crocking

Today I learned that crocking is the fabric industry term for when color is abraded off a fabric. This is presumably from the idea of a crockpot being, at one point, used in ashes, and thus anything (or anybody) who touched such a pot would risk being smudged. Or maybe etymology is a crock of shit, I dunno. But the test to see if a dyed fabric is colorfast is a crocking test.

Relatedly, I have learned that the machine for testing how well fabric holds up to abrasion is a Wyzenbeek machine. More accurately, the United States standard is a Wyzenbeek machine; the EU measures in Martindales.

Thanks,
-Ed.

One Response to “crocking”

  1. Jed

    Neat!

    My dictionary also indicates an intermediate step between crocking and crockpot: the noun crock can refer to soot, because it forms on cooking pots.

    reply

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