What’s the best material for leather jacket zippers?

It’s been a long time since I made a “how to” post on here. So today I’ll talk a bit about leather jacket zippers. What’s the best type of leather jacket zipper? What should a leather jacket zipper be made out of? Well let’s first see what kinds you can get out there. Most leather jacket zippers are made of brass, stainless steel, nickel, aluminum or plastic.

I think it’s safe to say the plastic ones are the cheapest and should be avoided. Many leather jacket zippers are actually made of several different types of material. The brass zippers are very common and look nice with a leather jacket. They don’t have that shine to them, which many prefer. Brass leather jacket zippers are very rugged and can really take lots of punishment.

However I have noticed that for some reason mildew starts the fastest around a brass zipper or hardware. I’m not sure why, but that’s been my experience. However if your taking good care of it that should not happen. Stainless steel and nickel leather jacket zippers are also top quality and last forever. They have a shine to them that some like, especially if you have shiny studs or hardware on your jacket.

Aluminum leather jacket zippers can be good quality and last a long time. They are a dull color, but shinier than brass. Often there is a mix of metals in an aluminum zipper to make it stronger. You also can find plain old steel zippers. Avoid those at all cost as they will rust out and are junk!

Now, we all have heard of YKK leather jacket zippers. YKK refers to the type of zipper, the way it’s made. It does not refer to what type of material it’s made from. So, if you want a leather jacket zipper that is not shiny, go with a YKK brass zipper. If you like some flash with your leather jacket, get a YKK nickel or stainless steel zipper.

Avoid plastic ones and plain steel zippers. I personally like brass zippers. They always seem to work very smooth no matter how much dirt and crap you get in them. I hope this helps you get the type of leather jacket zipper you want. A bad zipper ruins the whole jacket no matter how good the rest of it is, so make sure it’s a quality one!