Due to its high cost, Aquapel has attracted the attention of Chinese replica manufacturers.

The main difference from the original is the chemical composition of the liquid inside the capsule. The applied composition of Chinese copies is extremely short-lived on glass. After only 2-3 weeks, and sometimes even a couple of days, there is not the slightest presence of the anti-rain effect left on the glass. At the same time, they usually ask to pay slightly less for a Chinese copy than the original.

If you see that a product is being sold from China, which is usually offered with free shipping, there is a 100% chance that you will receive a fake. PPG Industries, the manufacturer of the original product, is located in the USA, from where it distributes its product throughout the world, and it is extremely foolish to hope that someone buys Aquapel in the USA, then imports it to China, paying import duties, and then distributes it with free shipping. price, lower than in America itself. All sellers from China display photos of original Aquapel capsules when selling, most often these are photos of poor quality, most likely taken from the Internet.

Advertising: Mini camera endoscope for inspection of premises, containers , boxes without penetration inside

You can visually distinguish a fake from the original without resorting to application on glass only if you have the original at hand. The simplest copies come in the form of a white capsule with a sponge without any stickers. Higher quality copies have the following differences: the sponge has a gray tint, unlike the original - a snow-white color; the inscriptions on the stickers are not so contrasting or have flaws, as if the printer is running out of ink; The "wings" of the capsule have a sharper angle, and their middle part has a bend from the middle (pictured on the right), unlike the original, where the bend goes to the middle of the capsule (both capsules are pictured on the left).

In addition, each original Aquapel capsule has a white rectangular sticker, which indicates the batch number - 2016 16 XXX, 2017 17 XXX, 2018 18 XXX and so on; the “Chinese” most likely do not have such a number will. We do not recommend purchasing original Aquapel from batches with a manufacturing date of more than 3 years, since the durability of the layer after application on glass may be significantly lower than stated.

Since counterfeit Aquapel is produced at various enterprises, it also has numerous differences in performance.

When applying a Chinese counterfeit, a pronounced smell of alcohol may be felt. If you apply original Aquapel for the first time, you will notice a faint odor of an unknown chemical.

After applying the counterfeit, the glass may become covered with a white, cloudy film, and after applying the original, if the glass was well washed before, a clear liquid will remain on it, which then evaporates extremely slowly. If, after applying the original Aquapel to the glass, you do not wipe it with napkins and leave it to dry, it will take more than an hour for the droplets to completely evaporate.

Inside the original Aquapel applicator there is a sealed glass capsule. In order to see it, you need to cut off the sponge at the edges; it is impossible to tear it off with your hands, even with maximum effort. Inside the non-original there will be a plastic or glass flask closed with a rubber stopper. The sponge is quite easy to tear off from the plastic body.

Since fake Aquapel uses an alcohol-containing base, the liquid from the glass instantly evaporates and the user does not have time to go through the glass even a second time. The original Aquapel on glass evaporates within a few tens of minutes after application and allows you to slowly pass through the glass 3 or more times, as required by the technology. Often, due to the complete lack of quality control in the manufacture of counterfeits, customers receive half-empty capsules or completely empty ones.

The main components used in counterfeits to obtain a short-term anti-rain effect are paraffin, wax and White Spirit. The original Aquapel is based on a complex fluoropolymer chemical composition that penetrates deeply into the surface of the glass.

Once the original Aquapel is applied to the glass, it cannot be washed off, even with acetone. Counterfeits are washed off with both acetone and any alcohol-containing window cleaning liquid. The only way to get rid of the effect of the original anti-rain  Aquapel is to pass glass with a soft abrasive paste for polishing glass or paintwork.

Details about the chemical composition of the original Aquapel.

Here is just a small selection of comments from Aquapel buyers from the famous Chinese site selling fakes Aliexpress.