Corrosion on dive boot zippers

[studio34]

Hi All,

I finally pulled out my dive gear after it had been sitting for years! I got down to the water here in Sydney over the weekend, put on the boots and couldn't do up the zippers. Turns out there is all of this white corrosion all over the zippers. They won't budge. Is there any way to remove the corrosion without ruining the boots or are the boots useless now? I imagine anything that would dissolve corrosion would destroy the boot themselves.

Many thanks ... Scott :cool2:

 

[herman]

Might make them smell a little strange.....well maybe not.... soak them in a 50/50 mix of water and white (clear) vinegar. Soaking should not take more than a few minutes. To help things along, I take a knife blade and gently slide it between the zipper pull and the zipper loosing it up as much as possible. After it has soaked a while, work it back and forth, you may only get a tiny movement at first but that is OK, it will increase as you continue to work the slide. Once it starts to give it will come loose fairly easy. After you get it loose, work it several times to remove any corrosion then rinse them well. Once they are rinsed, I like to use silicone grease on the zippers, esp at the ends. As a preventative measure always leave the zippers in the middle. The corrosion is between the metal end pieces and the slide, not the plastic zipper itself so if they are not in contact they cannot corrode together.

 

[lmorin]

I doubt it is corrosion, unless your boots have steel zippers. Probably just salt crystals. Soak the boots in warm water for a bit. I had something similar happen to zippers on a suitcase. That was quite a pain to clear up because I couldn't soak the whole suitcase.

 

[herman]

It's corrosion, the end pieces and slides of most boot zippers are aluminium and it corrodes into a white power....I have a lot of exerience cleaning boots and old BC's with zippers, it's very common. For something you can't soak, your stuck with mechanical methods but once you get it loose, silicone grease helps it from returning.

 

[muddiver]

I highly reccomend using vinegar and a tooth brush followed by rubbing the zipper with parifin wax. You can use straight vinegar and it won't hurt the materials. Silicon grease will only attrach more sand and stuff and make the zipper stick from being gummed up, rubbing wax on the zipper will make it slick without allowing stuff to stick.

 

[herman]

Problem with parafin is it will not protect the metal. A light coat of grease will. Lubing the rest of the zipper with parifin is fine but the metal ends really benefit from a coating of grease.

 

[studio34]

Thanks for the replies guys! I'll give the vinegar a shot tonight.

Herman – as you said, it's definitely corrosion. And it's because the zippers were right at the bottom contacting the metal. The corrosion is white and quite hard and sharp. Some broke off in sheet-like chunks.

Best ... Scott