Acrylic Confusion

Acrylic is one of those things that people get totally confused about. When people say Plexiglas when describing a product like the COVID barriers, they are talking about acrylic.

Back many years ago when there were only 2 or three manufacturers of acrylic the name of the product took on the name of the brand. Röhm GmbH were the biggest makers of acrylic sheet and eventually everything acrylic became known as Plexiglas. Now Rohm’s product is known as Acrylite here in the US. But the old Plexiglas name has stuck over the years. Just like when someone asks for a tissue they usually ask for a Kleenex, even though the tissue may be made by another manufacturer other than Kimberly Clark who started making tissues in 1924.