How to choose the right YKK zipper for your garment: Precautions when selecting and ordering zippers.

YKK has many types of zippers, from regular coil zipper to water repellent to the luxury Excella zipper. Getting the zipper that does not work with the design may lead to missing the deadlines and tons of other trouble. But which one is the right zipper for your design? Let’s find out together!

Choosing the right zipper

Different types of zippers were divided by the materials, items, and whether or not there was post-processing involved.

If you make a mistake, various troubles such as discoloration of zipper teeth, dye color transfer to clothes, and damage to zippers may occur.

Cotton pants

Most recommended zippers for cotton pants are durable metal zippers.

A zipper with strong durability and washing resistance, such as the YKK Yzip, is a popular choice.

Yzip is always used in jeans and is also recommended for pants that are dyed.

Yzip is made of light aluminum  but aluminum is easily affected by alkalis and acids and from washing detergents and processing. It can cause the zipper teeth to lose weight and break, so the above materials for jeans are safer.

Slacks & Wool pants 

Most recommended for slacks and wool pants are coil zippers that are flexible and do not easily discolor even when used with wool material.

YKK Woven in Type (EF) is a zipper made for slacks, so it is made thinner than ordinary coil fasteners.

Size 4 is usually used with thin fabric and size 5 is for thicker fabric. 

How to select the right slider

There are two main types of sliders.

-Automatic: It has a lock function and can be unlocked by pulling the pull tab.

-Non-lock (free slider): Slider without lock function 

The difference is, as the name suggests, the lock function is “with or without”.

It is easy to use depending on the item, and the automatic is non-locking for clothes and accessories (wallet, bag).

There are exceptions depending on the design, but it is safe to use the above properly.

For example, if you use a non-lock slider for clothes, it may cause troubles such as the zipper opening without permission while wearing it, so be careful.

Precautions when ordering:

Finally, there are two points to note when ordering :Correct product numbers and the estimated lead time.

Beside making sure that the product number (type of the zipper) is incorrect, we must be careful that the specifications of each part like color, slider, length etc  are also correct.

A lot of the special zippers are not in stock and it takes YKK about 3 weeks to produce zippers at the factory.

In the busy season, the lead time can take up to 1.5 to 2 times longer.

If the order quantity is small, it is possible to assemble from longer chains, however the additional cost will be higher and the top and bottom chain of the resin / coil system can be different from those produced at the factory.

Conclusion

The lead time is important in the fashion industry, that is why we should avoid mistakes when ordering by all costs.Checking other production schedules and remembering to arrange zipper a month before factory mass production.

We hope you have a better glance about YKK zippers. Visit our YKK product list for more information about high quality made in Japan zippers!