crocking
10 years ago No Comments

(pronounced KRAH-king)

You know when you buy something new – maybe at a discount outlet – like a leather handbag, some suede booths, or a pair of darkly colored jeans, and you notice that a) it marks up your coat / pants / socks, and b) some of the color starts rubbing off after you wear it a few times? Yeah, that sucks. And that’s crocking. It’s when a textile is not manufactured correctly and/or not treated properly (or at all) and/or isn’t pre-washed, and the color dye transfers off and fades at the points of most wear or friction. This phenomenon can also happen to different types of paper when manufacturers use the wrong kind of dye or the dye doesn’t penetrate the material well, and, therefore, doesn’t stay put. Quite annoying.