plastic fabric), then sew just outside the tape, to keep the needle clean. Or, one can hand baste the zip in place in cloth fabric. Since the fabric at the bottom is pvc, Kamalolo will want to try and match the stitch length, so as not to introduce so many extra holes.
Kamalolo, if you're going to keep the boat for a while, you may want to consider totally replacing the cushion covers. This is a job that can "grow like Topsy." People either introduce some kind of ventilation system, or one can use a thin layer of closed cell foam bonded to the mattress foam, on the bottom, to prevent mildew developing on the covers.
Ann
__________________
Who scorns the calm has forgotten the storm.
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29-01-2018, 05:45
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#7
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Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2017
Posts: 42
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Re: Best way to replace zippers
Quote:
Originally Posted by hellosailor
Typically you would measure the zippers for length, then decide on the type (metal tooth, plastic tooth, plastic helicoil) and size (zipper might might say "YKK #5" for instance) that you want. Most sellers can give you advice on how to identify what you've got, and perhaps better options to replace it. A brand name like YKK will cost you more--but they hold up.
A stop to a fabric store, or the sewing department in WalMart, etc. can usually turn up someone to give you advice on this.
You may also find that you can simply remove the covers, go to a dress shop, seamstress or dry cleaner, and say "Can you replace these?" and leave the job to them.
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Thanks [emoji106]
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29-01-2018, 05:46
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#8
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Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2017
Posts: 42
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Re: Best way to replace zippers
Quote:
Originally Posted by JPA Cate
Fwiw, I don't like velcro for replacing zippers, because the fabric doesn't have much overlap, and I find zippers easier to work with.
I would replace with YKK #5 zippers, available through marine trimmers in Aus, or even zipper stock, available from Spotlight stores, here. Use the latter, only if yours is a dry boat. If you have doubt to its dryness, it is not a dry [enough] boat. Pay the extra, and those zips will most likely last the lifetime of the fabric, and then be re-usable for the new cushions. A tip: if you sew them in with a zig zag stitch, they are very easy to un-pick and re-use. In indoor use, those YKK #5's will last a very long time. For outdoors, they need flaps to protect them from UV.
Ann
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Mahalo ann
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29-01-2018, 08:51
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#9
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Registered User
Join Date: May 2015
Location: NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA
Boat: 1973 GULFSTAR 41 CENTER COCKPIT
Posts: 85
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Re: Best way to replace zippers
Take a close up photo of the zipper itself. If it has a YKK number on it, the zipper heads alone can be ordered from Amazon for not much money at all.
I recently replaced all the zipper heads (the part that moves) on my exterior cushions in this manner.
It works out perfectly if the aluminum zippers are corroded, but the teeth are plastic and can still mesh together.
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29-01-2018, 09:18
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#10
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Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Manila, California
Boat: Cape George pilothouse 36 and a Cape Dory 25
Posts: 608
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Re: Best way to replace zippers
I suppose replacing a zipper would be pretty close to installing new zippers, with a little common sense thrown in. My wife, who hadn't spent more than 10 hours sewing all tolled in the previous 35 years, made new cushions with zippers for Mana. The Sail Rite website has free videos of how to do it. They may have a video replacing them too. Plus they will show you how to measure to order and sell you a variety of zippers to suit your needs. For everything marine textile related it is an invaluable resource.
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29-01-2018, 09:25
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#11
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Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: New Port Richey, FL
Boat: 1984 Pearson 386
Posts: 155
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Re: Best way to replace zippers
Sailrite sells everything I use and has several videos on the process like the one below. You essentially use a seam ripper to remove the old one and then see new ones.
https://youtu.be/2OQJ2o3abYU
Good luck.
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29-01-2018, 12:03
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#12
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Senior Cruiser
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Enkhuizen, NL
Boat: Pearson 36-1
Posts: 755
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Re: Best way to replace zippers
After years of fighting with corroded sliders, broken teeth, rotten cloth to mount the traditional zippers, the seamstress who made the covers for my new cushions suggested velcro.
No problems...
Any zippers with a metal component seem to corrode and freeze in spite of any maintenance programs.
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29-01-2018, 15:16
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#13
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Jacksonville/ out cruising
Boat: Island Packet 38
Posts: 31,351
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Re: Best way to replace zippers
I hate Velcro for things like this, the two layers are just too stiff.
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29-01-2018, 15:31
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#14
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Writing Full-Time Since 2014
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Deale, MD
Boat: PDQ Altair, 32/34
Posts: 9,569
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Re: Best way to replace zippers
The last set of cushion zippers I worked with were 20 years old. No serious problems.
Soak them in PB Blaster, wait a few hours, and then work on them with pliers. They may not be as bad as you think. But use PB Blaster and take your time. I can usually get them working with just a few minutes of actual effort.
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29-01-2018, 16:17
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#15
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֍֎֍֎֍֎֍֎֍֎
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 15,136
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Re: Best way to replace zippers
And the PBlaster soaking into the cushions won't leave an aromatic problem? Or melt them?
a64-
There's all kinds of velcro these days, in the brand name and outside of it. There's gen-you-whine "Thin Velcro" which is all plastic and literally half the usual thickness, designed for places where you want things to be flat. I would be surprised to find that's available in fabric, too.
The greatest inventions of the 20th century: Kleenex, Scotch Tape and Velcro.
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