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TrimBeardCrest

Figures, words and the gap between them

Ratings

Some of what a listing prints is a measurement, some of it is a word somebody chose, and the two look alike on a product page. These pages separate them: what an IPX digit is and is not, what wet or dry actually covers, what a running time was measured against, which voltage an appliance expects, and how long a blade is expected to last.

Clippers, a trimmer, a comb and two closed tins on dark cloth.
Photograph by Nate Johnston

Everything in this section

Five kinds of claim

  • Voltage and chargers

    Two supplies for one maker’s appliances state different voltages. What the number means, why a model list ends where it ends, and why the plug comes last.

    Power

    Voltage and chargers

  • IPX and water

    An IPX digit is the result of a defined test and waterproof is a word somebody chose. How to tell them apart in a listing, and what neither of them covers.

    Water

    IPX and water

  • Wet and dry use

    What a wet or dry claim covers, what lather changes about a pass, and the one appliance here that stays out of water whatever else its listing says.

    Wet or dry

    Wet and dry use

  • Runtime and charging

    What a stated running time is measured against, why the figure falls with age, and the difference between an appliance that stops and one that cannot.

    Runtime

    Runtime and charging

  • Blade life

    What a stated blade life covers, how to turn it into an interval you will actually keep, and what to do about the appliances that state nothing at all.

    Includes a tool

    Blade life

Where the stakes are highest

What survives to this page is what most of the pages below carry. Anything belonging to a single claim stays with that claim, where it can be read in context.

  • StopCharging happens away from the sink and the shower, with dry hands, and never while the appliance is still wet. A water rating describes an appliance in use, not an appliance connected to mains power.
  • StopA corded appliance is a mains-powered appliance. It does not go into the shower, into a filled basin, or under a running tap, whatever a listing says about rinsing anything else.