Riders by Lee everyday clothes

The reports, as CPSC published them

1. Hurt, care not known

   Made Dec 30, 2013 · , sent to the company Jan 31, 2014 · , published by CPSC Feb 24, 2014

   The product, in the report: Jean

   Consumer stated that while wearing the jeans in a heated seat in the car, she started feeling uncomfortably hot and itchy. She got home and removed the jeans, she noticed that she had broke out in hives and had large welts in her genital area, even areas where the jeans were not touching. She had to treat herself with [REDACTED]. No medical attention was received. She had wore the jeans several times before, however, lately she noticed that she had been itching whenever it was worn.

   12/30/13 The manufacturer was contacted and she was advised that there was no formaldehyde in the product and that they had not received any complaints on this issue. She was informed that it could have been from the dye.

   She feels that these jeans are a health hazard and should be reported.

   UPDATE FROM CONSUMER: When I called the manufacturer and talked with the receptionist I said I thought I was having an allergic reaction to a pair of their pants. The receptionist immediately said, “Oh, with a pair of blue jeans?” I said yes and she said she thought so. When I talked to a company representative I was told they hadn’t had any other complaints. If that were true I asked the company representative why the receptionist immediately guessed that the problem was my blue jeans. The company representative then said the receptionist shouldn’t have said that, but offered no explanation.

   I told the company representative that the jeans were stretch denim and that I didn’t have any problems with [REDACTED] or spandex in other clothes. Therefore I felt my allergic reaction was due to the dye. The company representative said the only complaint it had had with its jeans was an odor. It determined the odor was caused by the dye being incorrectly mixed at one time, and the problem was corrected.

   My jeans did not have an odor, but after just one wearing the dye was wearing off on the upper portion of the legs. You can see this in the photo. I had been itching a lot and thought it was due to dry skin or my wool socks. It wasn’t until I was wearing my pants on a car’s seat warmer that I had an intense allergic reaction. I told the CPSC representative that I had had a similar reaction of hives while wearing blue jeans once before. It was while I was sitting in bleachers at a baseball game. The heat from the sun made my blue jeans uncomfortably hot. I felt as if my skin were being burned. I have worn blue jeans all my life and have had them become warm in the sun, but this was far beyond anything I had ever before experienced. I thought the increased heat was due to the dark color of the blue jeans. After the baseball game I mmediately took the jeans off and my thighs were beet red and blotchy. I thought they were burned, but in hindsight I think I had hives.

   When I initially called CPSC I was thinking that the reaction at the baseball game was caused by a different pair of jeans - a pair made by the same manufacturer as the second pair, but by a different branch of the company - Lee Riders (purchased at Fleet Farm in Woodstock, IL). The second pair was made by Riders by Lee (purchased at Wal-Mart in Lake Zurich, IL). VF Corporation told me they are totally separate companies. I was told they don’t use the same fabrics or dyes. I am now unsure if the reactions were caused both times by the second pair of pants or if the first one was caused by Lee Riders and the second reaction was due to the Riders by Lee. I still have both pairs and would be willing to send them in for testing.

   Two days after my severe reaction to the jeans, I wore them again for a few minutes and began to itch, not just on my legs, but all over. I then realized that the itching I had been experiencing lately was from my blue jeans, not dry skin, and not from wearing wool socks! I am also quite sure that I could reproduce the hive reaction by sitting on a car’s seat warmer again and I would be willing to do so, to prove this product is faulty.

   After I told the Riders by Lee and the VF Corporation representatives that I was going to contact the CPSC, I immediately received a call from Wrangler, which must be another division of VF Corporation. The Wrangler representative wanted me to send him the jeans and wanted to reimburse me. He wasn’t pleased when I told him I would not be accepting any money or mailing him the jeans, since I would no longer have any evidence and the CPSC may want the jeans. I am not looking for compensation I would like to learn what it is that I am reacting to so I can avoid it in the future. I would also like to prevent anyone else from developing hives as I did.

   Model

   Unknown

   Bought from

   Wal-Mart

   Bought

   Mar 21, 2013, about then

   Where

   Lake Zurich, Illinois: Home/Apartment/Condominium

   Who was involved

   Age 57, Female

   The reporter’s relation to them

   Self

   As this report names them

   Brand Riders by Lee, made or sold by VF CORPORATION

   How badly, in CPSC’s words

   Injury, Level of care not known

CPSC’s disclaimer

Sources