Need to blacken a zipper?

[Spitfireace]

I've discovered that if you need a zipper, and or pull, blackened, you can use a Sharpie black permanent marker. It is easy to do, just run the marker over the zipper and voila! Instant black. It's permanent, easy, looks a lot better than out of the box crappy zipper such as on Bronson etc. Works. Try it, you will like it.

 

[Silver Surfer]

gun bluing is more permanent. however using it requires more time and attention.

 

[Spitfireace]

Only works on certain metals though. Messy, and wouldn't bother on cheaper zippers myself. I'm talking about cheap zippers. If you wanna go whole hog, ya go gun bluing.

 

[Spitfireace]

I tried to blacken an old Conmar zipper on my 1961 MA-1 and it's not easy to do by nitrate methods. That said, I won't blacken something like that with Sharpie. It's mixed results reblackening a vintage zipper. I'm just talking cheap china zippers.

 

[Flightengineer]

Do you have a photo of the result?

 

[Spitfireace]

 

[B-Man2]

View attachment 140753

Hi Spit
The photo is not really showing well.
Hard to tell that it’s blackened .

 

[Spitfireace]

Here's a before pic. Makes quite a difference.

 

[Spitfireace]

As I said, I wouldn't recommend this for anything except cheap zippers on Bronson for instance. Not sure how long it's gonna last, just that it does tone down the glare so to speak.

 

[dbtk44]

I did this very thing to a pair of side-zip motorcycle boots...black leather, and bright silver zippers..WHY they couldn't have just gone with a black zippers, hell BRASS woulda been 10 times better, but Noooo..
Sorry, I digress...

Anyway, works pretty well. I found the best technique for me is to go over the zipper, let it dry for a moment, then go over it again, repeat till it develops the black-ness you want. The dye builds nicely.
Rubs off eventually to a certain extent of course (Sharpies are just alcohol based dye in a pen form after all) but reapplying is cheap and easy. Alcohol takes it right off btw, so easy to reverse if you're not diggin it