1. Purchase through formal channels and verify product qualifications and anti-counterfeiting labels
Choose formal suppliers: give priority to products from leading companies such as Demei Chemical and Runhe High-tech Materials. These companies have a high market share, mature technology, and a low risk of counterfeiting. Avoid purchasing through unauthorized channels or suppliers that tempt with low prices to reduce the probability of purchasing counterfeit products.
Verify product qualifications: require suppliers to provide business licenses, production licenses, and product test reports to ensure that they have legal production qualifications. Formal companies usually take the initiative to provide these documents to prove the compliance of the product.
Verify anti-counterfeiting labels: Formal products are usually equipped with anti-counterfeiting labels, such as QR codes, anti-counterfeiting codes, or special packaging designs. For example, some brand products have a unique QR code printed on the outer packaging box. By scanning, you can jump to the official public account to verify the authenticity and check whether the electronic product certificate information (such as batch number, production date) is consistent with the outer packaging spray code. If the packaging is damaged, the logo is blurred, or there are no anti-counterfeiting measures, you need to be vigilant.

2. Observe the appearance and characteristics of the product to make a preliminary judgment on the authenticity
Appearance inspection: Genuine silicone softeners are mostly transparent or light yellow liquids with uniform texture and no stratification. If the product is turbid, has precipitation or irritating odor, it may be a low-quality or counterfeit product. For example, if the amino-modified silicone softener turns yellow when heated, it may be due to improper process control or the use of inferior raw materials.
Characteristic test:
Spreadability test: Take a small spoonful of water and put it into a container, drop a drop of silicone softener, and observe its spreadability. The genuine product should be able to spread quickly to form a uniform film, while the counterfeit product may have poor spreadability, causing the liquid to slide off the leaves or fabric.
Stability test: Place the product under high temperature or alkaline conditions (such as pH>8) to observe whether it is easy to demulsify, stick to the roller or produce silicone oil spots. High-quality products should have good stability and be able to maintain performance under complex process conditions.

3. Test product performance to verify adaptability and stability
Sample test: Take a small amount of softener and treat the fabric according to the recommended process to observe the feel, hydrophilicity and color fastness. For example, fabrics treated with regular polyether modified silicone softeners should feel smooth, soft, have good hydrophilicity, and low yellowing, which is suitable for white and light-colored fabrics. If the fabric becomes stiff, hydrophobic, or discolored after treatment, it may be that the product performance is substandard or it is a fake.
Process compatibility test: Simulate actual production conditions (such as temperature, pH value, vehicle speed) to verify whether the softener is easy to demulsify, stick to the roller, or produce silicone oil spots. For example, under alkaline conditions (pH>8), ordinary silicone oil is easy to demulsify and cause roller sticking, while products with good stability (such as specially modified silicone oil) can remain stable under pH 5~6 conditions.
Washability test: Verify the washability of the softener through multiple washings. High-quality silicone softeners (such as modified products) should have excellent washability and maintain a soft feel after multiple washings. If the washability is poor, it may be that the product formula is unreasonable or inferior raw materials are used.

4. Avoid low-price traps and beware of false advertising
Price comparison: If the supplier's quotation is significantly lower than the market average, you need to carefully verify its cost structure. Inferior products may reduce costs by diluting raw materials, simplifying processes or using recycled materials, but this will lead to performance degradation (such as sticking to rollers, yellowing) or health hazards (such as containing formaldehyde, banned aromatic amines).
Promotion verification: Be wary of suppliers exaggerating product efficacy (such as "universal" and "all-match"). Silicone softeners need to be customized according to fabric characteristics and process requirements, and no single product can cover all scenarios. For example, although amino-modified silicone softeners can give fabrics excellent elasticity, they are prone to yellowing at high temperatures and are not suitable for light-colored fabrics; polyether-modified products need to be grafted with strong water-absorbing groups to improve water absorption.