This is a blog post about the ultimate guide to handbag zippers, which provides a comprehensive introduction to the function, structure, and types of zippers. Uncle Nine Leather summarizes its more than 10 years of production experience and lists the most commonly used zippers in the handbag industry.
Whether you are a handbag designer, consumer, or craft lover, the content of this article will play an important role in your understanding of handbag zippers. Let’s learn together.
Zipper Function
The zipper on the handbag has two main functions, closure, and decoration.
Zipper functions on bags: closure (zipper on left backpack), decoration (zippers on side parts of right handbag)
Closure
Closure, which can also be called connection here, is mainly to connect two pieces of material through zipper, to achieve the effect of closure.
Decoration
Decoration, that is, using the zipper as a decoration on the handbag. For decorative purposes, the back of the zipper is usually covered by a piece of material rather than a pocket.
Zipper Structure
A complete zipper usually consists of the following parts, tapes, teeth, slider, puller, and stops.
A #5 finished metal zipper structure
Tape: Zipper tape is made of fabric and attached to both sides of the zipper teeth. Usually, it can be one color or mixed colors.
Teeth: Zipper teeth, also known as elements, are generally made of nylon, plastic, or metal, and are distributed on both sides of the zipper. The opening and closing of the zipper teeth can be controlled by pulling the slider back and forth.
Slider: The slider, also known as the zipper switch, is made of plastic or metal and is the main part of the zipper, which controls the opening and closing of the zipper teeth.
Puller: The puller or pull tab is the small handle on the slider that is part of the slider.
We separate it from the slider here because customers can order the slider without the puller, or engrave their LOGO on the puller if the design requires it.
Stops: Stops are small plastic or metal pieces placed at the ends of the zipper to keep the slider from falling out. Some zippers have no stops.
Slider Type
Slider type: Left: a single slider nylon zipper; Right: a double slider nylon zipper.
Single Slider: The slider only has 1 pull tab; we call it a single slider.
Double Slider: The slider has 2 pull tabs; we call it a double slider.
Puller Type
Zipper puller: Left: metal puller with logo; Right: PU puller.
More than 90% of pull tabs are made of metal. Customers can paste their brand LOGO on the pull tab, thereby enhancing the grade of the entire handbag.
Some customers don’t like metal pull tabs. Through a small D ring and PU strips, a special PU pull tab is made, which is also a delicate approach.
Zipper Type
Zipper type: nylon zipper, metal zipper, resin zipper and invisible zipper (from left to right).
According to the different materials of zipper teeth, different zipper types are divided, which is the most common method of zipper division.
Nylon Zipper/Coil Zipper
A nylon zipper, also known as a coil zipper, refers to a zipper whose chain teeth are wound with nylon. This type of zipper can be easily bent out of shape, so it is widely used in the handbag industry.
Nylon zippers come in a variety of colors. Customers can choose nylon zippers of different colors to match handbags of different colors according to their requirements.
Metal Zipper
Metal zipper refers to the zipper whose teeth are composed of multiple small metal pieces, arranged on both sides, and the teeth cross tightly and bite together.
Common metal zipper colors are gunmetal, bronze, silver, and light gold. The color mentioned here refers to the tooth color of the zipper.
Resin Zipper/Plastic Zipper
A resin zipper, also known as a plastic zipper, refers to a zipper whose chain teeth are made of plastic, arranged on both sides and the teeth are crossed tightly.
The resin zipper can be painted in various colors on the tooth surface according to the needs. It has a small flaw: after long-term use, the material on the surface of the tooth will peel off, causing it to lose its original color.
Invisible Zipper
The teeth of the invisible zipper are usually made of nylon, so the invisible zipper can be regarded as a kind of nylon zipper. It refers to a zipper in which the teeth are hidden under the zipper tape.
Zipper Length
Zipper length: left is continuous zipper, right is finished zipper.
Continuous Zipper
A continuous zipper refers to a zipper that has no beginning and end and is generally a roll of tens to hundreds of yards. This kind of zipper has no slider and stops, you can cut the length of the zipper according to your needs, and then install the slider.
When making a handbag, you’ll need to either sew the ends of the continuous zipper to the material or give it a stop so the slider doesn’t come off.
Finished Zipper
A finished zipper is a cut-to-length zipper that contains all zipper parts, such as tape, teeth, slider, and stop.
Finished zippers can be divided into split zippers (separating zippers) and non-split zippers (non-separating zippers). Their main difference is whether the zipper tape can be separated into two parts.
Zipper Sizes
Zipper sizes: #3 zipper, #5 zipper, #8 zipper and #10 zipper (from left to right).
The size of the zipper is based on the approximate width of the zipper teeth when closed. If the zipper tooth width is about 5mm when it is closed, we call it a #5 zipper, and so on.
Common zipper sizes are #3, #5, #8 and 10#. The higher the number, the wider the zipper teeth and vice versa.
Common Zippers on Handbags
Common zippers on handbag: #3 nylon zipper for inner lining pocket, #5 resin zipper for main pocket.
Our factory, Uncle Nine Leather, is located in Shiling Town, Guangzhou City, the famous fashion handbag capital in China.
According to our more than 10 years of experience, for the zipper on the fashion bag, the following experience is obtained:
1. The inner side of the handbag, that is, the small zipper pocket on the lining, generally uses a #3 nylon zipper.
2. On the outside of the handbag, the zipper on the pocket is generally #5. Keep in mind that nylon zippers are the cheapest, followed by resin zippers, and metal zippers are the most expensive.
3. The zipper with decorative function on the outside of the handbag generally uses #5 or #8. Metal zippers and resin zippers are more common.
Conclusions
The above is what we want to share with you about the zipper on the handbag. If you are interested in this issue or have any questions about zippers, please feel free to contact us.
We are Uncle Nine Leather, a leading handbag company in China, with rich experience in the handbag field, can provide you with professional service.
If you want to wholesale or customize any type of handbag, we can provide you with one-stop design, development, search, production, and shipping services. Please feel free to contact us.
