A lot of jeans have zippers that open on their own. For me, it is quite uncomfortable to be re-zipping them in the middle of the street.

What can I do to prevent this?

  • This is a good question. According to me it should not be closed if @Shevliaskovic includes his answer, not as answer but as "solution already tried" in the question. Also he should explain why this solution is not satisfactory. – vladiz Jan 4 '15 at 19:15
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    I was informed that if you answer to your own question then you don't need to include "what you have already tried", so I vote for reopening this question. – vladiz Jan 4 '15 at 20:28
  • Brilliant question this is. Seriously I do not know What would I add in 'solution already tried' for these kinda of questions. meta.lifehacks.stackexchange.com/questions/1308/… – Joachin Joseph Jan 5 '15 at 1:18
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    You don't need to include "what you've tried", despite what some users think. That proposal was shot down quite soundly in meta. – Wipqozn Jan 6 '15 at 12:27

A thing I have found is to get a key ring, large enough to be able to pass through the the jeans' button.

What I did was to

  1. Pass it through the zipper-hook.
  2. Zip the zipper all the way up
  3. Hook the ring through the jeans' button.

Sample picture:

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    I would think this would be quite visible – Zach Saucier Jan 5 '15 at 1:39
  • Could you make and post a picture of this, so one can judge how visible it is? – Angelo Fuchs Jan 8 '15 at 11:12
  • The visibility would depend on the size of the ring – Shevliaskovic Jan 8 '15 at 11:29
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    I use a hair elastic (fold it, poke it through the hole, then put both loops over the zipper) since they're easier to get and less likely be uncomfortable. – Kate Gregory Apr 17 '15 at 13:57
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    I like the ring idea. Easy to get on and off. It's only visible here because the button is unbuttoned. – candied_orange May 1 '16 at 9:11

In-built lock. Its already there on your zip. Just check it.

Most of the jeans zips now come with In-built lock. When you zip just make sure that zip-hooker is placed vertically Down (this will lock the zip.) Just try to open the zip with hook placed down. It won't open Just like below image.(Zip hook placed vertically down here.)

enter image description here

If you zip and don't keep hooker down zip will eventually run down due to strain on it.

Visit YKK website for more info. If you see zips anywhere, there's 70% chance that it's made by YKK.

Some low quality jeans might not use YKK produced Zip. That's why you should always check YKK mark on zip before buying jeans.

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    Welcome to LifeHacks! Could you describe more what that is and how its working? Alternatively add a link to some sources for this? My zips don't have any locks on them that I am aware of. – Angelo Fuchs Jan 8 '15 at 11:15
  • Ahh.. you created doubt in my mind. I was at work and immediately went to washroom and checked if it works or not. It works perfect. – HungryDB Jan 8 '15 at 12:46
  • I think you misunderstood my comment. I don't doubt that it works I just don't know what it is that you are talking about. – Angelo Fuchs Jan 8 '15 at 12:49
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    @AngeloFuchs - HungryDB is right, a decent zip has the capacity to remain shut (usually you need to pull it up to the top, then the bit you pull on usually drops down when you let go, or you push it down, and it stays shut. Cheap zips don't do this, or do it initially and then don't work any more, and your trousers don't remain zipped. You're more likely to find cheap zips on cheap trousers, or fake designer ones. – Bamboo Feb 24 '15 at 12:36
  • Also, on old zippers that lock might have been worn down. – LаngLаngС Sep 13 '17 at 14:27


Tie a thin piece of string through your zipper the hole at the top of your zipper and your belt. However, have the string go through the inside of your pants, then out from the top of your pants, and then tied into your belt. This will be much less visible than if the string went outside the pants, especially if you can find string the same colour as your belt.

enter image description here

Put tape on the inside of your pants, where it's not visible. Use this tape to tape the zipper to the top of your pants.

enter image description here

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I sometimes use a paperclip, passing it through the hole in the zipper and trying to attach it to the jeans' fabric and/or move it around so that the zipper does not move. This depends on the kind of jeans and requires testing until you find something that works for you.

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You could avoid the need to constantly rezip jeans by sidestepping the problem entirely.

I only wear button/rivet fly jeans for this exact reason.

All major manufacturers of jeans provide designs without zips, if you find unzipping is a constant worry, they're a very simple solution.

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  • But the advantage of a zipper is that you can easily undo/redo it without undoing your belt - something I've never found possible with a button fly - unless you have some advice on that? – xorsyst Dec 10 '15 at 10:50
  • Practice! In the same way you can button/unbutton a shirt halfway down, you can button/unbutton a fly without starting at the top. I won't pretend it's a non-issue - admittedly, it's fiddly at first. But, that said, you've spent a lifetime using zips, It does become easy in time. – Easy Tiger Dec 14 '15 at 12:32

Shevliaskovic's answer is the classic, but I have a couple to add here as I recently battled a favorite pair of jeans with this problem:

  1. Hairspray. spray it on the zipper, the whole thing. It makes it sticker or something. It works for a period, I had to reapply it every so often. This is more of a stopgap to get the zipper through the day/night.

  2. Tools. Get a pair of pliers, preferable needle nosed. Squeeze each side of the zip mechanism gently to tighten its grip on the teeth. This is delicate careful work, because you can easily break the zip doing this. If you squeeze it too hard you will make it immobile. If you try to open it back up (use a flathead) there is a very high chance you will simply crack the zip. They are cast metal and they don't like to bend. This worked very very well for me, but once again, use caution.

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If your pants button and the zipper are magnetic, you might want to magnetize both by swiping them with a strong magnet ~100 times. This will cause them to stick to each other, but can be still removed when you pull on them.

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Use a common safety pin.

The very end of your zipper-pull has a tiny hole.



Good Luck.

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