Name: Joanne

Message: Hi

I am writing on the off chance that you may be able to help me.  My sister is getting married and brought myself and her friend our bridesmaids dresses off the peg some time ago.  I noticed yesterday when trying mine on that the dye was tranferring to my skin, just from trying it on my hands were dyed purpley black.  

The dresses are black and are made of Polymide [nylon], is there anything that you can suggest to make the dye stay put and stop transferring to avoid a disaster on the day??  The label says Dry Clean only.

I'm sorry, this is a sad situation. When dye rubs when the garment is dry, it is called crocking. Crocking is a sign that the dye was either not applied correctly, or not washed properly after dyeing. I would recommend that you get the dresses cleaned before you wear them. If they still crock badly after they have been cleaned, you should throw them away and buy different dresses to wear, instead. Hand-washing in water might remove the dye more effectively, but it might also ruin the dresses, since they are labeled dry clean only.

Ideally, the dresses should be returned to wherever your sister bought them, for a full refund, because they are defective, even if it has been some times since they were purchased. The manufacturer should have made sure that the dye did not crock, before selling the dresses. However, from your story, it sounds as though this may not be possible. It may even be that the dresses were sold at a very cheap price because they were dyed poorly.

(Please help support this web site. Thank you.)