Glides vs Casters: What’s the Difference?

Understanding all the variations and characteristics of office chairs will help you make the right choice when it comes to ergonomics, style, and longevity. One such variation is whether you should buy an office chair with glides or casters. Both impact the base design and movement of the chair and each has its advantages and disadvantages. In this article, we will discuss glides vs casters and help you make the right choice for your office chair.

What is a Glide?

Glides are small discs that attach to the base of your office chair’s leg. Available in a variety of shapes, sizes, and materials, these discs help your chair glides over surfaces, perfect if you’re worried about your chair damaging the floor. Glides require more force to move than wheels, so they are better fitted to furniture that won’t need to move around too much, their main benefit is they are better for protecting surfaces than wheels or fixed bases. They are also easy to install, making worn glides easy to replace.

Glides vs Casters: When to Choose Glides

Glides make a good choice if you’re buying heavier office equipment that doesn’t need to be very mobile. Their sleek design allows them to be moved easily without causing any damage to the floor surface. They are also more subtle than casters, ideal if you don’t want to take away from the design of the chair itself. If you’re conscious about causing damage to the floor and your office furniture won’t need to be moved regularly, glides make a smart choice.

Types of Glides

There are three main types of glide fittings, each available in different materials. This section will discuss the options you have available and help you choose the right glide for your setting.

When it comes to types, generally the key difference is how they are fitted. The three options you have available are self-adhesive, screw on and nail on glides. Self-adhesive are easily fixed and removed if you want to only use the glides when moving the furniture, whereas nail on are more securely fixed to the chair leg for permanent use. Screw on is a balance between the two, there is no difference between the function of each.

Materials make more of a difference when it comes to your individual requirements, here are the options you have to choose from:

Felt

Felt glides are better for sound dampening and are moved easier across uneven floors due to the flexibility of the material. The downside is they tend to be more prone to wear and tear and require more regular maintenance.

Metal

Metal glides have the best gliding characteristics for carpets or hardwood flooring. If you decide to go with metal, it’s worth considering stainless steel because other options become prone to surface rust.

Plastic

Plastic glides give you different gliding properties, choose from resistance-free or anti-slip. Plastic can cause streaks on the floor surface if you’re using PVC or polypropylene alone.

What is a Caster?

Castors are small wheels that are fixed to the bottom of chair legs to help them move easily across floors. These are a great option if mobility is important, usually for lightweight chairs such as task or conference seating. They also help with the movement of office chairs, allowing the user to move around their desk space with little strain.

Glides vs Casters: When to Choose Casters

Casters are a better choice for furniture that will require regular movement. Whether it’s for moving around the office between meeting rooms or allowing the user to move freely around their desk space, caster wheels require less force to move and have a larger range of movement than glides.

Types of Casters

There are several different types of casters, each with their own advantages and disadvantages. Here are the most common types used for office chairs:

Free-wheeling casters

Free-wheeling casters continue to work even when weight is applied, allowing the user to remain seated while moving around. These are commonly used for office chairs, and also feature a swivel mechanism that lets the chair move in all directions with very little force. This is ideal for office chairs because the user often needs to move short distances in all directions to communicate with colleagues or reach items across their desk.

Charge-braked casters

Charge-braked casters work differently to free-wheeling because when weight is applied it locks the chair in place. This is a good option if you want the mobility but want your chair to remain fixed while in use.

Interval-braked casters

Interval-braked casters provide a slight brake, this requires the chair to be moved with a little more force but prevents the risk of them rolling away.

Casters are also available in load rating range; this is listed below:

• Light duty: 0 to 299 lbs.
• Light-medium duty: 300 to 999 lbs.
• Medium duty: 1000 to 2999 lbs.
• Heavy duty: 3000 to 5999 lbs.
• Extra super duty: greater than 6000 lbs.

Our guide should help settle the debate glides vs casters and help you make the right decision for your office. If you’re looking for new office chairs, you can find industry-leading quality and unmatched prices on our website.