How to Clean Office Chair Wheels – 7 Easy Methods

Ever wondered how come people spend a good span of their life at work? Well, it makes more sense that a comfortable environment along with a state of cooperation, trust, safety, and accountability plays a major role in it, yet we often tend to ignore that fine office hygiene is a substantial element that contributes to a robust workforce and keeps employees stuck to the company.

Speaking of hygiene, office chair wheels are usually one of the few things that are left ignored while cleaning.

These chairs have been around since the early 1840s when Charles Darwin made his chair mobile by adding wheels so he could move around his study and rapidly access his specimens. The majority of workplace chairs have wheels today mostly because of this but since an individual doesn’t focus on cleaning office chair wheels, it loses their function and causes damage to the floor as well.

So for this reason, here we are today with the five best techniques and a maintenance formula too as a bonus, to keep your chair wheels tidy and functional. But before we delve into the deets, let’s learn the types of office chair wheels, because that will aid you to choose the perfect cleaning method.

Type of Office Chair wheels

As every chair has different kinds of wheels attached to it, and this is why they all require their cleaning method to keep rolling. Who would want to watch their chair wobbling or getting ruined? No one, right!

Therefore, take a glance at the given piece of information.

Twin Casters

The most popular type of caster used in office chairs may be twin or dual-wheel casters. Because of the bigger surface area and better weight distribution provided by the twin caster design, the casters’ lifespan is increased and floor damage is reduced.

This particular caster is more likely to draw hairs. Dual caster wheels are challenging to clean because hair becomes tangled between the two wheels.

Additionally, it might be challenging to get hairs and dirt off of office chair caster wheels since, according to basic reasoning, a larger surface area increases the likelihood that dirt and hair will become trapped.

Single Casters

These office chair casters are of a conventional design. Single casters can slide and spin in compared to twin casters and are widely utilized in industrial applications compared to office furniture.

Single-wheel casters typically collect less hair because of the reduced surface area. Though it becomes hard to get rid of any hair that gets stuck close to the screw as it will coil and tighten, single-wheel casters are still proven beneficial because it typically collects less hair due to the reduced surface area.

Non- Brake Casters

The wheel of this caster is hidden by a holder fender or skirt, which doesn’t provide an area for hair or dirt to accumulate. Hence, they collect hair often and when they do occasionally, you can wipe it off with a cloth!

Rolling Ball Casters

Hairs are less likely to be caught by ball casters, but the only place they could is close to the screw. Likewise, if any sticky substance is present on the caster surface, hairs may adhere to the ball caster.

Although they don’t pull in hair excessively, they draw in a lot of dirt. Thus, messing up the floor, since they have a big surface area that makes contact with the ground.

How to Clean Office Chair Wheels?

Now that you have gone through the complete guide of wheels concerning the filth, below are the tips to immaculate it. So, take a seat on the floor with a pillow or other comfy object. Depending on the technique you employ because cleaning your wheels may take some time.

1. The Handy Method

There is no better way to clean desk chair wheels other than the traditional technique. And for this go-to method you’ll need;

1. To begin with, flip the chair over and remove the office chair caster wheels using a nose plier.
2. The stuck hairs can be yanked out with the same nose pliers.
3. Use a pair of scissors or a nail clipper to cut the entangled hair or fibers off the wheel axle and utilize the tweezer to extract them.
4. Soak the sticky wheels in a pail of warm, soapy water to get rid of dirt and clean them and brush the wheels to remove dust.
5. Let it sit for 10 minutes so that it becomes easier to eradicate leftover filth.
6. To get the residue off the casters, wipe them with a towel or rag cloth,  and re-secure the base’s wheels to it after blow-drying them with a hairdryer or naturally.

7. Tweezers

 

Using tweezers to remove the hair out of office chair wheels is the first, easiest, yet the most time-consuming method. For grabbing and removing hair pieces, all you have to use is a simple pair of powerful tweezers and pluck the hair one after another. Bear in mind that you don’t use any harsh knife because that might be a bit risky. The more hair that has grown in, the more you’ll likely need to break and rip the hair as you go along.

3. Duct Tape

Tape can be used to remove dirt of all sizes, including hair. To remove the dirt from the wheel, the tape must be able to freeze the dirt.

Tear out a small piece of the tape, then sandwich your thumb and index finger with the sticky side facing up. Similar to how you would wax the hair off your body, gently press the tape on the hair and quickly pull. Continue doing this until all of it is removed.

4. Use heat or fire

Another wonderful approach to removing hair from office chair wheels is to use a lighter and aim at the smaller strands of hair. Hair can be quickly shrunk to ashes by fire.

Nevertheless, because the wheels are plastic, we would caution you against burning them. To burn the hair, consider brief bursts of flame rather than large flames like a blow torch. The ideal example would be a heat pistol because it produces intense heat without igniting.

5. Bleach or DRANO

A powerful hydrogen peroxide solution that is odorless and commonly used for hair bleaching can also do the work. Place each caster individually in a deep glass or enameled container, pour either substance to just over the hair-bound axle’s level, and let it sit for a few hours. After that, rinse it thoroughly.

Make sure when using DRANO, dilute it with enough water because it is an extremely corrosive and caustic substance due to the presence of lye-sodium hydroxide.

6. Apply Lubricant

To avoid rust on the metal portion of the caster, it is crucial to dry the wheels as soon as possible after washing them. Apply lubricant to the metal parts to enable smooth movement of all the moving parts. For precise lubrication of your casters’ wheels, you can also utilize lubricants that have a lengthy application tube.

7. GOO GONE or WD40 to Withdraw Chewing Gums

GOO GONE gel spray and WD40 are an actual life-saver! That is essential for anyone who owns an office chair and is thinking to clean rolling chair wheels.

What you have to do is to apply the spray, let it sit for five minutes and wipe the gum with a cloth and further purify it with soapy water.

Do’s and Don’ts

Do’s:

Don’ts:

Maintenance Formula

On that account, to avoid the constant struggle of scouring clogged wheels here is our maintenance formula to help you out!

1. Put a chair mat underneath it.
2. Any dirt and debris should be swept up right away.
3. Always keep GOO GONE or WD40 spray for easy access.
4. For maximum results, clean the wheels twice a month.
5. Use silicone lubricant on plastic wheels.
6. Utilize a greaseless lubricant for metal wheels.
7. Do not eat or drink while sitting on an office chair.

Conclusion

The finest approach to treating oneself to relaxation is to sit in a nice chair. It is considerably much pleasurable to settle in chairs that can be moved around flexibly. Therefore, if you work a full-time job, you are probably aware of the value of having a moving chair in your workstation. So, try to keep a check on the state of your office chair wheels and apply the above tactics to detach gunk that creates hindrance in the gliding of the chair.