Fasten Zippers Before Washing to Protect Other Clothes

Open zipper teeth act like tiny saws inside the washing drum, snagging and tearing delicate fabrics with every tumble. That mysterious hole in your favorite t-shirt? Probably a zipper from another garment. Before tossing jeans or jackets into the wash, zip them all the way up. It's a two-second habit that prevents snags, pulls, and holes in the rest of your load. Bonus: it also keeps the zipper itself from bending or warping.