Owofan Faucets Review & Rating Updated: December 27, 2023
Law Requirements
This company claims to offer a lifetime warranty, but could not produce a written wrranty document support its claim. Under U.S. law, a valid consumer product warranty must be in writing.
Learn more about faucet warranties.
This Company In Brief
Owofan and Wanfan are brand names under which Wenzhou Wanfan Ware Co. sells uncertified contraband faucets through online retail sites that host third-party sellers.
It sells kitchen and bath faucets of average quality and no particular design distinction. The styles are typical of Chinese faucets that can be found in the inventories of dozens of Chinese faucet companies.
Black Market Faucets: These faucets are not legal for sale in the U.S. and not legal for installation in a drinking water system in the U.S. or Canada. For more information on contraband faucets and how to avoid these potentially dangerous products, please visit Illegal and Black Market Faucets in North America.
Wenzhou Wanfan Sanitary Co. is a manufacturer that designs and makes the faucets it sells in North America. It is a relatively small company as Chinese faucet manufacturers go with fewer than 100 employees. It sells its products in North America as Owofan® and Wanfan®, both registered trademarks.
According to its U.S. trademark filing, its array of products includes
" Anti-splash tap nozzles; Bath installations; Baths, bathtubs, whirlpool baths and bath installations; Electric hair dryers; Flexible pipes being parts of bath plumbing installations; Hand dryers; Lamps; Mixer taps for water pipes; Plumbing fittings, namely, drains; Shower and bath cubicles; Showers; Showers and shower cubicles; Sinks; Tap water faucets; Taps; Toilet bowls; Washers for water taps; Water jets for use in bathtub, hot tubs; Hand-held electric hair dryers."
In North America, however, it only sells faucets and sink accessories such as soap and lotion dispensers and drains.
Its Amazon inventory as of the date of this report is limited to six kitchen faucets, one filtered water faucet, and two bathroom faucets. It sells five Wanfan kitchen faucets on Wayfair, three of which are also sold on Amazon under the Owofan brand.
As Wanfan products, the faucets sell for about twice the price of the same items sold as Owofan faucets.
The company multiplies its listings on amazon by bundling – combining faucets with other products such as lotion and soap dispenser, cold water drinking taps, bathroom drains, base plates, etc. to form sets. It also offers its kitchen faucets in a touch-free version.
North American Facilities
Wanfan has no physical presence in the U.S. or Canada. All Wanfan sales transactions are handled in North America by hosting websites.
Amazon in particular takes care of inventory, warehousing, sales, payment processing, and delivery. Wanfan's sole role in the process is to ship faucets to Amazon warehouses from time to time, ensuring that Amazon does not run out of inventory.
The company attempts to handle post-sale matters from China by email. These include warranty claims and purchases of replacement parts. The attempt, however, is not very successful. (See more below)
Construction & Materials
The faucets are constructed conventionally. The body and spout of the faucets, as well as being decorative, are the components that channel water within the faucet.
The primary materials from which the faucets sold by Owofan in North America are made is brass and stainless steel.
Brass
Traditional (Alpha) brass is a blend of copper and zinc with a small amount of lead (1.5% - 3.5%) added to make the material more malleable, less brittle, and easier to fabricate. Brass is the preferred material for faucets for two reasons:
- Brass is strong but easy to work with. It casts, forges, and machines with relative ease.
- Brass is naturally anti-microbial. The copper in brass kills microbes including bacteria, retarding the build-up of potentially hazardous germs inside a faucet.
But, brass has one serious drawback: it may contain lead used to make the alloy more malleable so that it casts and machines more easily.
Lead, however, is now all but banned in North America for use in any drinking water component due to its toxicity to humans, particularly children.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), lead, even in small amounts, causes slowed growth, learning disorders, hearing loss, anemia, hyperactivity, and behavior issues.
To comply with the restrictions on lead, today's faucet brass replaces lead with other additives to reduce brittleness without adding toxicity. The most common is bismuth.
Bismuth is similar to lead – right next to lead on the periodic table of elements – but it is not harmful to humans.
It is, however, very expensive. It is 300 times rarer than lead, even rarer than silver, which is the reason that bismuth-brass alloys are much more expensive than leaded brass.
In China, there is no lead limit in drinking water, and faucets made in China for the domestic market often contain large amounts of lead.
To reduce costs, the temptation, especially among Chinese companies selling low-cost faucets, is to sell those lead-content faucets here.
Whenever we see brass faucets made in China that have not been certified lead-free, we suspect leaded brass is being used. The faucets have not been certified because the sellers know they will not pass lead-free testing.
Stainless Steel
The stainless steel is 304 stainless, an alloy that includes chromium and nickel. The nickel gives the steel a crystalline structure which increases its strength. The chromium helps the steel resist corrosion.
Stainless 304, also known as "food-grade" stainless, is by far the most common alloy used to make kitchen utensils, silverware, cookware, and faucets.
Why Stainless Steel Does Not Rust: Properly alloyed stainless contains at least 10% chromium (which gives stainless its slight yellowish tinge) and a dollop of nickel. These form a coating of oxides and hydroxides on the outer surface of the steel that blocks oxygen and water from reaching the underlying metal, preventing rust from forming. The coating is very thin, only a few atoms thick, so thin that it is invisible to the eye under ordinary light but thick enough to protect the faucet.
Steel is much harder than brass. It can be made in thinner profiles that use less material and still have more than adequate strength.
Zinc & Zinc/Aluminum Alloys
One way of reducing the material cost of a faucet is to replace expensive lead-free brass and stainless steel with lower-cost materials where practical.
The most frequent substitute is zinc or a zinc-aluminum (ZA) alloy. One of the most common is called , a composition containing 4% aluminum.
ZAMAK is not as strong as brass and does not resist water pressure as well as brass. But, its use in non-pressurized parts of a brass faucet such as handles, base and wall plates, and is common even among manufacturers of luxury faucets.
From examination of the faucets, we determined that Owofan uses a zinc alloy, probably ZAMAK, for the non-pressurized parts of its faucets. Zinc does no harm when used in these components, and may save consumers a few dollars on the price of the faucet.
Plastics
Plastic is the other commonly used substitute material. It may be safely used in incidental parts like base plates and has been largely trouble-free in aerators and as casings for ceramic cartridges but otherwise, its use is suspect especially if under water pressure.
Wofan kitchen faucet spray heads are plastic and the use of plastic for spray heads (called "wands" in the faucet industry) is one of the suspect uses of the material.
Unfortunately, plastic wands have become the standard for many manufacturers, including some that sell upscale faucets such as
Manufacturers give three reasons for their use of plastic:
- Plastic does not get uncomfortably hot in use like metal wands;
- Plastic is not as heavy and is more comfortable to hold for long periods of time; and
- Plastic is a lot cheaper than brass – even cheaper than zinc.
However, plastic wands also fail much more often than metal wands. And although engineers have made significant improvements to their reliability over the past decade, the problem has not been entirely solved.
Better wands are made of metal, insulated against excessive heat transmittal.
Sure Cure for the Too-Hot Spray Head
Set your hot water at 125° F (52° C) to prevent scalding. It's probably set at 140° F (60° C) – the factory setting – which is dangerously hot.
Any setting below 120°, however, risks the buildup of bacteria in your hot water tank, including the legionella bacillus that causes Legionnaire's Disease, something you definitely do not want in your household water.
Wofan equips some of its wands with an aerator that creates what it calls a "honeycomb" spray pattern.
We tried it and it does put out a nice even spray, but we did not discover any actual benefit such as putting out a stronger spray.
Wofan Faucet Design & Styling
Wofan kitchen faucets are all contemporary single-handle styles. The company does not sell faucets in traditional styles or any two-handle kitchen faucets. Its one bathroom faucet is a two-handle centerset style. Wanfan, likewise, sells only contemporary designs.
The faucets are conservative – fairly common Chinese styles, attractive enough but exhibiting no particular design distinction. Similar designs can be found in the inventories of most Chinese faucet manufacturers.
The goal of Chinese faucet manufacturers is to sell as many faucets as possible, which means keeping their designs well within the mainstream to appeal to as many potential buyers as possible.
Although some Chinese manufacturers have begun producing original designs, some of which have won awards in international design competitions, Wenzhou Qiji Sanitary Ware is not from one of those companies.
Designs are typically copied from Europe and North America.
A style that sells well in these major markets will often be imitated by Asian factories (with minor changes to avoid patent infringement). The lag time is usually 3 to 5 years, so by the time a design appears in a Chinese faucet, it is no longer new.
Wofan's faucet designs fit this pattern. They are pleasant and often smartly styled, but most are over a decade old and some have reached voting age.
Wofan Faucet Components
The critical components used in Owofan faucets are ceramic valve cartridges and aerators.
Valve Cartridges
We inspected several Owofan valve cartridges and determined that they are modern ceramic valves in standard configurations of a type that is made by any number of Chinese manufacturers.
We were able to identify the sources of the company's Ceramic mixing cartridges used in single-handle faucets as Hain Yo Enterprises Co., Ltd. The company is headquartered in Taiwan but does some manufacturing in China.
Hain Yo is well-known to North American faucet sellers.
It also supplies ceramic cartridges to
The Faucet Cartridge
Its cartridge is the heart of a modern faucet and should be your very first consideration when making a buying decision.
It is the component that controls water flow and temperature.
Its finish may fail and the faucet will still work. It may be discolored, corroded, and ugly but water still flows. If the cartridge fails, however, the faucet is no longer a faucet. It is out of business until the cartridge is replaced.
It's important, therefore, that the cartridge is robust, durable, and lasts for many years.
The cartridges do not have the reputation for leak-free durability of the better-known Taiwanese cartridges such as those from Geann Industrial. They are, however, good enough. We expect them to last 10-15 years before they will need replacing, which is an easy DIY task for anyone familiar with basic household tools.
Wofan claims that its valve cartridges have passed the standard North American life-cycle stress test.
This test requires operating the cartridge through 500,000 cycles under 60 psi of water pressure without a single failure. At one cycle per second, the test takes six 24-hour days to complete.
If indeed the cartridge has passed this test, it is a fairly robust cartridge that should give years of leak-free service.
But, since Owofan does not identify its cartridges and its faucets are not certified, we have no way to verify its claim.
Aerators
There are dozens of companies that manufacture aerators and spray-head assembles. Most are a least adequate. But some, like those from the Swiss company, Neoperl®, are little marvels of precision engineering.
Faucet used to be simple devices that merely added a little air to soften the water stream so it would not splash out of the sink.
Today, however, they are also used to limit water volume to the lower flows required by federal and state water conservation laws, and in some cases, to prevent back-flow that can result in the contamination of household drinking water.
It is important, therefore, that this little device, often smaller than a dime, be the best available.
Unfortunately, Owofan does not identify the source of the aerators used in its faucets. We took several apart to see if the devices had any manufacturer identification, but they did not. We do know, however, from the design and configuration of the aerators that they are not one of the better brands.
Wofan Faucet Finishes
We had to survey the Owofan faucets currently offered for sale to identify the finishes in which the faucets are available. We ended up with just three: Brushed Nickel, Brushed Gold, and Matte Black.
Wofan Faucet Finishes
The company does not offer Owofan faucets in what are called in which a base finish is paired with an accent finish to create novel visual effects. At least one Wanfan faucet is pictured in a split finish on Wayfair.
Wofan does not identify the processes used to create its finishes, but from inspection, we believe Brushed Nickel is electroplated. Brushed Gold is a physical vapor deposition (PVD) finish, and Matte Black is probably a powder coating but it could also be a PVD finish.
Electroplating
involves immersing the faucet and the metal to be used as plating in an acid bath, then applying an electrical charge to both objects so metallic ions are drawn from the plating metal to the faucet.
Wofan's finishes are multi-layer coatings. One or more undercoats are applied and then two or more coats of the finish metal.
The process is potentially hazardous to the operator and the environment. It involves toxic and corrosive chemicals that must be disposed of safely. No other coating technology even comes close to the dangers involved in electroplating.
The top coat may be polished or brushed. Chrome, a relatively hard metal, is usually polished to a high shine. Nickel, a softer metal, is usually brushed to help hide the inevitable minor scratches.
PVD Coatings
or PVD is one of the latest space-age faucet finishing technology, rapidly replacing electroplating as the finish of choice.
Although the technology was discovered in the 19th century, it was not used in industry until the 1950s and then only rarely due to its great expense. Its first use was in nuclear reactors. Today, technology is everywhere and the machinery required is getting smaller, faster, and cheaper all the time.
The process itself is almost out of a Star Wars movie.
Load a chamber with unfinished faucet components, remove all the air and add back a carefully calculated mix of nitrogen or argon and reactive gases.
Add a rod of the metal to be used for the coating. Heat that rod to a temperature so high that the metal dissolves into individual atoms. The atoms mix with the various reactive gases to get the color and finish effects you want and are then deposited in a very thin layer – 2 to 5 microns – on the faucets.
Despite being just microns thick, a PVD coating is extremely dense and, in consequence, very hard and durable. By some estimates, it is up to 20 times more scratch-resistant than electroplated chrome.
From long experience, we know that PVD is nearly impossible to accidentally scratch or mar, never fades or changes color, and resists all forms of soiling.
It can usually be maintained with just an occasional wipe from a damp cloth to remove water spots. (And some PVD finishes are given a final chemical coating that resists water spots, so even the damp wipe is made largely unnecessary. A dry buff will do.)
Powder Coatings
is usually described as semi-durable
, not as robust as electroplated or PVD finishes, a little more durable than the finish on your car, and requiring more care to maintain a like-new appearance.
It is essentially a dry paint in powder form applied using a special low-velocity spray gun that disperses the powder while giving it a positive electrical charge. The particles are drawn to the item to be finished which has been given a negative charge.
Once the powder is applied, the item being coated is baked in an oven which melts and bonds the powder and changes the structure of the coating into long, cross-linked molecular chains.
These chains are what give the coating its durability, reducing the risk of scratches, chipping, abrasions, corrosion, fading, and other wear issues.
Hydrophogic & Oleophobic Coatings
According to Owofan, some faucets are available with what are known as – formulated at the molecular level to shed water. Because water does not stock, it does not dry on the faucet leaving waterspots.
The coatings are also . They repel oil such as the oil on your fingers which makes them fingerprint-resistant.
Typically these coatings are very thin, as thin as 2-4 , so thin that they do not obscure the finish under the coating or change its appearance.
Faucets available hydrophobic and oleophobic coatings are identified in the faucet's Amazon listing.
We have seen no data on the durability of the coatings. Wanfan undoubtedly has such data but the company has not seen fit to make it public.
As a general rule, however, hydrophobic and oleophobic coatings are not very robust. Harsh cleaners can damage or even remove the coating.
Learn more about the types and durability of faucet finishes at Faucet Basics, Part 5: Faucet Finishes.
Finish Care Instructions: Always read and follow the faucet seller's care instructions. Careful cleaning and maintenance not only preserve the good looks of your faucet but also your finish warranty.
Wofan Touchless Faucets
Wofan's kitchen faucets are available with touchless technology.
Finish Durability
Some finishes are more durable than others. Here are the Wanfan faucet finishes and their durability from most to least durable.
- is the old standby. It is a tough finish that will stand up to most abuse. but its durability depends on the metal used.
- Chrome is durable, nickel less so because it is inherently a softer metal (the reason chrome replaced nickel as the faucet finish of choice in the early 20th century.)
- (PVD) finishes are 10 to 20 times more scratch-resistant than electroplated chrome. They are also not affected by most household chemicals. In our experience, they are largely invulnerable to harm.
- is essentially a paint applied in a powdered form and then heated in an oven to cure. It is considered semi-durable with about the same scratch resistance as the finish on your car.
Touchless technology for faucets has been around for decades. Its original home was in commercial lavatories where the technology was perfected over the years. It uses an electronic sensor that activates devices that turn the water on or off and adjust water flow.
Wofan and sellers of other touchless systems claim that the advantage of touchless is that it helps prevent the spread of germs. All true but really, how much of a problem is germ transfer when tapping a faucet with a wrist or elbow?
The touchless technology on Wofan faucets works well. The only problem we found was that it can be inadvertently activated in the ordinary course of working in a kitchen or washing up. Triggering the faucet by opening a nearby cabinet door or flapping a dish towel is a little disconcerting.
We are somewhat skeptical of electronic technology of all kinds in a residential sink faucet.
It seems to us to be rather gimmicky – a solution in search of a problem. Yes, it's rad, cool, awesome, and all the other usual pubescent hyperboles but is it needed?
At this point in their evolution, touchless faucets do nothing more than turn the water on and off. They do not regulate flow rate or water temperature. So they are not a true hands-free operation.
Wofan Warranty
Wofan claims to offer a lifetime warranty on its faucets but the company has so far been unable to produce a copy of the warranty document.
U.S. law requires consumer product warranties to be in writing. Guarantees not in writing, no matter how compelling, are not warranties. Unless and until the company posts its warranty online in conjunction with its faucet listing, we have to treat the company as having no warranty on its faucets.
Wofan Customer Service
Wofan has no presence in North America and that lack of presence includes the absence of a North American-based customer service. Customer service for Wofan products is through emails to China.
You can't just call a toll-free number and get something done. You have to email, then wait for a response.
Due at least in part to the time difference (China is between 13-16 hours ahead of the U.S.), it typically takes a minimum of 6-9 hours to get a reply, and often as long as 48 hours. If your Wofan faucet is malfunctioning and you need replacement parts, that is far too long.
There is also the language barrier. Wofan customer agents probably speak far better English than you do Mandarin, but English is not their first language, so communication can be slow and difficult with lots of questions and more questions, and explanation after explanation until some sort of understanding is achieved.
We rate the company's customer support as unsatisfactory.
Wofan Storefront
Wanfan does not have an English-language website. Its Amazon storefront is as close as it comes.
Many of the specifications important to an informed faucet buying decision are missing from the company's Amazon listings. Among the most critical are:
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Faucet Valve:
No information is provided about a faucet's valve other than the fact that it is a ceramic cartridge. But, in addition to this basic specification, the buyer needs to know the name of the cartridge manufacturer. There are good ceramic cartridges and not-so-good ceramic cartridges. To make an informed buying decision the buyer needs to know the manufacturer. Otherwise, there is no way to judge the quality of the cartridge.
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Type of Finish:
The type of finish is not disclosed. The type of finish (electroplated, powder coating, PVD, etc.) is important to the long-term durability of the finish and the type and amount of care and maintenance required. If the top (wear) coat of the faucet finish is a powder coat, a hydroscopic coating, or anything other than a non-reactive metal, long-term wearability is substantially reduced.
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Warranty:
The claimed Wofan lifetime warranty is nowhere to be found. U.S. law requires a consumer product warranty be made available to the buyer prior to the sale of the product.
- For faucets sold only online, this means the warranty must be on the seller's website, and a conspicuous link to the warranty provided from every place on the internet the faucet is sold. Wofan does not comply with either requirement.
Wofan Testing & Certifications
Comparable Faucets
Faucets made in China comparable to Wanfan and Owofan in quality with the same or a better warranty, but not necessarily comparable for design or price, include
Conclusions
There is absolutely no reason to buy Wofan faucets. They are much too risky for use in a home kitchen or bath.
1. Price is not enough. The prices on Wofan faucets make them attractive, but, as the list above demonstrates, a great many other companies sell good quality Chinese-made faucets for about the same price that are fully certified, legal to use in a drinking water system, and backed by a much stronger warranty. Many are guaranteed for the lifetime of the buyer.
2. They have not been certified so the presence of toxic substances like lead, arsenic, cadmium, and mercury in the faucet has not been excluded. Because these are Chinese-made products, lead is a substantial risk due to the lack of lead regulation in China.
4. Wofan has no written warranty on the faucets, suggesting that even the seller does not have enough confidence in their long-term durability to provide an enforceable warranty.
4. The faucets cannot be legally installed in a drinking water system anywhere in the U.S. or Canada. A plumber probably will not install one for you, and if you do it yourself you risk, at the very least, having to replace the faucet with a legal product and the possibility in some jurisdictions of a fine and a little jail time.
We are continuing to research the company. If you have experience with Wofan faucets, good, bad, or indifferent, we would like to hear about it, so please contact us or post a comment below.