Name: Patricia

Region: Massachusetts

Message: Help!!!! I purchased a black wool blend coat (Nine West) from Macy's and have worn it maybe 5-6 times.  I first noticed that when I put my hands in the pockets, my finger tips looked dirty (black) from rubbing the fabric. I thought that this was just from lint in the pocket lining. Today I noticed that my car seat (light beige, suede-type fabric) has been blackened by this coat! 

(To be certain it was from the coat, I tested this theory by rubbing my coat with a white cotton t-shirt and, sure enough, the t-shirt turned black...like I had just used it for polishing black leather shoes.)  I read about "crocking" on your website. I believe this may be the problem. What is your opinion?

Most importantly, could you advise me on how to best remove the dye from my light beige car seats? I am so upset. It's bad enough that I have to take the new coat to a dry cleaner to see if they can set the dye, but now I have to find away to clean the car seats without damaging them any further.

Thank you for any help you can give me with this very, very aggravating problem!

Your coat is defective. You are correct that this problem is called crocking. I do not recommend that you try to get a dry-cleaner to set the dye in this coat; it is not unlikely that they will be unsuccessful.

Instead, you should return the coat to Macy's in exchange for a full refund, plus a refund for the cost of having your car's upholstery professionally cleaned. I don't know whether a professional cleaning will save the appearance of your car's interior, but the pros may be able to do a better job than you can do yourself. Shampooing the upholstery, preferably using hot water, might work to remove the transferred dye.

A properly dyed coat does not ruin its buyer's car! The coat should have been finished in such a way that dye would not crock off onto furniture. If it was dyed with an acid dye, the dye should have been fixed during application, and possibly after-treated with a cationic fixative, followed, most importantly, by thorough washing out of all loose unattached dye. If the coat was dyed with a vat dye or a sulfur dye, the dye should have been applied at a lower concentration, using multiple dips if necessary to reach a dark color, so that the dye could penetrate into the yarns that make up the weave of the coat, followed by soaping-off to remove dye particles left on the outside of the fibers.

This is not legal advice, since I am not a lawyer, but I believe that the principle here concerns implied warranty. Quoting from page 257 of the 2005 edition of John E. Adamson's book, Law for Business and Personal Use: "Every merchant who customarily deals in goods of a particular kind makes an implied warranty of merchantability to all buyers of the goods. Basically, a warranty of merchantability requires that the goods be fit for the ordinary purposes for which such goods are used." For a coat, these ordinary purposes would include being able to ride in a car, or sit on furniture, without damaging either one. 

When you buy a new coat to replace this one, perhaps you should test it, before wearing it, by gently rubbing a white cloth on an inconspicuous part of the coat, such as an inside hem.

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