Article: To keep your zippers in good shape, you should make sure all the zippers on your clothes are closed before you throw them in the wash. Do up zippers on your pants, your shirts, your skirts, your dresses and your shorts. To make sure the zippers stay closed, you can use safety pins. Loop the safety pin through the zipper slider and attach it to the top of the garment so the zipper stays closed in the washing machine and the dryer. High heat can be damaging to zippers, especially zippers made of plastic. Dry clothing with zippers on low heat and minimize the amount of time the clothing is in the dryer. The tumbling of the dryer can cause damage to certain zippers. You should also take clothing with zippers out of the dyer right after the drying cycle is done so you can lay them flat. Straightening out the clothing and the zipper on a flat surface will prevent the zipper from drying with crooked teeth. This could prevent zipper jams and other issues down the road. Don't worry too much if there is puckering around zipper after it has been through the wash. Most clothing will shrink a little in the wash and this could cause puckering around the zipper. The puckering is usually not too obvious, depending on the material of the clothing and the material in the zipper. Clothing made with 100 percent cotton is especially prone to shrinkage, which can cause noticeable puckering around the cotton-polyester zipper tabs. You may want to hang dry clothing made of cotton and other materials that are prone to shrinkage, rather than run them through the dryer.
What is a summary of what this article is about?
Close all zippers before putting your clothes in the wash. Dry clothing with zippers on low heat. Expect some puckering around the zipper.