Get A Better Grip-To-Zip

“Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah, Zip-A-Dee-Ay
My Oh My, What A Wonderful Day.” -Allie Wrubel & Ray Gilbert

Zipping clothing requires good visual acuity, fine motor coordination, manual dexterity, bilateral hand skills, intact hand sensation, and adequate upper extremity range of motion, and that’s not even an exhaustive list.  So, it’s no wonder that many of us have challenges zipping clothing to include children, those with hand weakness, the senior population, the physically challenged, and many others.

There are numerous alternatives to clothing with zippers.  Let’s say, zipper jeans can easily be replaced with pull-on pants, and zipper sweatshirts can inexpensively be replaced with pullover ones.  But, for many people, there’s one item of clothing that is often more difficult to replace, and that item of clothing is a warm winter coat—expensive to replace, and difficult to don/doff as a pullover.

However, a ring zipper pull is an effective and small piece of adaptive equipment that can ease the zipping process.  Of course, those who would have difficulty pulling up or down a zipper would also have equal difficulty connecting a zipper, specifically attaching the insertion pin-end into the retainer box-end of the zipper.

So, if a family member, caregiver, or friend can lend a helping hand with the first few steps, then a ring zipper pull attached to the pull-tab end of a zipper, is an effective way for many people to gain a sense of accomplishment, increase independence, and improve zipping and unzipping skills. And, that makes for a wonderful feeling, and a wonderful day!

Items Needed:

-Ring zipper pull: I order mine online, but these are also found at many discount stores.
-Winter coat or other article of clothing with a zipper.

Here’s how I do it:

1. Procure the zipper pull and item of desired clothing, in this photo, a winter coat.  Align zipper pull with pull-tab of zipper.

2. Attach zipper pull to pull-tab of zipper by attaching the lanyard ring of the zipper pull onto the pull-tab of the zipper.

 

3.  An effective advantage of using a ring zipper pull is its sturdiness. A strong zipper pull allows for multiple ways of using it to include a lateral key grasp with the thumb and index finger together, or just the thumb or the index finger alone–whichever is more comfortable–and these are merely a few ways of using a zipper pull.

4. Another effective advantage of using a ring zipper pull is its ability to be used with a zipper helper.  A zipper helper is an effective tool for people who have limited dexterity and who only have the ability to use gross grasp skills.

To make a zipper helper at home you will need a wooden dowel and brass hook.  Attach brass hook into tip of wooden dowel, making a starter hole if necessary.

How-To-Tip: When making your own zipper helper, look for a wooden dowel with a diameter that feels comfortable in your own hand. They come in varying sizes and are found in many craft & hobby, or hardware stores.

5.  To use a zipper helper, hold wooden dowel in preferred hand while placing the brass hook around loop of zipper pull. Then, pull up to zip, or down to unzip.

6.  In addition, we all have other stubborn zippers that would benefit from the aid of a zipper pull and some examples include, but are not limited to the following:

-A daypack

-A side-zipper on your purse

-Hard to reach zippers inside your purse

7.  Other How-To-Tips:

An alternative to buying expensive zipper pulls online or at discount stores, is making them at home.  I make my own with heavy-duty split key rings, and strong lanyard hooks, which I buy online and in bulk.

a. A split key ring and a lanyard hook.

b.  A split key ring and a lanyard hook unite to become a zipper pull.

So, when fine motor challenges limit my ability to zip or unzip my favorite winter coat or jacket, I use a zipper-pull and zipper helper to regain my independence and Adapt-To-Ability, whenever possible, and that makes for a, “Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah” kind of day!