Ok… before you go forming an unseemly opinion about me… let me just say that my WIFE is the one that needs to know!
and no this wasn’t a “five-fingered” discount.
Seems that she purchased a rather lovely black velvet skirt from Gabriel Brothers.
(for those uninitiated, Gabriel Brothers sells lot purchases, seconds and remainders from other stores)
This particular skirt has an inventory control tag still firmly in place.
When she asked to have it removed, she was told “Oh… you’ll have to do that yourself!”
:rolleyes:
Seems that Gabriel Brothers doesn’t bother with inventory control devices (they don’t have a device that can remove it!) and it was probably left on from the original store that was selling the item.
So, my fellow dopers, I turn to you for help.
I need to know how to get this thing off without doing damage to the fabric.
I don’t think it’s the kind with ink or paint inside.
Oh sure, I could just go hacking at it with my rotary tool and cutoff wheel (and that’s just what I might end up doing) but I’m hoping for any suggestions or help you all could provide.
It’s light grey in color. The outer portion looks like a little button with a spike that pierces the fabric. The portion on the inside of the garment is just a little over three inches long and an inch wide at the widest point at one end (where the button meets it from the other side) and narrows to about one-half inch at the end farthest from the button. At the wide end, there’s a small opening that something might slip in (about the diameter of a square toothpick) to pry the device open. Or it might be a magnetic lock.
You can do it with two pairs of pliers. Grab the to the left and right of the pin and bend them away from the pin.
My first experiance was my younger brother who worked at the Gap gave me a pair of jeans for christmass. It had a gift reciept so I assume he didn’t steal them. He left the security tag in place. After a little while of attacking it with vice grips I learned how the worked.
The pins have a groove in them. Inside the tag is a little peice of metal. This peice has a hole just large enough for the pin to fit into. The metal is bent . The pin can only move out while the metal piece is held flat, otherwise it catches in the groove. The tool the use at the stores holds the metal peice flat.
When I worked for home depot I learned how to take them apart pretty efficiently with pliers. Mostly to satisfy my curiousity. It was far easier and faster to use one of the guns to do so.
Before you go attacking this with pliers, is it the kind with ink in it?
If it is, I would suggest wrapping a plastic bag around it. I have no idea how much of a mess they make or how much pressure they have in there, but I would start with that before ripping it apart.
I had the same problem once. On the tag on my item, I used the shank on a pop rivet. You force that into the hole to release the catch, then it slides right off. Since yours has a square hole, you may need a square rod to release it.
Failing that, the method boytyperama outlined is likely your best bet.
That’s a hardened steel pin. Wire cutters are meant to cut softer metals; steel nicks the edges. Now, if it’s a pair of cutters you don’t care about then, sure, go for it.
We had the same problem once, where the store had left it on and the alarms didn’t sound when we left. We get home to discover the tag and my wife set it aside to take back to the store. Industrious me, I decide to have a go at it. A magnet applied to the button end will disengage a spring system in the button and a gentle press together will release the teeth holding the button to the pin.
Unfortunately I did not have this information when a co-worker appeared at work one day with one of these tags flopping around on her pants…
