Just realized my drysuit zipper lube was costing me a fortune

I've been using this fancy brand of zipper wax for the last 2 years, paid like $18 for a tiny tube... thought it was the only thing that worked. Then last week at a dive in Norfolk I mentioned it to an old timer and he laughed. Told me to just grab a block of paraffin wax from the grocery store for $3. I tried it on my suit's zipper and honestly it glides even smoother. No more sticking or hard pulls. The tube I bought had maybe 10 applications in it, the paraffin block will probably last me a couple years easy. Has anyone else found a cheaper alternative for gear maintenance that works just as good?

3 comments

3 Comments

jake_owens23d ago

Wait, hold on - you're telling me I've been paying $18 for a fancy little tube that basically does the same thing as a $3 block of wax from the grocery aisle? That's wild. I swear the diving industry finds ways to charge triple for anything with "dive" or "marine" written on it. But @vera_campbell brings up a good point about it washing out faster, I didn't think about that. Have you noticed yours needing reapplied more often than with the store bought stuff? I might still try it since I'm cheap and my zipper's already beat up anyway.

vera_campbell24d ago

Actually that's about the only one that's really saved me money... But you might want to be careful with paraffin wax, it's not quite the same as the proper zipper lubes. The commercial stuff has some silicone or PTFE in it that helps it stick better in cold water and won't wash out as fast. I used a candle stub once and it worked fine for a couple dives but then my zipper started getting stiff again real quick. Paraffin is great for a budget fix but the fancy tube stuff does last longer on the zipper between applications.

perez.patricia22d ago

Noticed the same pattern with "industrial grade" silicone spray for my garage door track, $12 versus hardware store stuff for $4.