When was the last time you thought about office chair casters?
Of course it is not something you pay attention to, you just buy an office chair that looks good or feels comfortable when you test it at the store. I bet not many roll the chair around to see the range of mobility. But think about this, if you are going to be sitting while working, you are spending the most time of your life sitting at a desk as opposed to other places where you sit. So you should consider the function of your office chair casters to help make your working environment more comfortable.
Do you sit at a table to eat for 8 hours? Do you sit on a couch or recliner for 8 hours? Do you sit in your car for 8 hours? Yes you can find a lot of sleek and high tech chairs but you must consider what features to look at and office chair casters is one often overlooked feature.
The selection of the type of office chair casters is very important because if you happen to select the wrong type of chair casters, it will be very hard for you to position the chairs at the desk and it can also increase unnecessary movements that can provide discomfort to the users of the chairs.
Basically, there are different types of office chair casters that are available in the market. The designs of these wheel casters depend on the situation where it will be used.
Here are some of the common office chair casters that are found in the market.
There are two kinds of office chair casters that are based on the material used. There are soft and hard caster wheels. The manufacturers tried to add some features and make these furniture casters more applicable to different settings. Today, hard casters are the most popular kind with this category. The wheel casters are made from hard rubber and they can be covered with a metal hood. This kind of caster is often found in offices having carpeted floors. On the other hand, soft casters are made from soft rubber or what they call polypropylene. Since they are soft casters, they can easily be dented with the use of your fingernails.
Office chair casters can also be selected depending on your working environment. Most of the misconceptions about casters are they are only used for easy maneuvering. What many people do not know is that they can also be used as gliders for jobs that usually require stationary work. Wheels are very important to some different types of jobs such as receptionist and jobs in medical facilities. However, these kinds of office chair casters are not applicable for jobs that require foot pedals like sewing jobs. With this kind of work, gliders will be more efficient to use.
There are also office chair casters that are applicable for different kinds of floor surfaces. There are things that you must consider when choosing office chair casters. Be aware that it is not advisable to use hard casters if the floor of your office or house is tiled. They can remove the tile finish and can scratch the floor or the surface of the caster. Hard casters are best used on carpeted floors. Hard casters are perfect for carpeted offices because they can easily be maneuvered in this kind of setting. When your floor is tiled or it is covered with vinyl or chair mats, it is advisable to use soft casters. They will not tarnish the floor and it can provide better traction in hard surfaces. It can also remove unnecessary rolling.
