My brother gave me a Komelon tape measure. I really like it for rough measuring bowls, bowl blanks and other small repetitive stuff, because when I pull out the tape it stays until the button is pushed. (I'm lazy.)
Recently it had started creeping closed and there is no manual lock to hold it out. I opened it up and it has a soft plastic wedge that keeps it open and it must have gotten dirty or slick. The solution I found is to rub a little bees wax down the concave center of the tape, because that is where the wedge slides. That fixed it.