"Fabric may crock"?
 

I've been looking at upholstery fabrics online to cover some kitchen chair seats and a number of the ones on JoAnn's website say, "Fabric may crock or fade over time." I've been around fabrics all my life and never heard that term before. Does anyone know what "crock" means regarding material?
I need something sturdy but attractive that will not stain or wear too easily. Avoiding those that say you can't clean with water.

Crocking is the transfer of dye while the fabric is dry. If you rub this fabric against a white, for example, some of its dye may transfer to the white fabric. I would ***not*** use this fabric for kitchen chair seats!!!
http://www.rawrdenim.com/dictionary/c/crock/

For kitchen chairs you might want to get either vinyl or vinyl coated.

Much easier to keep clean! Now if you don't have kids around that may not be as big an issue.

Like a new pair of blue jeans will make your legs and underwear blue by the end of the day,
I'd be concerned someone with a white skirt or pants would get up and have a tinted hinny

OK, thank you so much! So, I will avoid those fabrics and am amazed at how many people jumped in to answer this! I will heed the warnings carefully.

Thanks for the info...I have never heard of that.

Ha! I never heard that phrase. I did have a red leather purse that kept rubbing color off onto my clothes. does that count?

Same principle - I don't know if leather dyes are the same as fabric dyes -

But if it was fabric color that kept rubbing off on to other things - that is 'crocking'

Seems like an odd term for fabric - - -

I often have trouble with crocking when I'm sewing quilts and the colour of the fabric transfers to the bed of my sewing machine. I regard the fabric as a bit suss after that and usually chuck it out.

I need to do the same thing.I think what I will do is use outdoor fabric.We are not careful and I want it to stay nice looking for a long time.And it should be easy to clean,too.

On certain fabrics, everytime the fabric bends, a little of the color rubs off. The fabric eventually looks like crocodile or alligator leather--i.e., a very uneven look to the fabric. I would not use it, either.

I never heard that term before. I suppose some clothing says wash before wearing. I do that anyway just to get the sizing out. I learn something new most everyday.

I just read the term CROCKING with regards to upholstery/drapery fabric. As this fabric says to dry clean, what I was wondering is: Once the fabric is dry cleaned, does the dry cleaning solution set the color so that you could wash the fabric from there on out and not have to worry about it crocking?

My thought is if a fabric says dry clean, it means dry clean always, not to be washed ever, but I may be wrong.

Wow great info, learn something new everyday.

When I am ready to redo my sofa cushions, I am probably going to go with the outdoor fabrics. There are some really nice designs and the labels indicate stain and water resistant