Clothing security tags
A shirt I got from SportMart had one of these left on it:
Everyone knows this as an EAS or clothing security tag, inktag, or whatever. Luckily, mine didn’t have any ink.
First approach, look for the ball bearings
Caitlin found this site where a guy used a drill to remove the holding ball bearings. I imagine a hacksaw or a small torch/lighter would work just as well.
Such an approach didn’t work for me. Since the short side looked like the holding pin, I hacked away the long side enclosure and found no such spring or ball bearings. Instead, the thing was held together deep inside by a black-carbon metal piece with a raised section near the pin.
Removal is a cake
When I looked closer at the raised metal section I noticed that it had a slit perpendicular to the long direction that seemed to be holding onto the pin. All I needed to do was flex the long piece apart and the split would widen. After doing that you can slide out the pin on the other side. Cake.
If you cannot pull them far enough apart (very likely to happen if you haven’t taken the thing apart with a hacksaw already), then make a number of cuts in the pyramid section perpendicular to the long direction, this will create some joints that will allow you to more easily flex the tags.
I imagine the tool in the store pushes the indents on that side logitudinally away from each other by putting pressure toward the pin near to the raised section while pushing away from the pin further away from it. This would accomplish the same task with minimal work.
The rest of the long piece probably contains the copper antenna that sets off the detectors. What a simple piece of engineering, but really fucking annoying when you are caught on the other side of an idiot salesperson. I think I must have set off two other shoplift detectors that day. That place lost my business—no big loss, I’m sure.
April 23rd, 2006 at 3:58 am
Thanks so much for the info. I”m travelling right now, so I don’t have any special tools, but I was able to take the tag off an H&M jacket with a kitchen knife. It took a long time and I put a small tear in the jacket … but all in all, success!
August 10th, 2006 at 10:08 am
wow thanks so much! i had just got a shirt from charolette russe and they left the security tag on my shirt but the detector didn’t go off so i had no idea. and then i got home and was about to wear it when i noticed it had the tag on it! we tried everything sawing the pyramid off (but not the right way), putting pressure on it (but clearly not enough)
anyways thanks again!
November 5th, 2006 at 11:44 pm
Omg I wish I’d read this sooner! I just bought a clothing item that had a security tag attached and like Lauren^ I also didn’t notice it was there until I got home. I ended up smashing it with a hammer but the pin tore through the side so now there’s a nail-sized hole. Ahh well…
November 20th, 2006 at 7:58 pm
Hammers are so much more fun. Mission accomplished.
December 6th, 2006 at 11:22 am
this worked really well. my gf is happy now she can wear her shirt yay!!! thanks for the info.
December 7th, 2006 at 8:43 am
Hi… a pair of sidecutters also works very well. The metal pin that locks into the security mechanism if very thin and easy to cut. One simple cut and the security mechanism slides right out of clothing.. Saved me from going back to the store!
December 17th, 2006 at 8:54 pm
Oh yes the sidecutters definiteley but only if ya got strong hands
December 18th, 2006 at 3:46 pm
I’m quite grateful for your site–it saved us a trip back to the crazy mall and long lines just to remove the tag. I pull hard (apart) on both sides of the long tag and at the same time pulled the garment upwards (holding bottom with knees) and it worked well. Happy holidays!
December 27th, 2006 at 9:00 pm
Yep, Nothing beats a hammer. Thanks for the help.
December 31st, 2006 at 2:21 pm
Crap. I tried the hammer, and it just tore my shirt up. FAIL
March 15th, 2007 at 5:31 pm
Wow! Cake? Heck Ice Cream SOOOO easy!
March 24th, 2007 at 6:04 am
Hey thank you sooo much! I bought a skirt and the dumb girl left the tag on. After much trouble and then reading your info i found that a corkscrew worked exceptionally well with the accompaniment of a fork (held to pull the pin out to stop it from tearing a hold :S)
Thanks again
April 11th, 2007 at 12:47 am
I wish i had of found this page earlier today.. same story with shop only i used bolt cutters to get the tag off :S …The thinkness of the cutters was enough to brake the tag and ink spilled out, main problem was the glass but it was a black jacket and the ink was water soluble anyways. I’d say use scissors or a *thin* hack saw to cut the pin if the hammer doesn’t work. gl
April 11th, 2007 at 9:11 am
corkscrew worked in about 3 minutes. used it to make three holes in the pyramid and the tag separated.
June 2nd, 2007 at 12:58 pm
Thanks, it only took me a drill, needle nose pliers, and a knife! Shirt is fine, and I don’t have to go back to the mall.
June 9th, 2007 at 4:46 pm
Cleaning out my closet, found a pair of nice Dockers that I had never worn and they still fit me. Yeah!! But then I saw the security tag that the clerk neglected to remove. Thanks to this site I tried using a pair of vise grips and flexing the long end as close to the pin as I could get. Once I bent it hard enough in the right direction the pin loosened a lot. A bit more bending and “Viola!!!”. Only took me about a minute and a pair of vise grips. Thanks for the insight.
June 25th, 2007 at 2:56 pm
seriously guys, i’m a moron. i need like step by step instructions here cuz i aparently am too retarded to figure this out on my own or by reading your shit. stupid dress.
August 23rd, 2007 at 2:40 pm
I work at a retail store and we use another type of security tag. The pin is placed inside the hole area and clicks to secure. Thief proof?? Ha-ha, the thieves somehow remove them and adios it with the 5-finger discount. (there goes my raise).
August 25th, 2007 at 4:48 pm
After reading everyone’s experiences, I used my kitchen corkscrew to screw into a little hole near the pryamid area. Took me less than a minute to separate the top and bottom, then just forced up this tiny metal clip that held the pin inside. If I had only tried this all the other times the clerk left the tag in. I even washed the darn shirt with the security tag in, jeesh! Go to it people!
September 3rd, 2007 at 8:12 am
i thought i would have trouble with something from pacific sunwear, but all you have to do is pull and twist. its deceptively simple to get off.
September 29th, 2007 at 12:08 am
BEAT IT WITH A ROCK!! IT WORKED FOR ME. I totally had the same problem with the lady not removing it. It sucked. But I absolutely had to wear my $40 boots after the store closed. Just beat the heck out of it until it falls apart.
November 12th, 2007 at 11:28 am
I’m in the wholesale clothing business. I get pieces all the time with security tags. I used to just consider them waste and pass them along to charities as only about 1 in 500 pieces still had a tag. Until last summer in a large order we opened a pallet of shelf pulls was suppossed to be childrens clothing but instead it was 200 Ralph Lauren Black Label $1500 suites. ALL WITH INK SECURITY TAGS, needless to say I perfected a method. If it isn’t an ink tag grab some plyers and rip it apart. If it is an ink tag first and foremost, DO NOT APPLY ANY FORCE OR TRY TO PULL APART. There is no successful way to do this.(4 suits ruined) Take a pair of needle nose plyers and fimly hold the pyramid side, cut, twist, tear & pull back the plastic around the pyramid, be carefull not to grab the pin (1 suit gone). When you can see the pin base you’ll see two small pieces of metal holding it in place, simply grab one with the needle nose and it will slide right off the pin! 195 suites made it!
November 24th, 2007 at 8:20 pm
I used a corkscrew, then a pair of pliers, to tear the pyramid portion of large flat part apart. This revealed the point of the securing pin, which goes thru a piece of flat metal. Bening up on of the metal flaps (with the corkscrew) that secure the pin released the pin. The pin was then easy to remove with no damage to the item of clothing. Note, this security pin had no ink in it.
November 24th, 2007 at 9:42 pm
I was happy to come across this site we went to the Disney store and bought some pants and the tage was still on and hubby took a pair needle nose plyers nad some motivation to the circle on the inside of the pants and in less then 3 mins it was off. Thanks again!!
January 7th, 2008 at 9:14 am
Daughter’s Aeropostale jeans came with inkless security tag…guess the salesguy was real tired since it was almost closing time and failed to remove it. Anyway, we have a sturdy stainless steel potato masher tool and using leverage, I pulled it apart in about 3-4 minutes. Ripped a wee little hole in the jeans, but we’ll live with it. We avoid mall shopping as much as possible and didn’t want to return to have it removed.
January 14th, 2008 at 7:02 pm
I just tried to get one off of my shirt. It was one of those really thin waffle designed shirts. The tag didn’t have the pyramid shape on it. It was almost like the top of a tac. Bad news is, there is a very tiny tear in the shirt. Good news is its at the bottom of the shirt, and its easily fixable. Thanks for the advice though!
March 6th, 2008 at 5:32 pm
thanks u really helped!!! =0]
March 6th, 2008 at 9:25 pm
On one side theres an Inkmate round piece, a rectangular flat piece on the other, with a small pyramid peice. $40 jeans that i want to wear tomorrow:( HELP.
April 12th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
I just pried apart the two pieces away from each other using scissors for leverage as far as they would go, pushed the shirt to one site until the pin was accessible, then I got my wire cutters in there and snipped the pin. Success!! And no hole in shirt. Believe me, I’d tried everything else!
May 1st, 2008 at 6:50 pm
just got jeans from aeropostale…of course they forgot to remove the tag (and of course the alarm didn’t go off…makes you wonder why they bother using them). I used a wine key (corkscrew) and “screwed” two holes into the pyramid part of the long retangular side. it is a micro gator tag, by the way. no ink, no holes! took two minutes! it just came apart while screwing the second hole.
May 11th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
You can crush the small cone (not the large one with the ink) with pliers or a vice. It disintegrates, and the wire & ball bearings can be removed. The two pieces will now easily pull apart.
July 24th, 2008 at 9:41 am
Thanks for the tips. It seems that everytime I purchase something from H&M they always fail to remove the tag on at least one item. I am wearing for the first time a dress I bought a month or so ago. Since I didn’t have a receipt and I hate navigating Beverly Center traffic I decided to pry the tag off with the back end of a hammer. Tore a hole in the dress (the material is thin) but nothing I can’t easily repair.
July 26th, 2008 at 8:13 am
Bought some jeans today and the tag was still on - tag looked similar to yours. A pair of pliers forced behind the pin, a bit of strength and the pin just broke and the device fell off.
July 30th, 2008 at 8:25 pm
just wondering why the mall doesn’t remove it for you?
July 31st, 2008 at 12:38 am
Take a big thick rubber band or hair tie and wrap it around the pin continuously and it will slowly come off. I just did it. A lot less riskier than giving the thing hell while your innocent garments take a slight beating at the same time.