Frustrating issue with zipper material

[epainter]

Hi everyone,

I wanted to see if anyone else has had this issue. Let me start by saying I love the bag and wouldn't go with anything else.

I purchased my ID messenger bag in Jan of 2014. Within a month, the right zipper started to change colors. It went from black to a light gray. I contacted TB and was told this was not normal and was issued a new bag. I thought everything was fine, but now a year later, it has started doing it again. This time on the left side.



The frustrating thing is...the bag is very well taken care of. It has not even gotten wet or exposed to the elements. It stays closed so it hasn't rubbed against anything. That zipped pocket has barely been used. And while it of course doesn't impact function, it's a real eyesore on an otherwise perfect bag.

Thoughts?

[Lani]

Me, I would just recolor it with a permanent Sharpie marker!!! lol

(But I've been known to COLOR OVER the white Dyneema threads with Sharpie, too. I'm a DIY kinda gal, I guess.)

[backpack]

It only happened to some people, with some bags, on some zippers.

TB owners pointed that out to Tom, who listens to his customers, so, TB switched the sewing of zippers from stealthy upside down and black zipper pulls to stylish right side up zipper with matte steel zipper pulls.

[epainter]

Also, the front pocket zipper is of the same material and on the outside of the bag...yet it looks perfect??

[epainter]

Hmm...was the zipper change made to this bag?

[Rocks]

That happened with my Synapse 19, and like your bag, not all the zippers were affected. The worst one was replaced by TB, and then like Lani suggested, I took a Sharpie to the other one. Not the best solution, but it makes the discolored zipper easier to look at

[epainter]

Thanks for your replies everyone. So it seems to be a known issue.

I don't want to be one of those people, and I appreciate the DIY in this thread, but something doesn't sit right about needing to take a sharpie to a $240 (brain cell and absolute strap) bag

Anyone from TB seeing this...thoughts?

[Darcy]

We share your frustration, epainter. The zippers we use on many of our bags and backpacks (the zippers that are on your ID) are YKK Aquaguard (AKA "Uretek") zippers, originally developed by Arcteryx, working with YKK and Uretek. These are the very best, highest quality splash-proof or water-repellant zippers available.

The upside to these zippers is that they’re water and dust resistant: they — in our experience, in our tests, and in overwhelming feedback from people who use our bags — make a big difference in the amount of water or dust that might enter through a regular zipper. The downside is what you’re experiencing — a potential discoloration — and also the possibility of the very edge of the urethane coating shearing off from the zipper tape with some small loss of material at the center joint. These are cosmetic issues that don’t impact the performance of the zipper. We’ve talked with YKK about these things and they’ve assured us they’re doing everything they can, but, really, it’s just part of the deal with these zippers. We feel the upsides outweigh the downsides and continue to use them.

As backpack noted, we are now sewing our YKK Aquaguard “right side up”. The industry standard has been to sew splash-proof zippers effectively "upside-down", so that the teeth of the zipper end up inside the bag, and the urethane coating is on the outside. This creates the look that people have come to associate with so called "waterproof" zippers (you'll find many bags these days have zippers sewn "upside-down" so that they look as if they're splash-proof zippers when in fact they're just regular zippers sewn that way.) Sewing zippers “right side up” saves weight in some applications because we can utilize the woven edge of the zipper tape to finish the zipper seam, rather than adding binding tape as we did before. And we just like the way it looks. Plus, it effectively hides these potential issues (again, noting that neither impacts the water-resistant performance of the zipper). Some folks like this too; others don’t and have asked that we go back to sewing the zippers “upside down”. We’ve chosen to stick with the “right side up” method.

[epainter]

Thanks for the reply Darcy. So the question is...is there any way I can get my zippers sewn back in "right side up"

[tpnl]

I get similar experiences with my bags. Most often, I find the rubber will "hold" paint or materials from walls or dirt, etc that I have bumped into with the bag. It seems that the soft nature of the rubber allows these flakes of paint / dirt to embed into the zipper rubber somewhat. I find that "rubbing" using a damp soft cloth or your finger can help minimize or eliminate the discoloration and dislodge any particles causing discoloration. I sometimes use baking soda as well if I need a bit more strength - but do not use a scrubby pad if at all possible as that will damage the rubber.

YMMV but trying that should be a no-cost/harm option and if it fixes that issue, all is good IMHO.

Hope this helps
Cheers!

[Miking]

I have had a similar issue on my well, well, well, well used aeronaut, it seems to happen the most where the zipper goes around tight compound curves like the corners of the main compartment lid. Anyways I very carefully used one of those Armor All protector wipes for car interiors and it cleared it right up and helped the zipper slide better as well.

[tpnl]

Nice idea @Miking. Thanks for sharing. I was actually thinking of using Armor All as well. I use it on my tires (rubber) - so I figured it should not harm the zipper rubber. For an occasionally "oiling", it's similar to maintaining your leather shoes and coats - just a maintenance thing.

Cheers!

[Darcy]

epainter: hehe That'd basically be like making a whole new bag!

Excellent points and tips, Miking and tpnl -- I'm going to test the Armor All solution myself!

[ceb]

Nice idea @Miking. Thanks for sharing. I was actually thinking of using Armor All as well. I use it on my tires (rubber) - so I figured it should not harm the zipper rubber. For an occasionally "oiling", it's similar to maintaining your leather shoes and coats - just a maintenance thing.

Cheers!

I can't say that I'm a fan of Armor All because it actually accelerates environmental damage to dashboards and the like.

My recommendation is to use Aerospace 303. Dilute it 50/50 with water and you'll be leaving the surface (zippers, dashboard etc) looking as new rather than a with a shiny, slick, greasy looking surface that makes your car's interior squeak like mad.

[tpnl]

Thanks @ceb!

I got some of that Aerospace 303 stuff and it works great on the rubber parts of the zippers - keeps the zipper rubber the same matt finish and makes them darker and more stealthy to boot! It is good to know that the rubber is protected from UV damage and kept flexible to minimize wear and tear. Also, the Aerospace 303 was easy to put on and left no residue on the bag after wiping it off.

Here is a picture of it on my Cadet. The middle section has not been done and is still "gray" while the finished parts are black. You can really see the difference.



Here is a picture of the end results after doing the full zipper including the middle section.



I love the "reversed" stealthy zippers even more now!

Hope this helps

Cheers!

Edit: I added the "final" results picture