Coats, boots, bags – there are all sorts of items out there that feature zips, and I think it's safe to say that most people quickly become pretty confident with how they work.
There's no fiddly routine like when it comes to tying laces; instead just insert one side of the zip into the other, pull the tab in the right direction and you're on your way. There's the occasional struggle if something gets caught in the zip, but on the whole that's pretty much all there is to it.
At least, so I thought. As it turns out, zips actually have a function that appears to have gone largely unnoticed for many zip-users, until one social media user brought attention to it.
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Check it out below:
The news that we've all been missing out on information when it comes to zips was broken by Instagram user Sid, whose account is dedicated to 'telling you life hacks, tips and tricks, and more that i wish i knew before i was in my 30s'.
Alongside revealing tips about cracking eggs, lighting candles and storing mugs, Sid recently announced to viewers that 'zippers have a lock'.
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Using a Google search to back his argument, the Instagram user quoted YKK Fastening, which makes 'slide fasteners, plastic hardware, hook and loop fasteners, webbing tapes, and snap and buttons', as he said: 'The lock automatically locks when no force is placed on the tab-pull. When the pull-tab is lowered, it locks. When the pull-tab is raised, it unlocks.'
To demonstrate this newfound 'lock', Sid held up a pair of jeans with the zipper pulled up and the tab of the zipper facing downwards. When he pulled at the top of the jeans in an attempt to make the zip come undone, nothing happened. Therefore, Sid explained, with the 'tab pulled down', the zip was 'locked'.
When Sid pulled the tab slightly upwards, so it was perpendicular to the zip, the zipper became undone as soon as he pulled on the jeans.
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The realisation left the Instagram user laughing and running off to tell his partner that 'zippers have locks', while the video itself received thousands of likes and dozens of comments from impressed viewers.
One person pointed out that 'not all zippers' have locks as they described YKK Fastening as the 'Rolex of zippers', while others expressed their sorrow that Sid hadn't realised this earlier.
He definitely wasn't alone, though, with people saying the trick had left their 'mind blown' while one wrote: 'Our lives been a complete lie!'
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If you've spent your life struggling with a falling zip, give Sid's trick a try and see if it will change your life, too.
If you have a story you want to tell, send it to UNILAD via [email protected]
Emily Brown