zipper stuck with plastic bag fragment - can it be freed?
September 17, 2013 1:54 PM   Subscribe

My partner accidentally jammed a plastic carrier bag in one of the zippers of my travel bag and then yanked it - with the result that a fragment of carrier bag has been pulled inside the zip, jamming it completely. All the tips I see are for fabric becoming stuck, but in this case there is a fragment of plastic inside jamming everything, which can't be pulled out. Attempts to pull it out just pulled off the protruding ends, making things worse. Is there any way to fix this? Thanks!
posted by Flitcraft to Home & Garden (5 answers total)
 
Best answer: Try moving the zipper pull back and forth many times and see if some more of the plastic works its way out. Pull off any that comes out and repeat the process. Even if it doesn't seem like the pull is moving at all, keep trying.
posted by soelo at 1:58 PM on September 17, 2013 [3 favorites]


Is the zipper metal? Melt that plastic with a lighter.
posted by Max Power at 1:59 PM on September 17, 2013 [1 favorite]


I would try pouring a little oil (or spraying a little wd-40? something slippy) on the spot where the plastic is jammed and wiggling the zipper a lot.
posted by troika at 2:00 PM on September 17, 2013


I was thinking a hair dryer to melt the plastic.
posted by woodvine at 2:07 PM on September 17, 2013


Response by poster: Aha! Work it 'Back and forth' answer for the win! Didn't look promising at first but then started to disgorge the plastic and it worked! Many many thanks!
posted by Flitcraft at 2:12 PM on September 17, 2013 [1 favorite]


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