A newtechnical innovation in the field of zippers will help prevent zippers fromshrinking or arching on coming in contact with steam irons-SBS Zipper

Zipper shrinkage or arching is acommon phenomenon that affects zippers when garments to which they are attachedare steam ironed. The common technical challenge is caused on account of unevenshrinkage of the cloth and the zipper sewed on to it. Researchers have beentrying to work out a way to avoid zipper arching for a long time and atechnological breakthrough has finally been achieved after repeated efforts.

The expert team from China TextileAcademy Haixi Branch collaborated with Jinjang Municipal Government as well asresearch and development teams of various zipper manufacturing companiesincluding SBS Zipper to develop thegroundbreaking innovation that combats zipper arching. Industry experts dealingin various fields such as the textile sector, fibre industry, inspectionsector, dyeing and finishing industry and machinery industry worked togetherwith technical personnel from various zipper manufacturing firms to come upwith solutions. Key manufacturing technologies as well as the raw materialsused for making zippers were also thoroughly examined on-site to figure out thechanges required to put an end to the arching phenomenon.

Thesolution

The research team finally found asolution that had the potential to help avoid zipper shrinkages when steamironing clothes with zippers. The researchers developed polyester filaments,which are especially meant to be used in industries along with a new machinefor making zipper tapes. These innovative discoveries led to the improvement inthe technologies that are commonly used in the process of manufacturing zippers.The modifications in the production process proved to be a groundbreakingsolution to stop zippers from arching.

In order to ensure that the newsolution does work, the finished zippers created using the modified productionprocess went through some tests at SBS Zipper's quality inspection centre andnone of these new finished zippers arched. Besides reducing shrinkage andarching, zippers made of the modified technology can also help manufacturersdeal with uneven dyeing of zipper tapes.

The technical innovation isexpected to help Chinese zipper manufacturers to improve the overall quality ofzippers to meet international standards. It is expected to improve thecompetitiveness of Chinese zippers and gain a larger market share across theglobe. Chinese zipper manufacturers can also increase the market share inmiddle and high-end markets by using the new and improved zippers.

 Alternative methods to avoid arching

While a technical innovation has been developed to stop zippers from arching, here are some alternative methods that can be used for avoiding shrinkage. These include:-

  • Placing a cloth on the zipper to prevent the iron from coming in direct contact with it

  • Closing the zipper and ironing before sewing to avoid zipper arching

  • Testing the zipper for arching due to high temperature steam before it is sewn

  • Avoiding direct ironing of electroplated or painted sliders to prevent lacquer or paint from peeling of

References:

1. Sbs-zipper.com