If you’ve invested in hardwood floors, then you’ll likely understand that it’s a very significant investment. Nothing takes your breath away more than when you walk onto a with high-quality, pristine hardwood floors. It’s just that shine, and that look of pure, natural beauty.
You may want to retain your floor’s natural good looks for as long as possible. The best way of going about this is to ban people from entering the room and not having any furniture within the room at all – however, that is hardly practical! The truth is there is nothing more damaging to a floor than the marks left on your hardwood flooring by furniture – particularly the dents, scratches and scuff marks left by poor-quality or poorly chosen casters.
Most casters are made of hard plastic, so imagine dragging a piece of plastic along your flooring with the weight of a fully-grown adult behind it. Can you imagine what that would do to your flooring? It’s going to take the shine right off at the very least!
Choose the Right Type of Casters to Maintain a Surface Shine
Thankfully, there are much better choices than hard plastic to select from when it comes to choosing the best furniture casters for hardwood floors. There are plenty of options when you’re considering different materials – soft polyurethane or rubber for a start. In the majority of such cases these types of casters will not only be safe to use on your precious hardwood flooring, they will also roll much more effectively than harder, plastic wheels, or wheels made from other unsuitable materials. They are also unlikely to skid or slip across the floor, allowing your furniture to roll smoothly while in motion.
Don’t think that one single solution – such as rubber or some other soft material – is automatically a safe bet when it comes to hardwood flooring. A rubber wheel with a small diameter can be just as damaging as a hard plastic wheel. This is because small wheels distribute the weight they are bearing on a single, focused point. Roll this ‘pressured point’ across the floor and you will be left with scuff marks, grooves or even significant damage. This is perhaps the most important aspect to consider when you are selecting the best casters to use for your flooring. You must choose a caster that works well in distributing the weight that it bears over a wide area. You could choose large-sized casters or – if you think the option is too unsightly – twin wheel casters that will typically divide the weight of your furniture across double the number of casters than you would normally use.
What are the Best Casters to Use for Hardwood Floors?
If your items of furniture are light and are just usually moved around during cleaning, then nylon casters might do the trick. Such casters are not very abrasive, and are usually polished to prevent damage to hardwood flooring. They are also decent with both marble and granite flooring, as long as they are not subject to repeated movement or stress.
Urethane casters are another solid choice. These are largely indistinguishable from nylon casters, and typically do the same job. However, urethane is softer than nylon, and a thread made out of polyurethane is usually attached to the rim of the caster allowing it to give even better protection to your hardwood floors.
Both nylon casters and urethane casters are unsuitable for heavier items. For such pieces of furniture, you should consider thinking about casters with polyurethane coatings. Such coatings provide a valuable layer between the caster itself and the flooring. No matter the weight of your object (within reason), moving it around will not cause any damage to your flooring, thanks to the polyurethane coating of the caster. Such casters are usually made of a strong material – such as metal – with the polyurethane thread. It is the thread of the caster that is in contact with the floor at all times, offering an important layer of extra protection.
Sometimes you need that one hundred percent reassurance that your furniture casters will not damage your hardwood flooring in any way, shape or form. In that case, you ought to invest in neoprene rubber caster wheels. Neoprene is a synthetic rubber that maintains its flexibility, no matter the environment. Neoprene casters typically have a strong inner core with a coating or tread of rubber. This results in casters that are soft on the outside but also very sturdy. Any piece of furniture that weighs over 200 lbs. really ought to have neoprene rubber caster wheels attached, if you want peace of mind when it comes to your hardwood flooring.
Get it Right – Save Money. Get it Wrong – Face Significant Repair Expenses!
Remember, it is essential that you make the correct choice when it comes to choosing the best furniture casters for your hardwood floors. Get it wrong, and you could be facing some very expensive repair bills – certainly more expensive than the initial cost of purchasing the correct type of caster. Get it right, and your hardwood floors will look good for years to come!
At Douglas Equipment, we can certainly help you choose the right type of caster for your hardwood floors. Our support team has years of experience in dealing with fitting the right kind of caster to the right kind of application, All you need to do is pick up the phone, and a member of our team will be ready to talk to you about how we can supply the best caster solution for your needs – no matter the size of the task. Just give us a call toll free at 800-451-0030. You can also use our online contact form. We look forward to working with you soon to find a suitable caster option for your hardwood flooring.
