A short guide to what each figure is worth.
Pressure washers
Peak bar is measured with the trigger shut and describes nothing you will do. Working pressure is real. Liters per hour is what decides how long the job takes. If only one number is given, it will be the peak.
Wet and dry vacuums
Watts describes consumption. Airflow (l/s) carries debris along a hose; suction (mbar) lifts it out of a crevice. Bosch Professional publishes both, Einhell publishes suction, most publish neither.
Steam cleaners
Boiler pressure and heat-up time, plus whether the tank refills while hot. Wattage is the least useful number in the category.
Floor washers and robots
Roller wash temperature and drying cycle, and for robots, anti-tangle brushes and mop lifting. Suction figures in these categories have inflated past the point of meaning.
And the rule for all of them
Where a figure is missing, our reviews say so rather than estimating it. A plausible number on a page reads exactly like a measured one, and that is precisely the problem.
The questions we hear
What does a missing figure usually mean?
That it is not flattering. Manufacturers publish what helps them. That does not make a machine bad — it makes it uncomparable, which is worth knowing before you pay a premium for it.
Are third-party test figures better?
They can be, when the method is published. Treat any number without a stated method — including 'six times faster' claims — as marketing rather than measurement, whoever made it.
Last reviewed 2026-08-15
