Fix a lunch bag zipper before you buy a new one

Fix a lunch bag zipper before you buy a new one.

Most broken zippers on insulated lunch bags are fixable in five minutes, so don’t toss the bag until you’ve actually looked at what’s wrong.

First, figure out the failure. If the slider came completely off the track, you can usually thread it back on. Push it onto the teeth at the closed end, line it up, and zip slowly. That fixes a surprising number of “broken” zippers all by itself.

If the zipper won’t stay closed — it separates behind the slider as you pull — the slider has worn loose. Squeeze the body of the slider lightly with pliers to tighten the channel. Test, squeeze a tiny bit more, and you’re usually good. Go gentle if the slider is plastic, since it can crack.

Other easy ones: a snapped pull tab can be replaced with a paperclip, keyring, or zip tie. And a zipper that just won’t move is usually dirty, not broken — rub a bar of soap or candle wax over the teeth and it’ll glide again.

Give up only if the teeth are missing or bent, or the fabric has torn away from the zipper tape. That’s when a cheap new bag wins.

A ten-dollar bag is not worth an hour of work, but five minutes of fiddling definitely is.