We will show you here step by step how to attach top stops to the upper end of a spiral zip fastener. U-shaped (also C-shaped) top stops are universally applicable. They are suitable for all types of zip fasteners, i.e. spiral, injection molded and metal zip fasteners. At the bottom of this page we show the application process in two videos.

A No.10 spiral zip fastener will be used as an example. With its approximately 6 mm wide spiral chain, it is often used in jackets and coats. If you would like to replace the main zip fastener in such clothing, e.g. because it is irreparably defective, you will rarely find a replacement zip fastener of exactly the right length. Therefore, take the longer zip fastener and shorten it at the upper end, also called the beginning of the zip fastener.

After the excess length of the zip fastener has been cut off, the industrially attached top stops are not there anymore. The top stops prevent the slider from sliding off the zip fastener’s upper end. If you only cut spiral zip fasteners, you can also attach special top stops. However, these stoppers are only suitable for spiral zip fasteners and are only available in the natural silver-gray color of aluminum.

The universal top stops used here should not be pressed directly onto the spiral. This is because the U-shaped top stops are difficult to push far enough on the spiral, meaning that you can press them so that they surround the spiral well, hold permanently and the result even looks reasonably good. Therefore, it is better to remove the zip fastener spiral in the places where you want to attach the top stops.

Now remove the remains of the spiral from the sewing threads, e.g. using pointed scissors.

Place a top stop right in the front between the jaws of suitable pliers.

Larger top stops can be placed one step back between the jaws of the Osborne pliers. The top stop can be aligned and held on step edges better than at the front with no step edges.

This is how the completely pressed top stop looks from the top and bottom of the spiral.

Only one top stop is sufficient for the slider not to slide off the end of the zip fastener. But if you close the zip fastener completely, the slider only hits this one top stop that has to absorb all the force of the impact. That is why it will be safer and more durable if a top stop is attached on each side of the spiral chain. The top stops are mostly hidden in the slider channels when it closes the zip fastener completely.