A New Kitchen Conspiracy Has Been Uncovered: Counterfeit Scrub Daddy Sponges Are Everywhere

After housesitting for me a few months ago, my mom gifted me a pack of Scrub Daddies — those classic sponges in the shape of a smiley face that are known for their ability to scour almost anything — or at least she thought she did. 

What she actually gave me was a pack of knockoff sponges with a frustratingly stiff texture that disintegrated after a single run in the dishwasher. And it turns out I’m not the only one with this experience.

Like many other popular kitchen products, the Scrub Daddy has inspired countless dupes. But not all Scrub Daddy duplicates are the same. These recreations can be divided into two categories: the more benign knockoffs and the counterfeits that are deceiving consumers.

Like a fake Louis Vuitton bag with a distorted logo all over it, knockoffs are fairly easy to identify. Grocery store-brand scrubbers, for example, may change the shape of the eyes or mouth on the signature smiley face. Some knockoffs may appear surprised (like this sponge from Publix) instead of happy, while others have fun shapes for eyes instead of circles. In short, it’s easy to distinguish the difference and opt out of purchasing the item if you don’t want a knockoff.

While these competitors are irritating, Scrub Daddy has discovered a far bigger issue: counterfeiters who are manufacturing Scrub Daddy products and packaging with a nearly identical appearance. To many consumer eyes, these sponges can seem exactly like a true Scrub Daddy until they fail to perform while washing dishes.

Online retailers may fail to distinguish between authentic and counterfeit Scrub Daddies, and many customers remain unaware that they are buying off-brand products when ordering from a website. The result is dissatisfied users who believe they’ve purchased the real deal and that the product is defective.

A brief dive into Reddit reveals a number of first-hand accounts from upset customers, some of whom have sent their inferior products to Scrub Daddy only to learn that they’re fakes. One user posed the question “Is there a reason my brand new Scrub Daddy disintegrated after one use?” along with a photo of remnants of the sponge. Another shared a side-by-side video comparing two different Scrub Daddy purchases and wondering why the materials didn’t seem to be the same in both sponges.

Chief executive officer of Scrub Daddy Aaron Krause says he’s issued legitimate Scrub Daddy products to duped customers at no cost. So far, he estimates replacements have only cost the company hundreds of dollars, but Krause is more concerned with damage to the brand’s reputation than the price of replacing products — especially when so many customers aren’t aware they’ve bought a fake. 

It was customer complaints like these and growing worries over damage to the product’s good name that alerted Scrub Daddy to the presence of counterfeit manufacturers.

“We were seeing instances online and hearing from customers that they thought they bought a fake,” Krause recalls. “We used the information from where they purchased to send in a private investigator with a hidden camera and caught them red-handed.”

Scrub Daddy was able to raid the manufacturer, a factory located in Southern China, and confiscate the counterfeit sponges on-site. “All infringing materials… will now be evidence and we have initiated a lawsuit against the company and its owners,” Krause says. But this is only the tip of the iceberg, and the brand is already aware of at least two more counterfeit operations in China. 

The products seized from the Shenzhen manufacturer underscore just how close to the original Scrub Daddy a counterfeit can appear.

The recovered sponges’ logo is nearly identical to Scrub Daddy’s, with an alteration so subtle it’s not perceptible to most consumers. In this case, it’s the kerning — spacing between individual letters — around the capital “S” in “Scrub” and lowercase “a” in “Daddy.” 

For someone who isn’t a typography expert, the strongest giveaway for the counterfeit manufacturer in question is the box. Genuine boxes maintain a bright citrus shade known as 804 orange, while the counterfeiter’s boxes have a slightly diluted hue in comparison.

Counterfeit products range from roughly half of Scrub Daddy’s suggested retail price to an exact match in cost. The issue, of course, is that customers are paying for significantly lower quality. 

“There’s only one company in the world that can make Scrub Daddy material and it’s right here in the United States,” Krause emphasizes.

Internal research comparing genuine and counterfeit Scrub Daddies highlights some of the common issues customers are facing. Some problems are minor but still frustrating, such as product longevity. A fake sponge will start falling apart if it goes through just a few rounds in a dishwasher — and yes, you should be able to wash a Scrub Daddy in the dishwasher — while the real thing, with proper care, can last upwards of 10 runs.

Other issues are even more concerning, like the composition of these fake sponges. “Based on the descriptions used by the counterfeiters on their listing, the common materials that they are using are polyurethane and polyether,” a representative from Scrub Daddy explains in an email. “There is a huge risk of contamination and exposure to many hazards, some being biohazards, due to unregulated manufacturer facilities.” 

Krause and Scrub Daddy’s chief of strategy, Will Augmenbraun, are taking measures to thwart current and future counterfeiters, starting with suing the counterfeit manufacturer they’ve identified thus far. However, for now, their best course of action is to ensure that consumers are informed about the issue.

Krause says the only way to know you’re purchasing a genuine Scrub Daddy product online is to get one straight from the source: the company’s Smileshop. “Ultimately we are about our customers and they got screwed,” Krause says. “And in the long term, if we make them aware of that, they’ll be smarter, they’ll be more educated consumers, and they’ll be more careful about where they shop.”