"Soft" chair casters?

[Jim Becker]

Has anyone come across a source for "softer" chair casters? I'm soon to move my office in the house to a new room in the addition and I'd love to do away with the plastic mat that protects our pine floors from the typical hard plastic casters that come with office chairs. So far, I have not found a replacement caster with rubber or other soft material for the wheels. Any suggestions? TYIA

[glenn bradley]

Maybe these? http://www.coolcasters.com/index.cfm/category/1/100-series-translucent-skate-wheel-casters.cfm?CFID=1957427&CFTOKEN=11147554

[Jamie Buxton]

Jim, check out McMaster-Carr. www.mcmaster.com Type "caster" into the search box, and select "about casters". You'll be able to search their selections based on durometer -- the softness of the wheel.

[Ray Peterson]

I really do not belive the chair is the biggest problem it is draging your feet accross the floor. :rolleyes: Ray

[Tom Godley]

Jim - New Picture !!


I bought a few kits (five casters each) that are direct replacements for a standard chair. I do not see the link it must be on the old computer - time flys. I remember the owner saying you do not want rubber. These I think are urethane - so they will not leave a rub mark nor will they allow a tack or staple to stick into them and then scratch the floor.

I also bought some kits (wheels and plates) for my file cabinets and printer station just so I could move them over the floors without damage when cleaning.

I use the Anthro system in my office -- they sell a wheel for carpet and wood floors - but these will leave a rub mark. So not all soft wheels are for wood.

So make sure you ask if they are for wood floors

[Gary McKown]

To suit our hardwood floors, I replaced the casters on "inherited" dinette chairs with the ball-type like shown here:

http://www.rockler.com/CategoryView.cfm?Cat_ID=38

These are fairly hard rubber but not overly large, so maybe the Urethane ones shown would be better suited.

The replacement had a down side. The original caster spindles were some odd dimension, nearly ½" in diameter, so replacing with the new ones required a homemade shim/collar on each leg. 4 chairs X 4/chair = 16 times!

[Jim Becker]

I really do not belive the chair is the biggest problem it is draging your feet accross the floor.

With wide pine flooring, the regular, hard casters will leave indentations over time...hence the desire to change them. It's the nature of using softer material on the floors, but it's period appropriate for our home and area. Using the plastic "protector" does eliminate the marking, at least where it covers, but brings into play floor damage from dirt being ground under the edges over time. That's more substantial damage that occurs from my bare feet or the athletic shoes I typically wear daily.
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Thanks for the suggestions, folks...I'll follow up on them. If there are any others, post at your convenience!

[Dennis Lopeman]

is there an IKEA near you? that had some that i had gotten but they didn't fit my chairs! (maybe I could have made some adapters - they were too small)

They had rubber instead of plastic - and inexpensive... like 5 for 10 bucks or so!!! very reasonable.

Maybe go on their website

[Jim Becker]

Dennis, yes, Ikea is a regular haunt of mine over the years...we had the very first one in the US in this area.

But that link that Glenn provided got me a company that had exactly what I wanted. Not the product he linked to, but the 1200 series is perfect for my needs.

[David DeCristoforo]

Also, Jim, check out Doug Mockett Co.
http://www.mockett.com/
They have a lot of "soft wheel" and "soft tire" casters. Their designs tend to be pretty "contemporary" but their product quality and service are top notch.

[Art Mulder]

I really do not belive the chair is the biggest problem it is dragging your feet across the floor. :rolleyes: Ray

With that smiley I'm not sure if you're kidding or not...

In my office at work I sat in a chair on one of those tough industrial carpets, and after a few years you could definitely see a "ring" in the carpet from the circle defined by the chair wheels.

Jim, I put new oak hardwood in my office and we went out to Staples and bought some clear(ish) vinyl chair mats designed for hardwood. So far we're only mostly satisfied (3 months later) and we're quite mystified as to how "stuff" manages to somehow still get under the mat! I can see right now some paper punchouts from a 3hole punch, an elastic band , a small piece of foil, and other bits.

I blame my kids... :D

Seriously, though, we're going to have to regularly lift and clean under them it appears.

[Jim Becker]

Yea, Art. Cleaning "under" the mat frequently is desirable. But in this current room, I had to screw the mat down because it's not a 'flat' floor (very old) or the thing would just float across the room via gravity...really. I have to hold onto my desk to keep from drifting away on the chair casters...LOL

[Loren Blount]

I found some at van dykes restorers that are rubber and fit right in my office chair factory holes. You might look there

[David Buchhauser]

Amazon has these that have received good reviews as far as not damaging a wood floor.
https://www.amazon.com/Shepherd-Quality-Urethane-Replacement-Casters/dp/B004UBL9KK/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=urethane+replacement+chair+cas ters&qid=1553228149&s=home-garden&sr=1-5-catcorr

406233

[Lisa Starr]

Jim, I lived with pine floors for years and would like to suggest that the marking is not due to the hardness of the casters, but rather the footprint. I found that heavy objects, even stationary, would mark the floor if a "coaster" wasn't placed under the leg.

[Matt Day]

Another Jim Becker thread back from the dead!

[Roger Feeley]

I really don't need everything that casters offer. All I ever do is slide my chair straight back to get up and straight forward when I sit. I don't ever move from side to side.

Ever since I toured a Titan II missile complex, I've wanted an office chair that slides forward and back on a track. No casters. My idea is to take that 5 legged spider off and build a trolley that moves on ball bearings over some angle iron and mount the thing on a nice oak platform.

[Ellen Benkin]

Jim,

We just installed new hardwood floors in our almost 100 year old house (and that's REALLY OLD in LA) so I would love to hear what you found that actually works. I use the plastic covering in the den but the chair often rolls off it. I just put "socks" on the kitchen chairs that don't roll, but damage the floors with sliding. They are really ugly but seem to work.

Ellen

[Gary Ragatz]

I just put "socks" on the kitchen chairs that don't roll, but damage the floors with sliding. They are really ugly but seem to work.

Ellen

Ellen,

We use some self-adhesive felt "buttons" (1" diameter) on our kitchen chairs. They seem to work pretty well and are not too noticeable. I have to replace them about once a year as the adhesive loses its grip, but they're cheap.

Gary

[Bert McMahan]

Holy cow 11 years :)

[Gary Ragatz]

Didn't notice the date of the original post - some issues are timeless!

[Philip Glover]

I have had good results here.... https://casterconnection.com/

Regards,
PCG

[Ellen Benkin]

Gary,
I've tried the self adhesive pads on my kitchen chairs but they wear off too quickly. In my opinion, they are fine for furniture that rarely gets moved, but not for chairs.

Ellen

[Dan Rude]

I use these from Rockler: https://www.rockler.com/plate-or-socket-mount-ball-casters Used them on my Claw foot round dinning table for years. They work great and have held up very well, no damage to my kitchen vinyl floor. Eventualy, I will put them on my office chair if I ever finish restoring it. Dan